Which company is the best?

E

EricCKS

I am looking at becoming an investment rep. with a company and am looking at all angles. Who have you been with or heard about as being one of the better such: Edward Jones, Waddell and Reed, etc.

I appreciate your thoughts. I would go independent and have compony ready to go but I lack enough funds to keep my family afloat until I have client base built up. I know Jones allows $2k/month to get their new reps going which is favorable.

Thanks

Eric
 
I recently looked into becoming an investment consultant and spoke with a couple of firms. I've also researched the internet web sites of several. I was thinking I could go in and manage money. Maybe you can, but the reality is that they want people who can find other people with money and bring them to the table. The actual investment activity was minimal. That's handed off to others. Fund managers and what not.

Each is different in their specialty and it's worthwhile to talk to the office manager of any firm you're interested in to get a feel for the operation. The office manager is the guy who can pull your ass out of the fire when the going gets tough 18 months down the road. You should like this person and they should like you.

Edward Jones has the reputation of being an excellent company to work for. Thoroughly review their web site for expectations. However, the disadvantage is less support and guidance from experienced hands because it's only you and your assistant on location.

If you go with Merrill, AG Edwards, USB and the like, you'll find some have better training than others. Some will have you sign contracts saying in essence, you can't leave for x number of years (until we recoup our training costs with a profit) unless you pay us.

All in all, it wasn't my cup of tea but if it's yours, just get the names of firms you think you'd like to work for, call the office and get the office manager's name and set up a time to talk with him. They almost always will.

Good luck.
 
I looked into this for a short time. It is essentially a sales job. If you are good with people, there is an opportunity to makes lots of $$$. The best forum for information on this career is as follows:


http://forums.registeredrep.com/

One thing I can tell you is that Edward Jones is one of the least respected firms out there. They had to settle a lawsuit for hundreds of millions of dollars based around investment advice provided to clients. Also, apparently the percentage paid to investment reps is less than other firms. You will learn this by reading around the forum above and posting questions. Good luck.
 
Edward Jones is a door to door salesman job. They want you to knock on doors literally.

If you work in a small town, it may work. In a big city, forget it. People will slam the door in your face or worse, you will get bitten by some dogs. And I don't mean the Dogs of the Dow.
 
Quote from midlifeguy:

Edward Jones is a door to door salesman job. They want you to knock on doors literally.

If you work in a small town, it may work. In a big city, forget it. People will slam the door in your face or worse, you will get bitten by some dogs. And I don't mean the Dogs of the Dow.
More...

I looked into Edward Jones. There isn't any thinking in the job. It is all about following their script and selling their products. You do not do any of your own investing. All of your investments must be signed over to them. And put into their investment strategy.
 
Quote from diputs:

I looked into Edward Jones. There isn't any thinking in the job. It is all about following their script and selling their products. You do not do any of your own investing. All of your investments must be signed over to them. And put into their investment strategy.
More...

Exactly. As a registered rep, you are a salesperson. Your goal is to produce sales. If you fail to produce this, you will be terminated by the company. That is the situation with all these companies, such as Merril Lynch, Edward Jones, etc.. They would much rather recruit a good used car salesman than a new college graduate. Watch the movie Glengarry Glen Ross. That is what it is like being a registered rep. That still doesn't mean you can't make good money. You just have to be a producer and know how to talk people into buying.
 
You got it. It all pretty much sucks on the retail side.
Try talking someone into $200 commisssions these days.

Unless you are super well connected among the affluent, you are going to find working for a Merrill or Smith Barney impossible to meet sales quotas.
 
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