UBS Leaves Comp Plan Unchanged for 2021

Last week, UBS rival Wells Fargo Advisors said it raised by $1,000 the monthly revenue hurdle that its brokers must reach before they receive a higher payout rate. This move marked the first shift in the WFA hurdle since 2014.

Also in 2021, WFA Private Client Group brokers, who number about 10,000, will see their payout level rise from a base of 22% to 50% if they meet the new monthly hurdle of total fees and commissions of $12,500-$14,250, which is up from $11,500-$13,250 this year. (Exact payouts depend on the achievement of key production and client-centric goals, according to the Wells Fargo.)

Merrill Lynch recently said it has eliminated pay to advisors on all client household accounts under $250,000; it did though leave its core incentive compensation grid intact for 2021.

Performance hurdles for Merrill’s growth grid, meanwhile, will remain at the same levels introduced in mid-2020. The wirehouse slightly tweaked its team grid program, which factors in an entire advisor team’s book.

It also made a slight tweak to compensation on cash accounts, moving from 4.0 basis points to 2.0 basis points on the credits brokers get on cash deposits in bank and brokerage accounts, money market funds, bank CDs and brokered CDs.

Rival Morgan Stanley hasn’t announced its 2021 comp plan yet. It did say in March that it was delaying an important change to its compensation plans until October. The shift, involving a jump in the levels of yearly fees and commissions under $5 million used as thresholds in the incentive comp grid, had been set to start April 1.

See: 13 Best-Worst Broker-Dealers: Q3 Earnings, 2020