Probably the most closely watched post-merger integration going on right now is the absorption of Merrill Lynch & Co. -- and especially its crown jewel wealth management division -- by Bank of America Corp.
So it was naturally big news Tuesday when Merrill said Robert McCann (pictured), leader of Merrill's nearly 17,000 brokers, would be leaving. The announcement came just days after the Jan. 1 close of the deal.
Whether BofA, with its more conservative commercial bank culture, would be able to keep the Wall Street firm's brokers (and their customers) on board has been the single most important question in this deal. McCann, a Merrill veteran who was popular with the brokers, devised a successful retention program for them, according to a Wall Street Journal
report on his departure.
So with their champion gone, will an exodus of brokers begin?
Not necessarily. Like some other reports, the WSJ headline played up the culture clash element. But the reality looks a bit more complicated. The real clash (based on the Journal's own reporting, as well as
an account in the Financial Times) seems to have been between McCann and John Thain, formerly CEO of Merrill and now president of global banking, securities and wealth management at BofA. While it's true that Thain is a relative newcomer to Merrill, McCann's departure seems (at least from press reports) to have resulted more from a turf battle than a culture clash.
Of course, if those prized brokers become restive as a result, it won't really matter why McCann left. And perhaps a real culture clash (over compensation or cost controls or some aspect of client relations) still awaits. But as experienced integration leaders can attest, a healthy fear of a culture clash is often the best way of avoiding one. -
Kenneth Klee
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