BrokersXpress hires first branch managers

By Helen Kearney

NEW YORK, Aug 17 (Reuters) - BrokersXpress has hired its first branch managers in a bid to lure more advisers away from large Wall Street firms, the independent broker-dealer said on Tuesday.

BrokersXpress, a unit of Chicago-based OptionsXpress Holdings Inc, hired Marc Margolies and Daniel Levene to establish a new office in Boca Raton, Florida.

Margolies spent seven years at UBS AG Wealth Management Americas, where he was the Boca Raton branch manager and a business development manager. Prior to that he spent nearly a decade at Prudential Securities.

Levene was the co-founder of independent broker-dealer Pointe Capital Inc. He sold the firm to the now defunct GunnAllen Financial Inc in 2009.

Barry Metzger, chief executive of BrokersXpress, which currently has 300 advisers, said he hoped the new managers would help recruit more 'breakaway brokers' to join the firm.

'This helps bridge the culture from a wirehouse to an independent firm. It reduces the culture shock,' Metzger told Reuters.

Previously, advisers who joined the firm had to set up their own offices and all compliance and technical support was centralized in Chicago.

In the new office, advisers will pay a monthly fee to 'rent' a desk and the branch managers will be on-site for supervision and compliance. The managers will be paid a salary by the firm and also get a percentage of the revenue created by the advisers in the office.

'A breakaway broker can leave their firm on a Friday and be ready to start with us on Monday,' said Margolies. 'They don't have to worry about finding a space.'

The new managers hope to recruit 30 to 40 brokers over the next 18 months, according to Margolies. It is targeting the 'unloved' lower-producing advisers at large firms who generate $400,000 or less in annual fees and commissions.

Rather than the 20 percent payout that some lower-producing advisers receive at large firms, they will retain between 75 percent to 95 percent of the fees and commissions they generate, according to Metzger.

'We're looking for the lower to mid-tier brokers who are tired of financing the guys in the corner offices,' said Margolies.

(Reporting by Helen Kearney; editing by Andre Grenon) Keywords: BROKERSXPRESS/MANAGERS (helen.kearney@thomsonreuters; [phone]; Reuters Messaging: [e-mail]) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.