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| *Ostroff, Fair and Company>>>Financial Services |
I'm starting a new career as a Financial Advisor; Which is the best firm/brokerage to work for and why? |
I'm starting a new career as a Financial Advisor; Which is the best firm/brokerage to work for and why? I understand the question and like PO'd I say you should way your decision based on which firm would be best suited for you. Do research on the net and look at Customer Service Surveys like the ones put out by J.D. Power and Associates, or Smartmoney or Forbes. Next submit your resume and qualifications to everyone and interview with as many people as possible since this will provide an initial impression. Look at it like this they manner a firm approaches you in during the interview process, may be a similar manner they handle their clients. Another thing is look for networking mixers in and around your area and see if you can talk to a few advisors. I know some firms out there you can just walk into their office and ask their broker's or advisor's questions if you are in the interview process with their firm. To sum it up Research, Research, Research...because you don't want to hop around when it comes to dealing with advising individuals finances. Good luck with your search Source(s): In the business as well Wow, you are starting a career as an adviser to other people, and you don't even know about which firms would be the best? Pray tell how are you going to advise anyone when they ask which firm they should entrust in which to invest their life savings? Oh wait.... please don't tell me you'll just hop on Y!A, bang out a quick question and then give them the answer that garnered the most votes? unlike "cribbage", i understand why you might have a question. i can't tell you which firm to pick but i can give you some questions to ask yourself or interviewer to help you decide... first you need to ask yourself if admin support or payout is the most important to you. as a newbie, you won't have a sales assistant right off the bat because you aren't making any money yet. also, in the large wirehouses ( i.e. ubs, smith barney, merrill), you'll start off studying all day, every day for your 7 & 63. you'll get a salary while you study. with places like edward jones or AIG, you have to realize you won't necessarily be in a big office, and you might have to handle the overhead yourself but your payout will be bigger and there's less office politics. take a look at the training that's offered as well because some places really bring you along for your first couple of years while others might have you just cold-calling as a junior broker for an established team of reps. the cold calling might suck but after you pay your dues, you might have a book and/or a strategy you can work with. hope this helps. in the biz If you're good at what you do, avoid the big name firms. There's a lot more opportunity at smaller, "boutique" firms, and some of them have a different structure too. If you're clueless (as most people are when they first get into the business), maybe the big name will keep you going until you figure out what you're doing. A bigger question is what TYPE of firm to work for. Financial Advisor used to mean someone who managed accounts on a fee-only basis. Some of us would argue that this puts the manager in a less biased position, and more in tune with the client's goals. Recently, the brokerage industry has usurped the term Financial Advisor, so most of the FA jobs are really nothing more than glorified stockbrokers. A stockbroker lives and dies on commissions, and the argument would suggest that this puts brokers at odds with the interests of their clients. If you have the skill and credibility to survive the difficult early years in the Investment Advisory industry, rather than the Stock Brokerage industry, I think it's a much better field to work in. Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. |
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