Top Broker Incentives / Poaching

Promise of deal flow/leads and large signing bonuses seem to be the typical case.

I've seen people jump:

1. To a flagship company, as you said
2. To change product types when their current company won't let them
3. For better splits
4. To work under/with a specific person
5. Because they don't like people at their current company
6. Because of a client

Sometimes they will also be offered stock in the company or higher splits for x number of years.

1. Large cash bonus.
2. Better splits with the new company
3. New company sees a void in their platform (no industry specific team) and poaches that industry specific team from another brokerage. Whole team moves and gets #1&2 based on position in team.
4. Move to a bigger platform

Just saw a top SoCal MF broker leave CBRE and go to Kidder Mathews, a much smaller shop. Probably split related.

Some also leave because they want to target a larger region within the US while their current firm allows them to focus on one market.

I can't post links yet but I saw this on Crains New York ....$30 MM each?

Cushman scored a coup late last year, when it recruited one of the city’s top-selling investment sales teams, led by Doug Harmon and Adam Spies from Eastdil Secured. Rumors abound that the company paid a record sum for the team, handing as much as $30 million each to Harmon and Spies to make the move. The pair have handled some of the biggest deals in the city, such as the $2.2 billion sale of the office tower at 1095 Sixth Ave. and the $2 billion sale of the Waldorf Astoria.

Group I work with got offered to move. Offered a sum of $ but the splits weren't as good so it would even out over a couple years.

Typically an upfront large cash bonus. Firms will also offer this to their top producers to keep them. My understanding is that they require a minimum term commitment of at least 5 years. Secondary issues tend to be firm brand, resources, etc. When you've hit a level where your firm is offering you $5-30M to stay for 5 years or more, you're more likely than not already at a top firm having a well oiled machine of employees that you're paying working under you. So it's almost always about the upfront cash bonus and splits.

Kevin Shannon left CBRE to go to NGKF (he originally was a Grubb & Ellis guy) for what I've heard to be $50MM (this came from an extremely trusted source who worked with him). $25MM cash/$25MM equity–parent company BGC Partners Is Taking NGKF Public ICYMI. 5 year deal with the same splits.