DATE: Friday, August 22, 1997               TAG: 9708220786

SECTION: BUSINESS                PAGE: D1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY TOM SHEAN, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   50 lines

WHEAT FIRST'S STOCKBROKERS WOOED BY OTHER FIRMS

The campaign to lure productive stockbrokers away from Wheat First Butcher Singer Inc. got under way Thursday, only one day after First Union Corp. announced plans to buy the brokerage firm.

``Wheat First has some very good people, and we see some opportunities,'' said the manager of a national brokerage firm's Norfolk office.

The manager, who asked that he not be identified, said he called one Wheat First broker about joining his firm and received calls from two others at Wheat First.

The Richmond-based brokerage firm has 1,053 brokers in 19 states, including 71 at its half-dozen offices in Hampton Roads. Wheat First has more brokers and offices in the region than any other securities firm.

Because of the strong ties that most brokers develop with clients, brokerage firms can add significantly to their revenues by luring away productive brokers from other firms.

At the Norfolk office of brokerage firm Scott & Stringfellow Inc., Furman G. Wall Jr. said he planned to call certain Wheat First brokers and suggest they move to his firm.

``Some Wheat brokers will wait to see how the money will be handed out,'' said Wall, the manager of Scott & Stringfellow's eastern region. First Union ``will take care of the big brokers, who are likely to stay and test the waters.''

First Union, a large banking company based in Charlotte, said Wednesday it was buying Wheat First to broaden the range of investment-banking services it will be able to offer corporate customers.

The brokerage firm's name will be changed to Wheat First Union, but its headquarters will remain in Richmond. The transaction calls for an exchange of First Union shares valued at about $490 million.

In an effort to hold onto key Wheat First employees, First Union said it set aside $75 million of stock to be distributed over three years. However, participation in this retention plan will be limited to brokers who have generated at least $300,000 of business annually for the firm, a Wheat First spokesman said Thursday.

The firm had not yet determined how many of its brokers will be eligible to share in the retention bonuses, John Fox, the Wheat First spokesman, said.

When announcing the transaction, First Union said Wheat First would remain intact and that its operations would likely be expanded. However, the change in ownership comes at a time when several rival firms have been trying to add brokers to their Hampton Roads offices.

Dean Witter Reynolds, a national firm with offices in Virginia Beach and Newport News, recently offered financial inducements to several brokers at rival firms to leave for Dean Witter.

Send Suggestions or Comments to webmaster@scholar.lib.vt.edu