Bateman Eichler Fires 30 Brokers

Citing a pressing need to improve its services, Bateman Eichler, Hill Richards has fired about 30 poorly producing brokers, executives of the Los Angeles brokerage confirmed Sunday.

Norman Mains, senior vice president, said the dismissals last week were the first of a new “Making Room for Excellence” campaign initiated by recently installed chairman Richard J. Capalbo. Mains said there could be additional dismissals of poorly performing workers in other sections of the company.

The first round of firings, Mains said, were spread evenly among the brokerage’s 37 offices located in six western states.

The firm had about 550 brokers before the dismissals.

Although Mains said the firings were not directly linked to the poor performance of the stock market since last October’s crash, he acknowledged that the market’s lackluster activity underscores the firm’s need to upgrade its services. He noted that while the company, a wholly owner subsidiary of Kemper Financial Cos. of Long Grove, Ill., was profitable last year, it is barely breaking even in 1988.

“This was not a cost-cutting move. It was an attempt to upgrade the quality and performance of our brokers,” Mains said.

“We are reviewing everything the firm does in order to improve it. The tougher market conditions make these efforts all the more important,” he said.

Mains added that all the fired brokers had been with Bateman Eichler for at least three years and had performed poorly even when the market was booming in early- and mid-1987. He said the firm is actively soliciting brokers to fill these and other positions.

The principal architect of the tough, new improvement program is Capalbo, a former marketing director from Drexel Burnham Lambert Inc., the large New York-based brokerage. Capalbo joined Bateman Eichler in February and has spent the first six months on the job making several changes throughout the organization. Mains was brought to Los Angeles from Drexel Burnham’s Chicago office.