The industry has been buzzing about  "a new era" of independent advisers, who make the traditional stock broker little more than an artifact, for at least a decade now. It's one of the perpetual trends, like the decline of the NYSE specialists, which was discussed for 40 years (no joke) years before it finally happened.

You have to admit, however, even if you are sick of the issue, that the credit crunch has had a huge effect on the brokerage industry. We've noted that the traditional wirehouse brokers have some work to do to repair their brands. The name Merrill Lynch doesn't quite carry the same customer wallop it did five or 10 years ago.

But here's the thing: the brand value of a traditional wirehouse has eroded to an even greater degree with brokers themselves. Forbes suggests that the wave of broker defections will continue. The credit crunch, in many ways, offers a great opportunity for some to finally leave a UBS or a Merrill Lynch. To hear some former brokers tell it, potential customers are almost disgusted with the idea of putting their money in a wirehouse, given their parental woes. They've also gotten hip to a lot of the once-hidden conflicts of interest. If a traditional broker is pushing a product hard, you can bet he or she stands to get a juicy commission.

Business Week notes something phenomenal: customers are actively urging their brokers to leave the wirehouses. It says the stream of brokers leaving the wirehouses has turned into a rush as of late, to the benefit of the likes of Fidelity and Charles Schwab. The idea that independents face a dearth of quality products apart from the big boys is almost laughable these days.

How big a problem will this be for Bank of America, owners of Merrill's thundering herd, and others? They've got a lot of work to do. Until they can come up with a customer friendly business model, the sad ongoing decline will remain intact. - Jim