Election whale trade — Bank of America equities shakeup — Charles Schwab layoffs

Good morning!

Investors have been spooked all week. Amid another uptick in coronavirus cases and stalled efforts at economic stimulus, US stock indexes notched their biggest weekly drop since March.

But as Alex Morrell reported yesterday, monster derivatives trades executed amid the selloff stand to make a killing depending on how markets react to US election results. 

"They're as specific as you can get for a definitive election trade," Henry Schwartz, head of product intelligence at Cboe Global Markets, told Business Insider

You can read the full story here:

Traders are buzzing about a mysterious market whale that's placing massive bets on stocks skyrocketing post-election

There was also plenty of fresh news on people moves in Bank of America's equity-trading division this week. Here's a recap:

  • An internal memo on Friday said Fabrizio Gallo is resigning after nearly a decade at the firm. Soofian Zuberi, who was elevated to cohead of equities alongside Gallo this summer, will take the reins as sole head of the group.  
  • A staff memo sent Wednesday morning announced Orly Avidan as head of global equities distribution. That move filled a vacant senior position in the division that was once held by Zuberi.

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More below on Charles Schwab layoffs and branch consolidation plans; WeWork's rent demands; a new twist on paychecks that's being piloted by payroll giant ADP; and a look at Kristin Lemkau's big plans for JPMorgan's wealth-management business. 


Leaked memo sheds more light on 'difficult' day as Charles Schwab slashes 1,000 jobs

Charles Schwab CEO Walt Bettinger, left
Charles Schwab CEO Walt Bettinger, left

Charles Schwab told staff on Monday that it would cut some 1,000 employees, or 3% of its total workforce with TD Ameritrade, as it officially starts combining the  firms.  And Schwab has "moved aggressively" to start combining branch networks now that its tie-up with TD Ameritrade  is complete, the firm said Thursday. 

From Rebecca Ungarino, here's a look at a memo that circulated on Monday for one  team at Charles Schwab that illuminates at least one leader's messaging. And here's a map showing the branch footprints for both Schwab and TD-Ameritrade. 


How JPMorgan's Kristin Lemkau is planning to turbocharge the firm's $500 billion wealth business

MASPETH, NY - NOVEMBER 17: Shivani Siroya, Kristin Lemkau and Stephanie Cohen speak onstage at Girlboss Rally NYC 2018 at Knockdown Center on November 17, 2018 in Maspeth, New York. (Photo by JP Yim/Getty Images for Girlboss Rally NYC 2018)
Kristin Lemkau, center, the chief executive of JPMorgan's US wealth management business.

JPMorgan's vision for building out a bigger, better wealth-management business is in Kristin Lemkau's hands. 

In her first press interview as chief executive of what has been renamed JPMorgan Wealth Management, Lemkau shared new details with Business Insider's Rebecca Ungarino about the strategy for growing her division, advisor diversity, training program, and hiring plans. 


WeWork is demanding overdue rent from hundreds of small businesses

Sandeep Mathrani
Sandeep Mathrani starts at WeWork on February 18

WeWork has taken a more aggressive stance toward nonpaying members than at the start of the pandemic, Alex Nicoll, Paige Leskin, Dan Geiger, and Meghan Morris reported this week. 

Since WeWork sells "memberships" and not leases, the company can skirt local eviction moratoriums, like New York state's measure halting COVID-19-related commercial evictions until Jan. 1.  

You can read all the details here. 


Payroll giant ADP is getting in on the paycheck-on-demand frenzy

ADP employees

ADP, one of the world's largest payroll providers, is piloting an earned wage access option for employees to draw on a portion of their pay between paychecks. Belinda Reany, who heads up ADP's new products and innovation, says the pilot will help the company determine the best version of the now-prolific on-demand pay feature.

"It's very clear that employees are looking for more flexibility compared to what I call the traditional pay cycle," Reany told Business Insider's Shannen Balogh.


The exam software company law grads say botched the online October bar is raking in $2 million in fees 

man working on computer

ExamSoft, the software company used by states to run online versions of the bar exam, will be paid upwards of $2 million in test-taking fees amid a slew of complaints about the service, from tech errors to data security concerns, an analysis by Business Insider's Yoonji Han and Jack Newsham found. 

Here's the full rundown


Pitch decks

  • See the 13-page pitch deck that DriveWealth, a fintech that powers trading and investing apps, used to nab $57 million

Deals

  • Franklin, Invesco, Janus, and other money managers are prepping for the next wave of  M&A — keeping balance sheets clean and options open

Real estate

  • Flex-workspace firm Industrious is eyeing a big expansion in Asia and just inked its first deal outside the US
  • Knotel just slashed headcount again, with the flex-space provider's CEO telling staff he expected more of a bounceback in office demand by now
  • BlackRock's former real estate head is joining a crowdfunding startup's investment committee with hopes to help smaller investors access private bets
  • ByteDance quietly leased 'massive' US data centers in 2020, a sign it may have planned to shift TikTok operations to the US

Billable hours

  • Government-focused consulting firm Booz Allen doubles acquisition war chest as it readies for possible deals
  • Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner are threatening to sue an anti-Trump PAC that put up scathing billboard of them. Meet the litigators behind the spat
  • The majority of law firms and in-house legal departments may not extend bonuses to employees this year. A new survey reveals how they're rethinking hiring and pay.
  • An inside look at how Big Law firm Perkins Coie built up a diverse attorney base, winning major clients like Microsoft and Intel
  • Mega law firm Dentons has poached another FTI crisis communications pro as it looks to create a one-stop shop for clients

Alt data

  • How one alt-data company that rates CEO performance aims to be the S&P or Moody's of tracking management teams — and expects a surge of interest from data-starved ESG investors
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