Sontag in, McCann out as Merrill brokerage chief

Dan Sontag has been appointed head of Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc.'s Global Wealth Management unit.

Dan Sontag has been appointed head of Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc.’s Global Wealth Management unit.
He replaces Robert J. McCann, whose departure was announced yesterday in an internal memo by Merrill’s chief executive, John Thain. The change comes days after Bank of America Corp.’s acquisition of Merrill was finalized Jan. 1.
A 30-year veteran of Merrill, Mr. Sontag has served in a variety of producer and leadership roles in Global Wealth Management throughout his tenure.
Most recently, he was head of Americas Wealth Management.
Mr. Thain, former chief executive at New York-based Merrill, is now president of Bank of America’s global banking securities and wealth management division.
Mr. McCann, 50, was the vice chairman of the company’s global wealth management division and had been expected to retain his role following the completion of the merger.
During a conference call with its brokers in September, Mr. Thain said that it was his firm’s expectation that Mr. McCann would run the wealth management business at the combined firm.
“Without having any particular discussion about that, the expectation is that Bob will run the wealth management business,” Mr. Thain said, adding that Mr. McCann had likely leaked his expected promotion to the press.
In one of his final tasks at Merrill, Mr. McCann was responsible for crafting a retention package that was sent to the company’s roughly 16,800 brokers Oct. 24.
“I don’t think he got what he wanted out of the merger and the level of responsibility that he was looking for,” said Alois Pirker, a senior analyst at consulting firm Aite Group LLC in Boston. “Ultimately, he was playing nice and holding back the announcement until the merger was consummated.”
Mr. McCann held many positions during his time at the company.
In a move to boost morale amid a slew of job cuts, former Merrill chief executive E. Stanley O’Neal brought Mr. McCann back in August 2003 after he spent several months as vice chairman and director of distribution and marketing for Axa Financial Inc. of New York.
Mr. Thain said that Mr. McCann told him: “After much reflection and deliberation, I have decided that this is the right time for me to move on. This was not an easy decision.”
As for Mr. McCann, Mr. Pirker is expecting many firms to line up to sign him on.
“I think he could hurt Merrill a lot if he joins a different firm in the wealth management space,” Mr. Pirker said.