Wells Fargo & Co. will pay bigger sign-on bonuses to some new brokers as competitors including Morgan Stanley and Bank of America Corp. seek to reduce recruitment inducements.
The Wells Fargo Advisors unit plans to offer better pay packages to brokers who oversee the largest books of business as it seeks to woo more big producers, according to a person familiar with the matter. The firm plans to offer competitive pay as its focuses on attracting more high-net worth clients, said the person, who asked not to be identified discussing compensation.
A spokesman for the San Francisco-based firm declined to comment on the changes, which were reported earlier Thursday by Dow Jones Newswires. In a statement, the bank said “attracting the industry’s top talent will always be a priority for Wells Fargo Advisors.”
Morgan Stanley, Bank of America’s Merrill Lynch and UBS Group AG have cut back on using recruitment bonuses to poach established financial advisers as a new U.S. Labor Department rule throws the industry’s hiring practices into turmoil. Morgan Stanley said it would honor some existing deals with new employees, while Merrill will offer starting incentives to some brokers as long as they’re in its recruitment pipeline by the end of the month.
Wells Fargo, which has been grappling with the fallout from its fake accounts scandal, had 14,657 brokers as of March 31, about 400 fewer than a year earlier, according to financial filings.
The company hired more than 100 advisers from Credit Suisse Group AG’s private bank after reaching a 2015 recruiting deal with the Swiss firm, which has retreated from managing U.S. clients’ money.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.