The WSJ is reporting a "new" plan at Merrill Lynch that will allow retiring brokers to continue to receive commissions on their customer accounts after they retire.
While it is being spun as an attempt to help brokers, it is undoubtedly designed to keep customers. And is this really anything new? Wirehouses have been using retirement agreements, where a retiring rep gets paid a percentage of the commissions generated by his customers after he leaves, for years.
But ultimately, the announcement is good news for reps who are looking to retire, and for those reps who are looking to take over their accounts
