Some dramatic changes played out on the list of the county’s largest financial advisers.
The financial crisis on Wall Street last fall and this spring led to a number of closures and consolidations among companies operating here, shrinking the list by two entries from last year.
The county’s 18 largest financial advisers—companies that trade stocks, make investments and otherwise manage money for individual clients—lost 186 licensed brokers in the past 12 months, a 10.6% decline to 1,570 people, according to this week’s Business Journal list.
The list includes investment brokers at investment banks, financial services companies and at the money management arms of banks.
The term “financial advisers” is new to our list and replaces “stock brokerages” on last year’s list. The move is designed to better reflect a changed industry.
The new financial advisers list this week ranks companies by registered representatives who hold licenses to sell stocks and other investments at investment banks, traditional banks and other companies.
The companies on the list employ 10,528 people here overall, including financial advisers and other workers, up 7.1% from a year earlier.
The total employment number is skewed by No. 1 Wells Fargo & Co. and No. 3 Bank of America Corp., which took on employees amid consolidation during the financial crisis.
Late last year, BofA bought New York-based Merrill Lynch, while Wells Fargo bought Charlotte, N.C.-based Wachovia Corp.
Our numbers for BofA and Wells try to factor in the consolidation and reflect job losses that occurred along the way.
Five of the companies on the list posted registered broker losses. Three saw gains. Three were flat. Seven were Business Journal estimates.
The investment business often tracks with the performance of the stock market.
Investors have been on a wild ride in the past year. While the S&P 500 index is up 15% for the past 12 months, it saw a 35% selloff into March before rallying about 50% into this fall.
Top Spots
No. 1 Wells Fargo Investments LLC, the money management arm of Wells Fargo, has become the largest adviser here after its buyout of Wachovia, which owns Wachovia Securities LLC.
The purchase also gave the San Francisco-based company the advisory business of A.G. Edwards & Sons Inc., a previous acquisition of Wachovia’s.
In all, Wells Fargo is estimated at 400 financial advisers here, which presumes a big gain from Wachovia plus some layoffs in the consolidation.
Before the combination, Wells Fargo had about 210 licensed advisers here.
More job losses may come for it in the future as it takes several years to combine its new businesses, said Michael Villanueva, Wells Fargo regional brokerage manager.
“We’re going to do everything we can to reduce job losses related to the merger and restructuring,” Villanueva said.
The company, which taps banking customers at branches to grow its investment business, counts 131 locations here, up from 37 a year ago.
The Business Journal estimates total employment number for Wells at 3,800, up from 2,900 a year earlier.
No. 2 Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC moved up three spots from last year’s list.
The investment bank expanded when parent company Morgan Stanley bought into the Smith Barney business from Citigroup Inc., which came into trouble during the financial crisis.
Citigroup said last month it would eventually sell off its remaining stake in Smith Barney. The cash-strapped company has received $45 billion in bailout money from the government.
Morgan Stanley counts 314 licensed advisers here, down from 349 a year ago, or a 10% drop. Its number of offices here held steady at 13.
The total worker count for it here fell to 473 from 569 a year ago, a 17% drop.
Reorganization
No. 3 Bank of America Merrill Lynch moves up a spot in the ranks with 260 advisers.
Merrill dominated the list for years with the most licensed financial advisers here.
BofA’s financial advisers were reorganized into the Merrill Lynch Wealth Management unit, though they keep the BofA logo on their business cards as a reminder.
The company has gone back to hiring after its initial layoffs, said Greg Mech, regional manag-ing director of the Southwest region and Bank of America Orange County market president.
Companywide, BofA said it’s hired several hundred advisers since January.
No number was given for the OC market.
Merrill’s wealth management business is the lion’s share of what it does locally, Mech said.
“The client’s goals haven’t changed much over the years,” he said. “It’s more or less business as usual. But clearly it’s a time when clients need more from us.”
Bank of America’s financial advisers also include its U.S. Trust wealth management business, which it bought from Charles Schwab Corp. in late 2006.
The bottom of the list saw some movement, pushed by consolidation at the top.
No. 4 Centaurus Financial Inc. moved up from No. 8 a year ago with 92 advisers, up by three from a year earlier.
The company that caters to independent advisers who work for themselves has 32 offi-ces here and about 50 non-licensed employees.
No. 5 Roth Capital Partners LLC added a dozen brokers for a 15% increase as it moved into the No. 5 spot from No. 12.
The company added an eighth office. Its headquarters and only local office remains in Newport Beach, where it has 110 employees.
No. 6 New York-based UBS Financial Services Inc. shed 42 licensed representatives to bring its total here to 79. The 35% loss was the largest percentage drop on the list, though the company still moved up a spot on the list.
No. 8 San Francisco-based Charles Schwab & Co. moved up a notch while losing 10 advisers to bring its total to 48, a 17% drop.
No. 12 Crowell, Weedon & Co. of Los Angeles also moved up a notch despite shutting down its Irvine office and shedding four advisers. It still has its Newport Beach location.
No. 13 TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. of Omaha moved up five spots as it added six licensed representatives to bring its total here to 21. The 40% increase was the largest percentage jump on the list. No. 5 Roth Capital added the largest amount of registered representatives with 12.
