Krawcheck attempts to put thunder’ back in Merrill’s brokerage force

Sallie Krawcheck made a bold statement last week in her first public remarks since being tapped as president of Bank of America Corp.’s global wealth and investment management unit — a statement that will apparently be backed up with millions of dollars from BofA over the next several months.

“The bull is back,” she said at a press conference in New York, in reference to the logo of Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc., the brokerage house she was brought in to oversee. “It personifies the culture of an organization that is strong, opportunistic and shows leadership.”

Indeed, Ms. Krawcheck — who also took periodic jabs at BofA/Merrill’s registered independent adviser competition — said that BofA will pony up about $20 million this quarter to support the marketing of the relaunched Merrill Lynch Wealth Management brand.

She outlined the details of her new campaign — which will rely heavily on the image of the iconic Merrill bull — and will focus on the different kinds of help Merrill’s 15,000 advisers can give their clients.

Internal research studies showed that clients now “expect financial advisers to be proactive,” Ms. Krawcheck said. As a result, the campaign was designed to “foster a sense of advocacy and trust,” she said.

The campaign will feature television commercials, ads in newspapers, magazines and websites, and will extend into next year.

In addition to relaunching the Merrill brand to consumers, the new campaign is “as much about getting [Merrill] financial advisers galvanized,” Ms. Krawcheck said.

Indeed, she spent much of the press conference discussing the state — and state of mind — of Merrill’s “Thundering Herd.”

She acknowledged that “there has been a good deal of turnover at the top of the organization.”

But she said that the firm’s primary competition for talent — the RIA channel — has struggled since the start of the economic downturn.

Ms. Krawcheck pointed to internal BofA/Merrill research that “shows that clients were using the independent channel less in the past year.”

In addition, she said she chose to join BofA/Merrill last month, as opposed to starting her own firm or joining a smaller wealth management boutique, because independents “don’t have the vast depth of capabilities and resources” of a large financial services corporation.

“That’s the winning combination for the future,” Ms. Krawcheck said.

With the markets recovering some in recent months, she said, “it feels to me like the momentum is turning” for Merrill.

Specifically, Ms. Krawcheck noted that Merrill brought on 46 new advisers last week, on top of 135 new advisers in the previous four weeks.

At that rate, she said, the firm would be “on track to see double-digit growth” for the coming year.

Strategic and tactical plans for wealth management were still being formulated, Ms. Krawcheck said.

The new management team she appointed has begun “working through” a budget and three-year plan for global wealth and investment management, she said.

U.S. Trust, BofA’s private bank for high-net-worth clients, is a “very important business for us,” Ms. Krawcheck said.

The capabilities of Merrill and U.S. Trust “fit together like a glove,” she said, expressing confidence that the two units can work very well together” in the future.

Ms. Krawcheck also announced that Merrill will launch Affluent Insights, a quarterly survey of high-net-worth Americans in which they will be asked about the financial issues affecting them.

She declined to comment on speculation that she may be in the running to succeed Ken Lewis as BofA’s chief executive.

But she did say that she is “very much focused” on wealth management and its capabilities, which she considers “the crown jewel of this industry.”

E-mail Charles Paikert at [email protected].

Related Topics: Bank Of America Corp., Merrill Lynch