Morgan Stanley’s brokerage unit is getting more aggressive in trying to lure financial advisers as the wider retail brokerage job market heats up.

Morgan Stanley acquired most of Citigroup’s Smith Barney in the spring, a deal that had been touted as boosting the company’s number of financial advisers to more than 20,000.

In June, the company lowered its forecast for how many financial advisers would staff the joint venture to 18,500. That number dropped to 18,160 by the time Morgan Stanley Smith Barney reported results in October.

As it seeks to recruit more advisers, the firm began offering top performing brokers at rival firms as much as 330 percent of their annual fees and commissions over five years if they join the newly combined firm, according to head hunters. Second-level brokers could earn as much as 280 percent.