Repetto recalls a previous attempt by Bank of America to make headway in the sector in October 2006, which he says produced little in the way of success.
Dean Athanasia, head of credit and banking and Merrill Edge in Bank of America's Global Wealth & Investment Management Group, says active traders represent a small segment of the overall trading population. What Merrill is focused on, he says, are relationship-oriented investors. It "wants to help those clients manage their financial lives through their investment and saving needs, credit and banking needs and retirement needs."
Barclays Capital analyst Roger Freeman says if you "look at the e-broker models, E*Trade and TD Ameritrade are trying to build more asset-accumulation offerings-to cater to wealth builders. Charles Schwab, of course already has this. The point of that strategy is to accelerate the transfer [of clients] from wirehouses."
The Merrill Lynch offering, if successful, could effectively counter this effort, at least as far as its own clients go.
A TD Ameritrade spokeswoman said "we know that we provide a comprehensive value proposition for investors of all sizes, needs and investment styles, and our growth over the last two years, in our opinion, validates the strength of that offering."
A Schwab spokesman said clients choose the company as an alternative to traditional Wall Street firms because they don't feel they are getting the services they need there, adding "it's doubtful a limited service model for people with fewer assets will change that or staunch the bleeding."
E*Trade didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
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