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August 01, 2014 at 09:52 AM
UBS advisors in the Americas continue to improve their individual results and surpassed a key wirehouse rival when it comes to average fees and commissions per rep as of Q2’14.
“Wealth Management Americas delivered record revenues on invested assets that exceeded $1 trillion for the first time. Financial advisor productivity also reached an all-time high,” said UBS Group CEO Sergio Ermotti, on a call with shareholders on Tuesday.
However, UBS Wealth Management Americas also saw its client flows reverse course after 15 quarters of positive momentum, an indication of just how competitive the business remains.
In the period ending June 30, UBS Americas said client assets topped $1 trillion for the first time. Net new money, though, turned negative; the unit had outflows of $2.5 billion “mainly due to client withdrawals associated with seasonal income tax payments,” the company said in a report.
“The quarter’s results need to be put in the context of WMA’s very strong net new money track record, with nearly $60 billion of net inflows over the last 16 quarters,” Ermotti explained on the call.
On average, UBS advisors in the United States and Latin America are outproducing their wirehouse rivals. They had $1.07 million in yearly fees and commissions as of June 30 — outpacing advisors at Merrill Lynch (BAC), $1.06 million, and Morgan Stanley, $908,000.
Of course, there’s always room to grow: Merrill Lynch says that its experienced reps — who have gone through a 3.5-year training program or were hired as experienced advisors — produce some $1.34 million in yearly fees and commissions on average.
In terms of average client assets per rep, the Merrill advisors are slightly ahead at an estimated $144.5 million. But the UBS reps are very close at $143 million.
Morgan Stanley’s advisors have about $123 million in average client assets, while those at Wells Fargo average about $92 million.
