Merrill Lynch & Co. has raised the bar for brokers to qualify for a special bonus aimed at doing business with “ultrawealthy” clients.

At a private banking and investment group conference this month, Merrill told the financial advisers that they must generate at least two new accounts net, with assets of $10 million each, to qualify for the award, said a person familiar with the incentive scheme. They previously collected the incentive by adding just one $10 million account to their client base.

As the “net” term implies, financial advisers in the top-tier wealth group whose clients withdraw more than is added through the new accounts don’t qualify for the award.

Providing incentives with rigorous standards to the existing sales force might help offset the escalating cost of recruiting top brokers from other firms, compensation experts said.

“It’s a new direction some firms are taking” as they try to encourage more growth, said Andy Tasnady, whose consulting firm, Tasnady & Associates, has advised Wachovia and other firms on their broker compensation plans.

Merrill and other big brokerage firms have been offering top brokers with rich clients multiyear pay guarantees that exceed 100% of their previous 12 months’ compensation and, in some cases, matching deferred compensation left behind at the brokers’ old firms.

Financial advisers who meet the more stringent target for “net new annuitized assets’ – which generate annual fees for the firm – can get bonuses ranging from about $10,000 to $50,000, paid half in cash and half in stock, the person familiar with the plan said.