The executive who will oversee advisory services for
the company created by the merger of TD Waterhouse and Ameritrade says
he expects a "seamless" transition for advisors.
Tom Bradley, who will be in charge of advisory
services for the new TD Ameritrade, says he is hopeful the deal will
close by the end of the year.
"We're working to make sure the transition is completely seamless to
advisors and clients. They will not have to re-paper," says Bradley, who
heads TD Waterhouse's advisor services.
The new company will continue to use TD Waterhouse's
Veo platform, he added. Bradley, in fact, says his top priority upon
completion of the deal will be to integrate Veo into Ameritrade's back
office.
"We really don't know what we're going to do with
pricing yet," he says, adding that he doesn't consider pricing to be a
key issue because both companies have a competitive fee schedule.
"In this environment we're in today, whether you're
paying $9 or $11 is becoming less of a factor," Bradley says.
Ameritrade plans to buy TD Waterhouse USA from
Canada's Toronto-Dominion Bank for $2.9 billion in stock and merge the
two companies into TD Ameritrade.
Upon the completion of the acquisition, the Jersey
City, N.J., call center operated by TD Waterhouse, will be relocated to
Ameritrade's call center in Fort Worth, Texas.