Will the Bank of America Merrill Lynch combination ever truly work? That's been a huge question in the industry ever since the deal was announced, and so far few people are willing to respond with a resounding yes. The jury is still out. And it could be deliberating for a long time. But there are reasons to be skeptical, that's for sure.

This brings us to Ronald Rienas and Joshua Brown, 18- and 14-year veterans of Merrill Lynch, where they manage $260 million and generate about $2 million in revenue. But accoridng to Investment News, they have worked their last day in Merrill's Scarsdale, N.Y. office.

They now run their own boutique under the Ameriprise Financial banner.

"In the last six months, we'd become bankers as well as advisers, and it just took up too much time. I have no problem looking at banking products on behalf of clients, but I don't want to spend my time on late credit card payments or checking fees. I want to focus strictly on financial planning," one said as he departed.

The depth of their feelings is underscored by the fact that they left a lot of incentive money on the table to make the move.

It's fair to say that lots of people in the Thundering Herd have similar emotions about the efforts to synergize Bank of America bank products with Merrill Lynch investment products. So far, one and one are adding up to less than two, and that's not a problem easily solved. Incoming head of the brokerage unit John Thiel and his boss Sallie Krawcheck have a lot of work to do in that regard.  

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