One week after accepting the role of president at E-Trade Securities Inc., Frank J. Petrilli has decided to return to his old job as president and chief operating officer of TD Waterhouse Group, a unit of Toronto- Dominion.
Mr. Petrilli, 48, cited "personal and family reasons" for his abrupt change of heart.
"Perhaps I made a hasty decision to go to E-Trade and not pursue growth opportunities at Toronto-Dominion," said Mr. Petrilli, speaking Wednesday on his first day back at his old post in TD Waterhouse's New York headquarters. The decision to jump to E-Trade was made "very quickly," within a matter of days, he said.
Mr. Petrilli was set to join Menlo Park, Calif.-based E-Trade sometime in the next several weeks, to run its retail brokerage, asset management, and clearing businesses.
But factors such as the likelihood that he would eventually have to relocate to the West Coast, despite having recently gotten married and moved into a new house in the New York area, forced him to rethink his decision, he said.
And TD Waterhouse has apparently made it worth his while to return. "I did receive more options on the way back," he said.
TD Waterhouse went public in June in a bid to cash in on high valuations for Internet-related firms. The $1 billion offering was the largest initial public offering for an Internet-related company. Since the company went public, however, the stock has lost some of its luster, falling from a high of $26.125 a share to about $16.
TD Waterhouse, a subsidiary of Toronto-Dominion Bank, was the No. 3 ranked on-line broker at the end of the first quarter, according to research from Credit Suisse First Boston. Holding 11.6% of the on-line market, TD Waterhouse was just a notch down from E-Trade, which was in second position with 12.9%. San Francisco-based Charles Schwab & Co. led the herd with 27.5% of the market.
At E-Trade, Mr. Petrillo was set to succeed Kathy Levinson, who had been appointed president of E-Trade Group, the brokerage's parent. Ms. Levinson will continue to have a dual role at the company until another successor is found, a company spokesman said. He declined to discuss Mr. Petrillo's decision.
Keith Gray, who was to succeed Mr. Petrillo at TD Waterhouse, will work on "special assignments," Mr. Petrillo said.
Mr. Petrillo had been at TD Waterhouse since January 1995 and was previously president and chief executive officer of American Express Centurion Bank.
