UBS Postpones Advisor Comp Changes

UBS would not comment on the news, reported by AdvisorHub and based on a memo from Jason Chandler, who heads the roughly 6,000 advisors in the United States. 

Late last year, UBS increased its cash-grid thresholds for 2020 in a move to push growth. The new plan requires advisors with payouts of between 39% and 50% of revenues to increase their fees and commissions by $200,000 in 2020 to achieve the same payouts earned in 2019.

For instance, a 28% payout is earned when advisors produce $300,000 in revenue vs. $200,000 in 2019. The 37% payout is available to advisors with $500,000 to $625,000 in revenue, while a 45% payout applies to those with $2 million to $2.5 million. 

In late December 2019, UBS said the new team revenue thresholds for its combined team grid, or CTG, and highest producer grid, HPG, would take effect on July 1, 2020, along with the new production thresholds for industry length of service. Average production per advisor for the CTG and HPG team qualification, though, went into effect on Jan. 1.

In late March, Morgan Stanley postponed (to Oct. 1) a planned jump in the levels of yearly fees and commissions (or production) under $5 million used as thresholds in the incentive comp grid. The shift generally boosts the production thresholds below $5 million by some 10%. 

The wirehouse kept in place some shifts previously set to start May 1, including one tied to net acquired assets, which lets advisors earn up to 3 percentage points on the credit rate applied to revenue from clients with NAA of $5 million and up. It also will use assets plus liabilities to determine if a household is subject to its small-household policy.