SD FINANCIAL CENTER

The SD Financial Market enjoys a distinct heritage of serving generations of client families in New York and across the nation. Working from two offices in downtown Manhattan and Staten Island, our 125 plus financial advisors are entrusted with their clients; assets and liabilities. Helping to enhance the lifestyles and legacies of clients is a role we take very seriously.

The Sales Department office, known as SD, came into being in 1940. It followed the return of Charles E. Merrill to head up the newly merged firm of Merrill Lynch, E.A. Pierce & Cassatt.

The office occupied 9,600 square feet on the East side of the first floor of 70 Pine Street, a magnificent Art Deco structure that is still worth a visit. The Firm occupied the first four floors of this 66-story building, then the third tallest in the world after the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building. It was known as the Cities Service Building, named for one of the then-major oil companies that had its headquarters there. SD occupied the site of the former Cities Service museum, which had featured the latest methods of drilling for oil along with maps, photos, and other memorabilia.

The office provided semi-glassed-in booths, with some desks arranged in ascending tiers so all could see the electronic quote boards and Trans-lux ticker tapes. The three quote boards showed up to 600 placements from the New York and American Stock and Bond exchanges plus the Commodity exchanges. In practice, many desks were a considerable distance from the little numbers appearing on the boards; thus the use of binoculars was widespread.

All told, there were an estimated 40 to 45 “customer men” now known as financial advisors, plus a few assistants moving into the new facility, along with key operations and support personnel SD continued to grow. By the end of 1947, there were 67 AEs, eight sales assistants, and 45 operations and staff personnel.

On a typical day, 200 to 300 clients and prospects visited the office. Many clients of other branch offices visited to obtain services. SD had 10,500 accounts, and did a tenth of the firm’s total business. At that time, there were 95 offices in Merrill Lynch.

In 1948 SD held its first seminar for women. The following year, it developed its own Commodity Department with six specialists.

In 1961, SD’s roster was increased when the Home Office, catering to employee accounts, was closed and folded into SD.

When Merrill Lynch & Co. moved to its new headquarters at One Liberty Plaza in 1972, SD followed and occupied the 10th floor of the modern 54-story structure known as the U.S. Steel Building. It was built on the site of the former Singer Sewing Machine Building.

The new office had considerable enhancements. A pneumatic tube system was installed so brokers could enter orders virtually without leaving their desks, and there were quote machines adjacent to each desk. Fabulous. The electronic quote board was gone, and we could throw away our binoculars.

Merrill Lynch was active in maintaining “Investment Booths,” where the public could obtain investment information. SD financial consultants helped staff the booths at Grand Central Terminal, the World Trade Center, and the first floor exhibit at One Liberty Plaza.

It became apparent the firm needed additional space, so in 1986, Merrill Lynch moved to the World Financial Center. SD followed in 1987, occupying the fourth floor of 2 WFC. Unfortunately, within weeks, the stock market imploded, with the Dow Jones Industrial average declining 508 points, 22.6%, in one day, October 19, 1987. Business would be slower for a while. The new office reflected the beginnings of the consultative process, with private offices and ample meeting rooms. The system in place allowed brokers to view a ticker tape at their desk. Client Associates could enter instructions through the system from their deck.

On March 15, 1999, SD moved to its new quarters on the 39th, 40th, and 41st floors of 2 World Financial Center. The new state-of-the-art facility allowed a broker to virtually accomplish all that was needed for the job without ever leaving his or her desk. Some of the many meeting rooms were permitting brokers to make computer laptop presentations to their clients. The 250-seat auditorium provided video conferencing, enabling viewers from other locations to fully participate in SD conferences, and vice versa.

The office now had more than 300 in personnel, including 200 financial consultants and trainees, 90 client associates and 20 operations and management people.

In the early 2000s, SD saw some challenges. The 2001 terrorist attacks on New York City shut down SD for several months. During that time SD employees were divided and sent to work in offices in Midtown, NY, New Jersey and other surrounding areas. SD opened its doors again in early 2002 where the employees returned back “home”. Private Banking Investment Group, also known as PBIG, was founded in the early 2000s and was made up of many SD alumni.

In the years following the 2001 terrorist attacks, many businesses and firms left downtown, NYC along with the closings of many shops but SD remained. In 2014 with the opening of Brookfield Place, Westfield, and the new World Trade Center, downtown has become a destination for tourists and locals alike.

Today, the two offices that make up SD Financial Center, is made up of over 200 dedicated employees who serve our clients day in and day out. SD is proud to remain one of the few firms remaining on Wall Street.

The small band of 1940s “customers men,” were they here today, would no doubt have stood in awe of the extraordinary accomplishments of this great office, and the firm behind it.

In November of 2000, William Schreyer, the former CEO, stated it best to an audience in the SD Auditorium in downtown Manhattan when he said, “SD was the flagship of the firm, still is the flagship of the firm and will always be the flagship of the firm”.