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Bank of America Merrill Lynch is planning to reward brokers who team up to help clients with financial planning.

As part of the Merrill’s 2014 compensation plan, which was rolled out to some 14,000 advisors last week, the firm is adding a Merrill Lynch Client Experience Achievement Award, a new strategic growth award and enhancements to its succession planning program. (The firm is leaving its payout grid unchanged.)

The Client Experience Achievement Award will apply to advisors who are on a team where one member has a Certified Financial Planning or Certified Financial Analyst designation and has one member who has completed Merrill Lynch’s goals-based wealth management training. The team must also double revenue in five years with 2013 revenue as the baseline.

The award will provide a bonus of 10% of the team’s revenue growth over five years. It will be up to the team as to how the award is distributed among members. A spokeswoman for the firm, Susan McCabe, said that the firm was encouraging, but not mandating teaming.  Around 55% of advisors are currently working on teams, she said. Learn more…