Tag Archive for: JP Morgan

Large Team At J.P Morgan Securities Decamps For Morgan Stanley In NYC

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Yet another large team in a money center city at J.P. Morgan Securities just left the firm for Morgan Stanley. We doubt you’ll be surprised as to why they decided to migrate to their new firm.

Joel Bodner and Mark Horowitz have taken their $750M in client assets and more than $5M in annual production to Morgan Stanley based on the chasm that exists between the two firms with respect to technology, platform, and client service.

Prior to joining J.P. Morgan in 2015, Mark served as Principal at Bernstein Global Wealth Management for nearly 12 years. A is known as a talented advisor who is very highly respected in his community from wealth management and his philanthropy, writing books, and speaking series. Mark dedicates a significant portion of his free time to poverty alleviation. Through the Mesila organization, a nonprofit focused on guiding families toward fiscal responsibility, he has traveled around the world, raising public awareness about the importance of financial stability and independence. Mark is also involved with Sister-to-Sister, a group founded to help widows and divorcees regain their financial footing. He volunteers with Professional Career Services, a nonprofit that offers low-cost career training and education. In addition, Mark serves as Chairman of the Board of BINA, whose mission is to provide guidance and support to thousands of brain injury survivors and their families.

Joel joined J.P. Morgan in 2015, as a Vice President and Wealth Advisor with J.P. Morgan Wealth Management. As the key Portfolio Manager with over 15 years of experience in the financial services industry, Joel creates tailored investment strategies and comprehensive wealth management plans for high-net-worth individuals, families, and institutions. Joel began his career as an Associate at Merrill Lynch in 2002.  Joel is an active member of his community on the South Shore of Long Island, New York, where he lives with his wife and three kids. Joel sits on the board of his Temple and on the board of TOVA, an organization that provides adult guidance and mentoring services for children who need additional supportive, caring adults in their lives.

Mr. Bodner and Mr. Horowitz will be joining Jeff Reiss, Complex Manager, Morgan Stanley in Long Island, NY. Mr. Reiss is known amongst his colleagues as an ‘advisors manager’ who aims to work tirelessly on behalf of the advisors he is charged with leading.

Over the past decade, there has been a common theme at J.P. Morgan Securities – disappointment. JPMS has taken a back seat in every meaningful category as a forgotten division within the global investment bank. Technology is lacking, offices and facilities are outdated, and the ability to cut through red tape is nearly impossible. Other than the name of the firm, there is little reason for teams the size of Mr. Bodner and Horowitz to remain.

One specific issue that was noted recently was the looming and ongoing problems associated with the JPM Private Bank taking larger accounts away from JPMS advisors. See article from AdvisorHub.

Irrespective of long-term relationships with one client or another, JPM Private Bank advisors are prioritized and handed accounts directly out of the book of JPMS teams. That is certainly enough to drive ambitious advisors into the welcoming arms of competitors like Morgan Stanley.

JPM: No Vax? You’re fired.

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Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JPMorgan Chase, has been a strong supporter of in-person work during the COVID-19 pandemic. Dimon flat out said, “he would fire New York-based employees who haven’t been vaccinated.”Those words come after Citigroup, the fourth-largest bank in the U.S., took a very hard line on vaccines.  There are strict rules about vaccinations at the bank, and if people don’t get vaccinated could lose their jobs. Employees who have religious beliefs or medical conditions that qualify them will not have to pay.JPM has taken this even a step further. A recent memo was issued letting advisors know that if they “are not fully vaccinated or has chosen not to declare their status is not permitted to travel for the firm for any business reason.”

Wave goodbye to client meetings.

Advisors across the country have taken this to heart. How is it a firm can dictate you are required to come back into the office, but if you decline to show your proof of vaccination, the firm bars you from seeing your clients? We don’t get it. They’re saying it’s OK to put you in a closed, indoor room with your co-workers but not at all with your clients, where you have the option to set a meeting up in an outdoor setting. The firm’s decree is putting limits on how you conduct your business, to limit how you interact with your clients. And if you do see your clients, we all know that just gives the firm reason for termination.

This is a great way to create a wedge between FAs and their clients. Oh, wait, it has! $2M J.P. Morgan Advisor Heads to WF and Yet Another to RayJay.

$2M J.P. Morgan Advisor Heads to WF and Yet Another to RayJay

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Wells Fargo Advisors hired a $2 million producer from J.P. Morgan Advisors in Los Angeles on Friday.

Steven Tann began his career in 1987 with J.P. Morgan Advisors’ predecessor, Bear Stearns, but resigned two years later to pursue a 17-year career in television and film production.

Roger Gershman, an industry recruiter said “The Wells Fargo Private Wealth initiative is really resonating with advisors. Especially when combined with the talents of Paul Vannuki.” The complex manager brought on another PWM team last year, David Romans and Teresa Fisher from JPMS. The dynamic duo generated $4M+ in revenue. “The deals WF is offering are unprecedented. It really is a great combination of a new PWM platform, support, and deal ” says Gershman. Phil Sieg, who took over as CEO of J.P. Morgan Advisors in April last year has stated that he aims to quadruple the present headcount of roughly 450 brokers yet every month there is greater attrition than additions.

Wells Fargo has also been aggressively recruiting with top-tier packages and local managers who do not recruit face significant penalties this year. The rate of attrition shows a large improvement. Across the country in Coral Gables, Michael R. Revilla and Manuel A. Bernárdez joined the J.P. Morgan traditional brokerage firm in Coral Gables, Miami, last Tuesday. According to Forbes, who rated Revilla #428 on its list of the top next-generation advisors in 2021, they managed roughly $285 million in customer assets.

An unnamed source at JPMS said “the systems and ops an atrocity. We feel like the adopted step-child of JPM Private Bank. All the offices across the country have similar concerns. ” Gershman confirms whereas JPM has a terrific name and reputation, clients have no idea how much the advisors struggle under the old the legacy Bear Sterns division and are at their whit’s end with back-office administration and compliance oversight.

Revilla joined Raymond James’ predecessor Morgan Keegan & Co. in 2005. According to his former website, he also served as an associate market director for Raymond James’ Miami-Dade complex in 2018. According to the FINRA BrokerCheck database, Bernárdez began his career with Raymond James in 2014.

J.P. Morgan Advisors, which has been led by former Merrill private wealth executive Phil Sieg since April last year, has implemented a number of policy and compensation changes in order to address common broker complaints though that has apparently not stemmed the tide. The division, which is a modest part of J.P. Morgan’s $700 billion-asset-under-management Wealth Management division and dwarfed by its private bank, has mostly targeted major wirehouse producers but the competition for talent has become more fierce to retain and lower attrition.

BIGGEST LOSERS! The Biggest Names In Banking And Wealth Management Are Getting Crushed

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You would think that name recognition and brand value would still hold some sort of sway in this industry. The numbers tell a different story altogether.

The biggest losers when it comes to high-level talent in wealth management are some of the biggest names banking and wealth management has ever seen: J. P. Morgan, Merrill Lynch, and Morgan Stanley. All of them are taking historic talent losses and client assets are following them out the back door.

But it isn’t all about the headline. Each of those firms is ‘losing’ for very different reasons. Let’s deconstruct the dynamics of each firm.

1. J. P. Morgan – compensation and culture are the big problem here. UBS has decided to exploit those pain points for headliner Managing Directors across the country at JPM. It has worked flawlessly. Yes, recruiting deals and ongoing compensation are leading the conversation; but culture and JPM leadership being completely unable to stem the tide is a bigger issue. Outlook – systemic issues with no end in sight.

2. Merrill Lynch – a slow bleed connected to a cancerous host that is Bank of America. They changed the name to ‘Merrill’ and loaded up advisors with bank products. Every meaningful team that remains at ML is either in discussions to leave or has signed retirement deal paperwork and grinning and bearing it. Outlook – the thundering herd has been slaughtered.

3. Morgan Stanley – this story is very different than the two above. MS attrition is just that; a function of industry churn at the biggest firm on the street. Taking a closer look,
Morgan Stanley has recruited just as many teams and client assets as they’ve lost so far this year. This isn’t a culture problem or a management problem; rather an industry problem. Outlook – current talent drain will slow.

These firms are as high profile as they come and it’s a great study in culture. The way they are responding to the talent losses is very, very telling. BofA/Merrill just doesn’t seem to care, which projects institutional malaise and that the division is not integral to the larger entities’ success. JPM has no idea how to deal with what is going on at the Private Bank; which proves institutional arrogance (and incompetence). Morgan Stanley is dealing with losses by aggressively recruiting from its competitors, proving that the current trend at that firm will subside.

Three biggest losers, three different narratives, three different outcomes.

Departures From J. P. Morgan Private Bank Continue Unabated; Denver And Philadelphia Bankers Find Greener Pastures

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The numbers have moved beyond eye-popping at this point. It is no longer an anomaly or ‘normal attrition’ as described in a moment of cognitive dissonance from J. P. Morgan Private Bank’s leadership. We’ve reached levels that should be described as a mass exodus.

More than 10 teams, 50 bankers, and $60B in client assets have left J. P. Morgan (largely for UBS) in the past 7 months. And the pace isn’t slowing. Consider this – there are still large money center cities that have yet to see a J. P. Morgan private banker or team exit. Houston, Chicago, and New York City come to mind. As we hear it, that could change.

The latest moves come from Denver and Philadelphia. Bankers that have spent their entire careers at JPM moved to City National and Cresset.

In Denver, Kevin McGuire chose to join Cresset after a 90-day garden leave. He is joined by Sarah Burney and Jake Schwinn, who will start in August, and Dan Biondi, starting in July.

In Philadelphia, Matthew Salvitti, Tim Pippet, and David Elliott joined City National in June. Their respective careers spanned nearly 40 years at J. P. Morgan Private Bank. They were specifically interested in City National as it is shepherded by Kelly Coffey, former CEO of the J. P. Morgan Private Bank in 2018.

The theme here is that the best and the brightest are leaving the Private Banking ranks. And this is with only one meaningful competitor offering significant upgrades in the comp and recruiting bonuses.

Should Morgan Stanley or Rockefeller enter the fray – the private banking exodus would further accelerate. We hear that both of those firms are seriously discussing doing just that.

J. P. Morgan Private Bank To Hold Conference Call This Week; To Discuss Retaining Top Talent (LOL)

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In a conversation with a current and prominent J. P. Morgan Private Banker, several internal strategies for dealing with the current exodus were shared with us. To describe those strategies as ‘underwhelming’ would be exceptionally kind. It’s as if J. P. Morgan Private Bank leadership has never faced any actual ‘live bullets’ by way of competition.

To be more clear – they have no idea what they are doing.

Two strategies that were shared with us seemed so weak that we couldn’t believe them until they were explained even further: a conference call this week to discuss retaining top talent and 10% salary increases for top analysts (that was widely panned by the actual analysts).

To better understand the conference call later this week to ‘retain top talent’ – let’s break it down. This is a call by management at JPM PB to discuss WITH top talent how they’d like to be retained. This is how far behind the curve JPM PB leaders are. Nearly two months after massive teams in Dallas and San Francisco walked away from the firm (as well as Atlanta, Miami, NJ, CT, LA, etc etc) management is hosting a call to ask “well what do you guys think”. Omg! We expect a guy like Josh Navarro to have lots to say lol.

The other strategy had to do with paying lower-level employees at the Private Bank an extra $5k a year. Seriously? That’s an extra $400 a month, or about $280 after taxes. So not even enough for a decent meal once a month in most money center cities.

And you wonder why the mass exodus to UBS and Morgan Stanley isn’t about to slow down.

Remember we told you that David Frame (CEO of the Private Bank) is on the hot seat. That seat gets warmer by the day when the best he’s got is conference calls and “we promise to pay you more, trust us (but we won’t put it in writing).”

Just an FYI – when a JPM Private Banker moves to UBS they literally put the next 10-12 years of annual comp and bonuses in an actual contract. Not words, a contract. Read that again.

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BREAKING: J. P. Morgan Private Bank Exodus Continues; Another $20M Team Bolts For UBS

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The continued exodus of J. P. Morgan Private Bank employees isn’t showing any signs of slowing down. We’ve gone from monthly resignations of large-scale teams, to weekly at this point.

The latest team just ‘decamped’ from the Indianapolis JPM Private Bank location and the stats sound like a broken record. Information that was passed to us from inside JPM has a team with more than $20M in annual revenues and more than $6B in assets announcing their resignations to local management and signaling their intentions to join UBS once their garden leaves expire.

The team has requested to be left anonymous until their garden leaves finalize and a more formal announcement will be made. In conversations with UBS sources, the move was confirmed and the anonymity of the team was requested again. But know this, inside JPM everyone is acutely aware of the talent hitting the doors.

The larger narrative remains the same for UBS and J. P. Morgan Private Bank – it’s at once a ‘kid in a candy store’ and a bloodbath. We’ve heard from multiple other teams still in the due diligence process that chuckled at the raises offered to MDs to try and stem the tide. As the saying goes, when compared to what UBS is offering, it’s like ‘tripping over nickels.’Expect more announcements over the next 60-90 days, at which point UBS may be ‘full up’ on JPM Private Bankers.

JP Morgan Private Bank Source – “It’s chaos around here, nobody knows how to respond…”

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Take a quick look at the latest numbers associated with transitions from one firm to another across the industry – it’s a bloodbath. J.P Morgan Private Bank and J.P.Morgan Securities are getting their collective teeth kicked in. The world’s most prominent bank is getting hammered week after week and month after month, with what looks like an accelerating pace at the moment.

Between UBS and Morgan Stanley, the predominant buyers of ‘banking’ teams in the wealth management space, JPM has lost more than $30B to UBS and another $5B to Morgan Stanley.

A couple of quotes were given to us by a current JPM private banker and a source at UBS that seems to sum up the current state of things at Jamie Dimon’s shop:

“It is chaos over here right now,” said our source at JPM, “they are trying to patch up gaping holes with the type of rhetoric usually reserved for therapy, and making monetary promises about end-of-year bonuses that aren’t attached to any guarantees or paperwork.”

“JPM management feels a lot like the end of the movie ‘Miracle’ right now”, said a source at UBS. “The US team coaches, as time wound down, couldn’t understand why the Russians weren’t pulling the goalie in the last minutes while trailing. Ultimately they realized that the Russian coaches and team were so shocked to be in a losing position that they didn’t know how to respond. That’s JPM Private Bank and their management right now, they have no idea what to do.”UBS in particular has found a silver bullet for landing private banking teams and the ‘asset transfer’ ledger is proof. They are leading all the recruiting ranking this year by a figure of nearly 4x the firm in the second position (Rockefeller).

So far JPM’s response financial response has been tepid at best. Rumor has it that senior bankers are getting promises of $100k increases in year-end bonuses and larger percentage-based salary bumps. That ain’t gonna get it, dude. The exodus will continue.

UBS Destroying Recruiting Rivals

NEW RECORD: UBS Destroying Recruiting Rivals; Adds More Than $30B In Net New Assets Through April

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UBS has taken over the high-end wealth management recruiting market and is showing no signs of letting up. Through the first four months of 2021, ending in April, UBS has added more than $30B in client assets to the firm’s US wealth management operations. Everyone else is scrambling to figure out why and attempting to play catch up.

Somewhere, deep in the bunker that is the UBS recruiting department in Weehawken, NJ, a decision was made nearly a year ago to make two strategic pivots: value private bankers in the same way they value traditional advisors and remove all the hurdles from their traditional rivals deal. An explosion occurred.

Here is a short (but nowhere near all-inclusive) list of the biggest moves to UBS through 2021:

  1. J. P. Morgan Private Bank, Dallas $10B
  2. J. P. Morgan Private Bank, Los Angeles $6.5B
  3. J. P. Morgan Private Bank, Miami $5B
  4. J. P. Morgan Private Bank, Atlanta $9B
  5. Wells Fargo Private Bank, San Diego $2B
  6. BofA Private Bank, San Francisco $2B**a little math above, that’s already more than $30B. Wow.

This recruiting run is unprecedented. Historic. Never been done before. Ever. $30B in four months? There has never been a firm that has approached that number in 6 months across the history of wealth management recruiting.

For comparison’s sake, Rockefeller is currently having a banner year in recruiting with $10B in recruited AUM. So fully an entire 2/3 behind UBS. And if recruiting chatter is any indication, expect UBS’ success to continue.

As we’ve discussed in previous articles the keys to this surge have been the aggressive move into private banking and the removal of all hurdles for teams at firms like Merrill and Morgan Stanley. Other traditional rivals like Wells Fargo and Rockefeller continue to pitch asset/revenue matrix models with hurdles year over year. Effectively, UBS’ has brought a fully guaranteed deal to market.

The response?? The numbers don’t lie – it’s historic.