Investment banking isn't going to be seen as growth business for a while, which has made good, old-fashioned wealth management look all the more promising. Bank of America certainly has hopes for the Thundering Herd of Merrill Lynch. Morgan Stanley has equally high hopes for its Smith Barney venture.

The stakes seem to be rising, as more firms search for big producers. Bloomberg reports that UBS has lured big producers from the likes of Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley "by offering signing bonuses of as much as 260 percent of the revenue the brokers brought in over the previous 12 months." That is considered huge, much more than what was offered to Merrill Lynch brokers. The bank is offering signing bonuses of 160 percent to 200 percent of commission revenue for brokers beneath the top tier. So the broker wars seems to be entering a new phase. 

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