Morgan Stanley Smith Barney is raising its recruiting deal for top-producing advisers, according to people familiar with the situation.
The retail brokerage joint venture will offer top-tier advisers from its competitors up to 330% of their annual production to join the firm, an increase from a previous offer of 230% to 250%. A Morgan Stanley Smith Barney spokeswoman said: "Our recruiting is competitive with everyone else's on the Street," but declined to comment further.
The deal will offer advisers in the top quintile a 140% payment up front, with additional bonuses for asset and production growth. Brokerages use quintiles to rank advisers based upon annual production and length of service.
Morgan Stanley Smith Barney recently reported a total brokerage force of 18,160 in the third quarter, down from 18,444 at the end of the previous quarter. Merrill Lynch has 14,979 brokers.
Morgan Stanley's global wealth management unit had $8.8 billion in domestic outflows in the third quarter because of the loss of several hundred lower-producing advisers from the Smith Barney side. These advisers left around the time the joint venture closed.
