Securities brokerage firms: ranked by number of full-time, registered securities brokers in L.A. County.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Smith Barney tops the list of securities brokers for the second straight year, reporting 540 licensed brokers in Los Angeles County. AIG SunAmerica returned to the list, placing No. 2 with 529 brokers, after failing to submit information last year.

Fourteen firms reported an equal or larger number of licensed brokers in Los Angeles County. Farmer's Financial Solutions LLC jumped two spots to No. 3, after hiring close to 100 new brokers over the past year. That brings its total to 464.

Wells Fargo climbed four spots to No. 7, as the San Francisco-based financial institution started a program last year that trains and licenses branch employees for securities.

Hardest hit last year were Charles Schwab & Co. Inc., which saw its number of licensed brokers decline to 60 brokers from 119 a year earlier. Morgan Stanley, No. 2 last year and No. 1 two years ago, continued to shed brokers. It dropped 214, 37.5 percent, of its brokers in 2004.

Wachovia Securities, Transamerica Financial Advisors and Crowell Weedon & Co. shed an average of 34 brokers. They each dropped one position to Nos. 7, 8 and 9, respectively.

THE PACESETTER

SMITH BARNEY

TE brokerage unit of New York-based Citigroup pretty much held steady over the past year, reporting 540 licensed brokers in L.A. County compared with 543 a year earlier.

Companywide, Smith Barney reported fourth-quarter total client assets of $1.2 trillion, up $24 billion from the year-earlier period. Much of that gain came from the firm's Western division, which handles $210 billion in client assets.

"The Western part of the United States is a great area for the creation of wealth," said Smith Barney Senior Vice President Jerrold Eberhardt. He expects the region to continue to be the leading area for growing assets under management.

The firm's fee-based revenue is its most profitable segment and has generated returns of more than 10 percent for private clients.

Smith Barney's brokerage staff remained steady on a list that saw half the firms report changes of at least 7 percent. "We've hired and trained more people and have quite a low attrition rate," said Eberhardt.

Although the stock market is off to a shaky start in 2005, Eberhardt remains positive. "We look at earnings for corporate America and expect growth in excess of 8 percent. The market will reflect the earnings," he said.