20 10 / 2011
UPDATE 1-Merrill adds year-on-year revenues, more brokers
* Financial adviser ranks rose by 475 to 16,722 vs Q2* Credit-loss provision doubles to $162 mln vs Q2Oct 18 (Reuters) - Third-quarter revenue at Bank of America
Corp’s Merrill Lynch rose 7.9 percent on higher
brokerage services and investment income, even as client assets
and deposits fell from a year earlier.Merrill has dramatically expanded its sales force through
recruiting and new trainees, even as parent Bank of America
prepares to slash 30,000 jobs as it seeks savings to offset
credit losses and financial crisis-related litigation.Overall, Merrill’s “Thundering Herd” of financial advisers
grew by 1,236 during the past year to 16,722, second only to
the roughly 17,600 advisers Morgan Stanley Smith Barney had at
the end of June.Merrill added 475 during the third quarter, a combination
of trainees and recruits from rivals.”They have a fantastic franchise, though they’ve been stuck
in the mud for several years,” said Daniel Arbeeny, a broker
recruiter at CMF Partners LLC in New York. “They’re hiring a
lot of people. People realize the bank is not going away.”Merrill’s adviser count includes trainees who must learn
the ropes and build a business from scratch. It also includes
more than 660 associates at Merrill Edge, a year-old program
that targets the “mass affluent” with less than $250,000 to
invest and those who want to manage their investments online.Bank of America intends to end this year with more than
1,000 Merrill Edge advisers.Revenue generated per adviser rose to $854,000 from
$846,000 a year earlier.Merrill advisers historically were the most productive on
Wall Street, but Morgan Stanley brokers edged out Merrill’s in
the second quarter by averaging $894,000 each. Morgan Stanley
reports its third quarter results on Wednesday.Bank of America’s broader wealth management division —
which includes Merrill Lynch global wealth management, private
banking unit U.S. Trust and a corporate retirement services
business — earned $347 million, up 29 percent from a year
earlier. Net revenue rose 9 percent to $4.23 billion on higher
asset-management fees, net interest income and commissions.BofA said customers added $4.5 billion into stocks, bonds
and other investments during the three months ended Sept 30,
offset by the withdrawal of $2.6 billion of “liquidity assets,”
such as money market funds.These in-flows helped propel asset-management fees to a
record $1.56 billion during the quarter, the bank said.Earlier Tuesday, Bank of America reported a third-quarter
profit, though investors remained anxious as the bank’s core
lending and investment banking businesses remain weak.(To read about Bank of America’s company-wide results,
click on)The third quarter presented some of the most challenging
markets since the financial crisis, with U.S. stocks hammered
by Europe’s debt crisis, a downgrade of the United States’
credit rating and a sluggish economy. The S&P 500 Index
fell by more than 14 percent in the September quarter.Accordingly, BofA wealth management earnings fell by 31
percent from the second quarter. The big hit came from weakness
in the division’s mortgage portfolio, which prompted BofA to
more than double its credit provision to $162 million.Merrill revenue slipped 1.9 percent from the second
quarter, while total client balances fell by 5.7 percent.
Client balances at Bank of America’s wealth management division
fell 6.3 percent to $2.06 trillion.Shares of Charlotte, North Carolina-based BofA have lost
more than half their value this year amid economic weakness and
worries that legal liabilities stemming from the financial
crisis could severely weaken the bank.
18 10 / 2011
VTB gains 5.1 pct Uralkali stake via repo
Skurov holds 7.8 percent of Uralkali and Mutsoev owns 8.1
percent.The two are part of the group of businessmen led by Suleiman
Kerimov that controls the company.
11 10 / 2011
How to report politics for an international audience
This is the text of a talk I gave to a seminar hosted by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism in Oxford on October 22nd
