Battle for broker talent heats up in Chicago

The battle for broker talent in Chicago is heating up.

After Compass signed @properties’ seven-agent Schwabe Group, its top producer returned to the Chicago-based brokerage after three days, @properties told The Real Deal. The brokerage also said another agent parted ways with Schwabe Group to stay at @properties when the team signed with Compass.

Compass confirmed Tomoko Asai returned to @properties and Marianne Daly never joined from the Schwabe Group, making it a six-agent team.

Asai decided to return to @properties because of the support she’s received and the opportunity the brokerage is offering to expand her business, she said.

“I doubled my business and became a top producer with over $10 million in sales within the past two years at @properties,” said Asai. “Staying with @properties was the right decision especially when my managing broker was giving me more opportunities,” she added.

Asai represented $12 million, about a third of Schwabe’s $40 million sales volume last year, @properties said. Daly posted about $3 million in sales volume for Schwabe Group in 2021, the brokerage added. Daly didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Since Compass opened its Chicago office in 2017, it recruited several top producers away from @properties including new development specialist Heather Gusfafson and agents Cindi Sodolski and Jordan Euson. Most recently, Pam MacPherson, who led her team to $100 million in residential transactions in 2021, bounced back to @properties after fulfilling their two-year contract with Compass.

Amid its ongoing franchise expansion, @properties made a stronger push into the luxury market by rebranding to add Christie’s International Real Estate. @properties bought the luxury real estate arm of the art auction house in December, hoping for another growth stream.

The brokerage, founded in 2000 by Wong and Michael Golden, ranked eighth in the Real Trend’s list of largest residential brokerages in the U.S. by sales volume in 2020.