We told you that recruiting wouldn’t slow down during the coronavirus and market correction disruption. If fact, we’ve alluded to the reality that there are real advantages to moving a practice of any scale with competitive former colleagues out of the office, courts closed (avoiding TRO’s from non-protocol firms), and clients who are largely stuck at home and readily available to e-sign transfer documents and have elongated conversations.
So, enter Ameriprise and the news that they’ve on boarded 19 practices in just the past three weeks. A little ‘guesstimated’ math puts the tally at better than $1.5B in client assets – and that number may very well be a bit light. Several names associated with moves to the firm are: Rob Bacino, Marty Mitchell, Simon Wheeldon, Craig and Chad Wilson, Samuel Bartoletta, Scott Kelly and Matthew True, and several others.
Firms that Ameriprise was able to pull advisors away from include: Morgan Stanley, UBS, Raymond James, LPL, Wells Fargo and others. Essentially appealing to the entire swath of both firms and platforms that Ameriprise competes with on a daily basis.
Speaking to a source at the firm they laid out the reasons some of the names above gave for switching to Ameriprise in general and in the midst of the current chaos:
“Most of the reasons that advisors have wanted to leave to join Ameriprise haven’t dramatically changed, rather the impetus intensified a bit (looking for better support, technology, resources). The fact that clients are home and receptive to conversations have made transitions more successful; the rate of asset transfer has been extremely high. Overall, our technology, virtual capabilities, and best in class on boarding process remains a compelling story. We’ve also remained very mindful of advisor and staff safety during these transitions – but are staying aggressive and open for business.”
And the numbers above speak for themselves. Moving that amount of bodies in the midst of a pandemic is a credit to the staff and recruiting leadership at Ameriprise. It is difficult enough to pull off successful transitions in ‘normal’ circumstances – but to be doing it now is remarkable.
Expect more recruiting stories to find their way to these pages and the volume to continue to increase across the industry. The benefits are starting to outweigh the obstacles.
