Bank of America Corp.'s legacy financial advisers are transferring to Merrill Lynch's more expansive brokerage platform.
Half the advisers are to make the move in mid-September, and half were converted during the Aug. 21-22 weekend, according to people at the firm.
Bank of America Investment Services, or BAI, was the banking company's adviser group, with about 2,000 brokers, before the Merrill Lynch purchase in December 2008, which increased its adviser force to roughly 15,140 today.
Merrill Lynch has been known for its extensive retail brokerage platform, with sophisticated financial planning tools, investment products, transaction alerts and reporting capabilities. Former BAI advisers must become versed in the new features and technology, and for most it is likely to be worth the effort, the company said.
Clients will get a consolidated view, too, instead of having to look at both MyMerrill.com and B of A's online banking site.
The move to a consolidated banking and brokerage platform has already been available to legacy Merrill Lynch brokers. The full integration of the two operations is to come less than two years after the deal's closing, which is considered fairly fast for a deal of this size.
