Smith Barney FA Math Test and Opportunity

B

BenBerggreen

I am interviewing for a wealth management position with Smith Barney and was hoping someone might give me some insight into the process.

I am supposed to take two math tests and a personality test and wanted to know if there is anything I can do to prepare.

Has anyone here been through this?

Appreciate constructive comments.
 
Quote from BenBerggreen:

I am interviewing for a wealth management position with Smith Barney and was hoping someone might give me some insight into the process.

I am supposed to take two math tests and a personality test and wanted to know if there is anything I can do to prepare.

Has anyone here been through this?

Appreciate constructive comments.
More...

I took the one for Merrill several years back.... only to find out that they were looking for cold-calling commish salesmen.
 
Just do the best you can.

They're just trying to weed out the folks with horrible math skills and the mentally disturbed, although, obviously even those tests let many slip through.

Yes, your job will probably be to bring in the wealth and let money managers manage it. Being a wirehouse broker is extremely difficult these days unless you have relatives and friends with a lot of investable assets.

Think about it this way, you'll need to bring in a minimum of 20 million in assets to make a decent living. At 4 million a year, it will take you 4-5 years to hit that mark, meanwhile your guarantee probably lasts about a year.

Not easy to do.
 
I am still weighing my options and appreciate your comments. They offer 50K per year for the first 2 years, plus commish and bonus, not sure if that is standard. My background is buy side equity trader for mutual funds for 10 years. The problem is that those jobs are evaporating due to technology and the firms moving the intl desk to the local markets. Sucks....

Realistically, how long will it take to bring home 100k+ as a financial advisor?

I really enjoy programming and web design work as well, so maybe I'll go that direction instead. In fact, basically every hedge fund trading job now requires some serious programming skills in C++, Java and the like.

Man, I am a confused dude...


Quote from DonKee:

Just do the best you can.

They're just trying to weed out the folks with horrible math skills and the mentally disturbed, although, obviously even those tests let many slip through.

Yes, your job will probably be to bring in the wealth and let money managers manage it. Being a wirehouse broker is extremely difficult these days unless you have relatives and friends with a lot of investable assets.

Think about it this way, you'll need to bring in a minimum of 20 million in assets to make a decent living. At 4 million a year, it will take you 4-5 years to hit that mark, meanwhile your guarantee probably lasts about a year.

Not easy to do.
More...
 
Quote from BenBerggreen:

"... Realistically, how long will it take to bring home 100k+ as a financial advisor?
More...

I think it takes a special personality to be a cold-call securities broker. If it bothers you to "say anything" to make a commission, you won't like the job and will likely never reach $100K.

I've been in the securities and investment business one way or another all of my working life, and I not only wouldn't lie or fail to disclose something that might be negative, I can't even exaggerate. I'd never be a productive broker in a big B/D's eyes.
 
Quote from ASusilovic:

LOL !!! You got to learn it the hard way ! :D
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The securities industry is a bit more polite, but the message is the same.
 
Quote from BenBerggreen:


Realistically, how long will it take to bring home 100k+ as a financial advisor?
More...

It's a simple formula. Expect a payout of around 33% blended of your gross commissions.

To make $100,000 you will need to generate approximately $300,000 in gross commissions.

You can count on an average of 1% commission on total assets.

Thus, when you reach 30,000,000 in assets, you'll be doing around $300,000 in gross commissions and making $100,000/year for yourself.

Ask your branch manager these questions:

1) How many brokers in the office have assets over 20 million?

2) How many have assets over 30 million?

3) How long have the brokers in these categories been in the business? What is the lowest number of years in the business for one of these brokers?

Do NOT let the branch manger give you the average assets per broker. There are probably a few brokers with over 100 million in assets.

btw, you don't need to lie, over promise or anything of the sort to succeed.

You will be much better off using asset allocation and money managers in fee based accounts.

UNDER promise and OVER perform is the best way to succeed.
 
Quote from BenBerggreen:

I am still weighing my options and appreciate your comments. They offer 50K per year for the first 2 years, plus commish and bonus, not sure if that is standard. My background is buy side equity trader for mutual funds for 10 years. The problem is that those jobs are evaporating due to technology and the firms moving the intl desk to the local markets. Sucks....

Realistically, how long will it take to bring home 100k+ as a financial advisor?

I really enjoy programming and web design work as well, so maybe I'll go that direction instead. In fact, basically every hedge fund trading job now requires some serious programming skills in C++, Java and the like.

Man, I am a confused dude...
More...

If your main goal is 100K+ income, it would be much easier to acheive it inprogramming than cold calling. Any decent (not great)
java or c developer can get 100K.
 
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