Merrill Advisors: Your Protocol Domino Falls Next

You have days, not weeks, to ensure choice

Two down and one to go…

UBS, a founding member of Protocol, has announced they are following Morgan Stanley in exiting Protocol. The pullout will be effective on Friday, December 1. Like Morgan Stanley, they are only providing their advisors with a few days notice, meaning if an UBS advisor hadn’t already taken recruiting steps with another firm, they are now stuck in their new Non-Protocol world.

Carnac predicted UBS would pull out of Protocol in November and missed it by a day. He predicted Merrill Lynch will pull out in December.

With UBS pulling the trigger, the likelihood of a December exit by Merrill doesn’t seem like a prediction anymore, it now seems like an inevitability.

Complacency = Captivity

We have been warning advisors since UBS, Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch pulled out of competitive recruiting that this was on the horizon.

Last week we shared that Prediction + Preparation = Choice. While many advisors took advantage, most didn’t, and many have shared with us that they wish they had prepared so they could have had choice. If last week’s simple formula wasn’t motivating try this one: Complacency = Captivity.

When Morgan Stanley exited a month ago, dozens of advisors flooded us with phone calls in the first two days of the announcement. Most all, expressed disappointment that they weren’t proactive in positioning themselves to have the power of choice when the firm’s decision came.

During the days after the Prexit announcement, Advisorbox moved millions in revenue with the Morgan Stanley advisors who were already properly positioned to accept an offer at a different firm.

Since Monday, it has been déjà vu all over again. This week Advisorbox will move UBS advisors representing millions in revenue. These advisors prepared and positioned themselves to have a choice when the announcement came. And just like a month ago with Morgan Stanley, the UBS advisors who are calling us this week to start the process of moving firms, have also missed the opportunity for departing under Protocol.

The Merrill Lynch Protocol domino falls next. If you never plan on departing Merrill then there is nothing to worry about. If you have been considering departing, then leaving under Protocol is a whole lot easier than leaving under Non-Protocol.

Merrill advisors have days, not weeks, to ensure choice

Just assume we are right and Merrill is exiting Protocol in December. It may be the first or second half of the month. This is very little time to get prepared, but it is enough time for those committed to make it happen.

To be able to move firms within a few day notice period, at minimum, an advisor has to already have gone through the book review of their production and portfolio allocation. The initial application and due diligence information has to have already been submitted. It takes days for firms to review and approve and then days more to provide an offer, and this is the lightning fast mode.

Firms you will consider joining have committee meetings on recruiting deals and many of these firms will require that a HOV (Home Office Visit) happens before any advisor can be hired.

Our Advisorbox Prexit task force is working with Merrill advisors now to expedite the process. Depending on the advisor’s preferences this can mean moving down both single and multiple paths simultaneously. The process is all about helping position Merrill advisors to have choice when the Prexit announcement does come.

If you want the choice to leave Merrill under Protocol do this TODAY

1. Call us.

This is what we do. We know which top-tier firms are moving fast and those who are dragging their feet. We know all of the recruiting bonus and transition package options, onboarding capabilities, the cultural differences, platform availabilities, and how to expedite the process.

2. Get your practice analysis information together.

This is critical, you can’t take a week or two to get this information together, it needs to be in a the next few days, to maximize the likelihood of having the Protocol option.

This is what most firms will need for your Practice Analysis: