Merrill Lynch on adviser sign-up trail

MerrillLynch’s private client division is undergoing its biggest campaign in several years to sign up advisers as the group embarks on a notable expansion of the high-net-worth focused business.

The firm is close to completing its first round of planner sign-ups — the initial stage of a broader plan to replicate its main Sydney-based operations in Melbourne.

Once the initiative is complete, it will result in up to a dozen advisers — three of which will commence shortly — joining its Victoria operations, and effectively kick-starting its business in the state, which to date has been manned by a sole adviser.

The group is also in the process of adding two advisers to its Sydney arm, bringing the total to 10. However, this will grow to up to 15 once the recruitment push is complete, according to Merrill Lynch head of private clients, Kenn MacMillan.

“What I’m looking to do is grow the Sydney business by adding four or five advisers, but what I’m really looking to do is replicate what we have in Sydney in Melbourne,” he says.

According to MacMillan, the expansion push will not be hasty, but more of a “selective expansion”, and he adds that head office has given him a mandate to grow the division along with the freedom of how this will be achieved.

“The main plus for us is that the private client business is very profitable,” MacMillan says.

“We look after 600 clients who have combined assets of around $2 billion, which equates to an average account balance of $3.5 million.”

Two years ago, the group restructured its private client division to shift focus away from offering standard retail financial advice, enabling it to then concentrate on the high-net-worth end of the market.