Totally Missing the Point

Every now and then I write here about work. Usually it's to complain about the amazing cast of characters with whom I share office space. Today it's different. I feel like Johnny Smith in the Dead Zone. It's like I can see the future, but that doesn't necessarily mean I can change it.

I guess that statement needs explaining.

The Ancient and Venerable Bank of Baltimore that is my employer is changing. Not the whole bank, just the part that employees me. They hired some New York bigwigs and they are doing a make over of the investment part of the business.

The AVBofB was always a stable performer. It plodded like it was over 100 years old, which it is. Right now, though, is a lousy time to be a bank or for that matter an investment firm. Stocks are tanking daily. Rates are in the basement. Firms with outstanding loans are failing. And right now is when they are trying to give the AVBofB a shot of something. A little business viagra, if you will.

But those of us in the trenches see a real problem. The bigwigs keep hyping market differentiation. That's what sells. All the while they are destroying the very thing that was our differentiation.

What we were was slow, steady and stable. With a personal touch and one-on-one customer service. It may have been a hodge podge, but it was the kind of place that an old guy calling for someone who hadn't been his service provider for 2 years would still get a call back from the right person.

What they are building is assembly line investment. You don't get assigned to an individual advisor unless you have a certain amount of $$. Your portfolio will be matched to a model portfolio determined by someone else. No more hashing out what to buy individually with your advisor. Unless you have enough $$ to make the rules you follow our rules. You get classified right away by the size of your investment. I don't think they even call you wealthy unless you have over $10 million.

The very fiber of the place is changing. They've changed it from country doctor to HMO. Yet they are still optimistic. They think they are going places. I think they are going down. Unfortunately they are taking us and an ancient and venerable institution with them.