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"The
whole industry is struggling" to serve the almost-forgotten
segment that Wall Street labels "affluent," Thiel said at the
Reuters Wealth Management Summit. "They're not getting enough
time and attention."
Merrill, a Bank of America Corp firm with more than 14,000
brokers, and competitors such as UBS Wealth Management Americas
and Morgan Stanley have been urging brokers to focus on
so-called high-net-worth investors with more than $1 million to
invest or ultra-high-worth clients with at least $10 million to
$25 million.
But the affluent in the United States represent a $10 trillion
market "so we're not giving up on that," Thiel said at the
summit held at Reuters' New York headquarters.
He declined to elaborate on what Merrill is considering, other
than to say that the rapid growth of so-called robo-advisers
with low-priced computer-generated investments are creating
innovations for affluent investors.
More than 30 such investment platforms, from start-ups to new
ventures from Charles Schwab Corp and The Vanguard Group have
been started in the past four years.
Their ability to automatically rebalance client portfolios so
that they meet investors' risk appetites and goals have likely
attracted the affluent "because there was a need," Thiel said.
He said Merrill brokers will be able to give more hands-on
advice because of automated procedures such as rebalancing.
"We're going to make sure our resources are matched against the
opportunity," Thiel said.
Merrill does not pay its advisers to service clients with less
than $250,000, whom they refer to Bank of America's no-frills
Merrill Edge platform.
(Reporting By Jed Horowitz and Ross J. Kerber)
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