September 29, 2021
Merrill Lynch’s eight-week Challenge Thunder marketing campaign rolled on with its fifth spherical of updates on Wednesday that touted a brand new cellular app for dealer telephones, an increasing annuity line-up and extra belief specialists.
The three adjustments, launched in a weekly inside publication, are in-line with different procedural or coverage tweaks which have been geared toward making it simpler for the agency’s brokers to do enterprise and ameliorating some frequent ache factors for brokers at a time when Merrill has seen elevated attrition.
Wednesday’s memo touts a brand new cellular device referred to as the Cell Advisor Expertise, or “MAX” that can combine a number of dealer desktop options, together with viewing consumer info and texting shoppers, into one software.
With the app replace, which launched this month and shall be expanded over the following 12 months, brokers will be capable of view consumer profiles and in addition take notes by way of Salesforce, Inc. utilizing the app.
Beforehand, brokers had entry to that info however had to make use of an organization iPad with pre-loaded apps, in response to a dealer on the agency.
Within the second class of adjustments, Merrill can be “responding to advisor suggestions” by including New York Life three-year fastened annuities along with Symetra and Pacific Life merchandise that had been added in July and permitting for some annuity transactions to be accomplished by digital signature.
“This answer supplies shoppers a possibility to guard towards draw back threat and earn a hard and fast charge of return—whereas providing a shorter period to permit for future flexibility,” the agency mentioned within the memo.
Lastly, Merrill will even be including 4 belief officers who will help advisors in administering “refined” buyer plans along with staffing 20 different belief officer positions in native Merrill branches and regional facilities for additional assist.
It is going to even be creating a brand new Property Settlement Companies workforce that “will speed up evaluate and acceptance of latest estates,” in response to the memo.
The Merrill dealer mentioned that the adjustments, notably the brand new cellular app, “shall be properly obtained for some.”
“However as soon as once more, all issues that must be a part of the platform,” the dealer, who spoke on situation of anonymity, mentioned.
Merrill’s marketing campaign up to now has launched a variety of tweaks, which it calls “wins.” It mentioned within the first week that it will permit some veteran brokers to deliver next-of-kin straight onto groups relatively than forcing them to undergo the financial institution coaching program. It could additionally make it simpler for brokers to tackle prospects who had marijuana-related companies and has made some coverage adjustments, together with permitting brokers to ship non-branded greeting playing cards.
In the meantime, quite a few multi-million greenback producers have continued to exit, together with groups with $1 billion-plus in belongings who left in Colorado and Oregon up to now two weeks.
“Advisor attrition proper now could be increased than we’d like,” Merrill Lynch Wealth President Andy Sieg mentioned in a city corridor earlier this month through which he additionally informed brokers to count on few adjustments to their 2022 compensation plan.
“It’s a subject we have now talked about,” Sieg mentioned of the attrition. “We’re coping with it.”