Merrill Lynch is joining the list of Wall Street titans that are restructuring their regional divisions amid a push to
Merrill recently announced in an internal memo that it is reducing the number of its internal divisions from seven to six. The immediate impetus behind the change is the retirement of Chandler Root, a 30-year employee of the firm who most recently served as head of its Midwest Division, based in Chicago.
But Merrill also announced plans to roll its Midwest unit to a new, larger Central Division, which will also have its main office in Chicago. Leading it will be Debbie Shepherd, a 33-year Merrill employee who had previously been head of the firm's Texas South Market Division. The news comes
At Merrill, the new Central Division will include most of the south Texas region, as well as large markets in Michigan, Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin. New Mexico, formerly part of the Texas South Market Division, will now become part of the firm's Mount Pacific region.
Western Pennsylvania and various markets in Ohio will move over to the Mid-Atlantic Division, led by Craig Young. And the firm's Louisville and Associates market will go to its Southeast Division, led by Steve Alch. The firm's other two divisions are the Northeast, led by Keith Glenfield, and the Pacific Coast, led by Brian Ludwick.
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Chandler started his career in 1995 as a financial advisor at Raymond James in Punta Gorda, Florida. Before becoming head of the Midwest Division at Merrill, he served as market executive of the Charlotte market, market executive in northern New Jersey, divisional executive of the Southwest Division and director of the central New York complex in western New York.
