Also, more clients with assets of at least $250,000 left Merrill Lynch than joined during the third quarter, one of the sources said. Merrill's Walker said the bank has had a net gain of clients with at least $1 million of assets so far this year. He declined to give data for the third quarter for clients with $250,000 of assets or more.
Walker added that average production of brokers the bank attracted since the start of the year is "substantially higher" than those brokers who have left.
Thundering Herd
Thiel has been with Merrill Lynch since 1989, when he started as a financial advisor in Tampa, Florida. Before he took on his current role in 2011, he headed Merrill's private banking business.
Banks lose top brokers all the time, and so far the exits have not affected the wealth management and investment management unit's bottom line. That group, which includes the U.S. Trust unit in addition to Merrill's retail brokerage, posted record revenue and profit in the third quarter.
The bank's wealth management arm has long been a high-performing business. For years, Merrill Lynch brokers, known as the "thundering herd" because of their bull logo and their large numbers, have been among the most productive on Wall Street, in terms of revenue generated. When Bank of America executives announced that the bank was buying Merrill Lynch in September 2008, they made special note of how attractive the wealth management business was to them.
The latest moves come around six months after Thiel reshuffled the top ranks in an attempt to boost productivity. Among those who left in that shake-up were Christopher DuPuy and William Cholawa, two of Merrill's eleven national market executives who had reported directly to Thiel.