US wealth manager headcount shrunk by 14,000 last year

The ranks of brokers and investment advisers working at brokerages, banks and independent firms among others fell by almost 14,000, or 4.1%, in 2010, according to a Cerulli Associates report which tracks the movement of people and assets among US businesses. Despite the overall decline, the Cerulli report suggests the four largest brokerages - Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, Bank of America's Merrill Lynch, Wells Fargo Advisors and UBS Wealth Management Americas - are losing advisers and clients to independent broker-dealers and investment advisers. Industry-wide, the adviser population ...