Andy Sieg, head of Merrill Lynch’s wealth management business, said Thursday that the firm would make some exceptions to its restrictions on sales of commissionable products in IRAs, but will still move forward with plans to move the bulk of IRA assets into fee accounts.
 
In a memo to the troops, Sieg said the firm had “recognized that there may be limited situations in which a fee-based arrangement would not be in a client’s best interests,”such as private equity holdings and concentrated stock positions.
 
“We are reviewing those limited circumstances to consider potential alternatives” to fee-based accounts, Sieg said.
 
Meanwhile, the firm’s restrictions on a range of other commissionable products used in IRAs, such as mutual fund purchases and insurance, will continue.
 
Sieg told Merrill brokers on a conference call that the firm is working on adding products to its fee-based advisory platform, including annuities and hedge funds, and as these products come on line they will be restricted from brokerage IRA accounts.
 
Merrill already has $208 billion in fee-paying IRA assets, more than half of total IRA assets.
 
Despite any exceptions to its policy, Merrill “doesn’t want to stop the momentum of converting to fee-based accounts,” said a Merrill Lynch rep who asked not to be identified.