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Last November, major brokerage firms started announcing their compensation plans for the year ahead. While most remained relatively unchanged, with a few minor tweaks here and there, Merrill Lynch gave their comp plan its first major overhaul since 2009, stating the industry shift to advisory business as a big motivator for these changes.

The biggest changes to their comp plan were:

It’s now been a few months since these changes were announced and the aftershock is starting to take effect. It’s no surprise that many of the firm’s 11,000 brokers were not thrilled with the new compensation plan, as it has the potential for deep (and possibly negative) implications for their businesses. With the changes to their 2023 plan, those with fewer fee-based accounts will be more heavily penalized, as will those who rely more on commissioned-based revenue.