Need Money for a New Crane?
by More things have changed than the name since the Dayton office of Merrill Lynch Pierce Fenner & Beane Inc. opened in 1955, according to Blaine P. Werner, the newly named vice president and branch manager at Dayton’s largest brokerage house.
Mr. Smith replaced Mr. Beane in the long name. And the company prefers the shorter Merrill Lynch.
But the wall that separated investment and commercial banking has all but dissolved the last few years.
Wall Street and Main Street bankers now compete for much of the same business. Many commercial banks now sell stocks. Each is broadening its list of services to meet competition and offset to slumps.
“Equities (stocks) account for only about 40 percent of our revenue now,” said Werner, an Amherst College graduate and native Oregonian who succeeds Wil Fritz as Merrill Lynch boss in the Mead Tower.
Mutual fund sales account for 18 percent of Dayton office sales, while certificates of deposit and government investments make up 15 percent. Tax-free bonds add up to 7 percent of sales.
“A lot of people think 70 to 80 percent of our business is equities. That is not true,” said Werner, who comes to Dayton from Wilmington, Del., where he was branch manager 2 1/2 years.
He noted that Merrill Lynch, with $300 billion in assets, has moved into financing small business operations, estate planning, managing retirement accounts and selling life insurance.
“Merrill Lynch offers 150 investments and services to our clients, and stocks are just one of them,” he said.
Despite an uncertain stock market and layoffs on Wall Street, Werner said business in Dayton has remained strong. He expects his financial services operation to grow and plans to boost his 40-person staff of brokers to 48 within two years.
“We had a very successful 2009, with business up more than 10 percent,” said Fritz, who is retiring.
“We feel there is fine potential for growth in greater Dayton area.”
The Dayton office sells in a seven-country area with a population of about 2 million.
Werner said Merrill Lynch’s corporate forecast is bullish on the 2000s because the post-war crop of children finally is old enough to have money left over to invest.
“We think it will be one of the best decades ever in our businesss because 76 million baby boomers are going to go from net consumers to net savers as their children leave the nest,” Werner said.
“That will create a large market for us and our services. That is why Sears, American Express, Prudential and the Japanese got into our business. They look at the same statistics we do.”
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