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Poll for the experts (pick the firm)

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Jan 28, 2007 10:44 pm

I have been in the process of interviewing and obtaining info about the industry for 3 months now. I will be new to the industry as a FA and have offers from: RJF, SB, AGE, Ladenburg, MS

I have the intention of staying with the firm I go with for a long time. If you had to pick one for a trainee to start and end their career at which one would it be of the 5? I am not expecting a long drawn out answer because this may have been discussed already. But I would value and welcome any detailed response.

Thanks in advance,

Jack




Jan 28, 2007 11:20 pm

Smith Barney.

Jan 29, 2007 12:14 am

A G Edwards  Has the lowest broker turnover in the industry. 
Low turnover probably means that the employees are happy.


Jan 29, 2007 3:34 am

AGE–see above and leaves room to move “up” if your plan (to stay at your

first firm forever) ever changes.

Jan 29, 2007 5:14 am

Smith Barney.  Best platform and training program of the firms you mentioned.

Jan 29, 2007 5:14 am

[quote=Cowboy93]AGE–see above and leaves room to move “up” if your plan (to stay at your

first firm forever) ever changes.[/quote]

I’ll second that.

Jan 29, 2007 5:23 am

Pick the firm that best fits you… we don’t know that -you do!!!

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If you already have a Guaranteed list of people who are willing to hand you a few 500K accounts as soon as you start, go with SB or MS.  I could argue that MS is the best but they are both major players.

These firms breed the biggest and best producers.  If you think you would have no problem hitting their production levels, then go for it!!  They have the best products and resources.

If not go with AGE!!  They are a wonderful firm, although I had a bad experience with them, or so I am told…     

Best of luck!!

DirtyDelta    

Jan 29, 2007 4:26 pm

[quote=joedabrkr] [quote=Cowboy93]AGE--see above and leaves room to move "up" if your plan (to stay at your
first firm forever) ever changes.[/quote]

I'll second that.
[/quote]

I'll third that. Motion passed.

Jan 29, 2007 5:02 pm

RayJay.  I am there and I am happy and I love Tom James.  I have heard good things about the other firms too.

YOU can't go wrong with any of those.  Except Landesberg???  Which manager do you like best?  Is anyone going to mentor you???  Is anyone willing to start you off with some assets or a partnership??? That is where you want to go.

Good luck and keep us informed.

Jan 29, 2007 6:29 pm
Jan 29, 2007 6:30 pm

Edward D Jones…Forbes says they are the best company to work for in America (or at least they were a few years ago).

Jan 29, 2007 6:44 pm

[quote=Gone Indy]Edward D Jones...Forbes says they are the best company to work for in America (or at least they were a few years ago).[/quote]

I agree wholeheartedly.  Thanks for the vote of confidence.

Jan 29, 2007 8:01 pm

Jack, don't forget to check out "smaller" independent and RIA shops. Do some research on the industry structure and trends. You might find yourself working on real investment portfolios with established clients on day one, as part of the team.  These would not be "your" accounts, but when you are getting started, "your" account is a dependent concept, anyway...

Learn the business, then you can figure out where you might spend the rest of your life.

Jan 30, 2007 7:24 pm

Thank you to everyone who wrote a response on here. About the responses, I can't tell if you guys were messing with me when you mentioned EDJ but that will not be an option as I have heard very bad things about them and their product offerings.

I have seriously been mulling over RJF - do you guys have additional opinions on them in regards to their ''Traditional Employee" format, training, payout and culture ? Thank you again

Jan 30, 2007 7:58 pm

[quote=JackPA]

Thank you to everyone who wrote a response on here. About the responses, I can’t tell if you guys were messing with me when you mentioned EDJ but that will not be an option as I have heard very bad things about them and their product offerings.

I have seriously been mulling over RJF - do you guys have additional opinions on them in regards to their ''Traditional Employee" format, training, payout and culture ? Thank you again

[/quote]

The reason that people have mentioned EDJ is that they are a good place to start.  They teach you a lot of good things about discipline, selling skills, and basic portfolio management.  They just may not be a good place to stay if you get past that first 3-5 years with a modicum of success.
Jan 30, 2007 9:11 pm

The most important factor is local management. The branch manager can make or break you, regardless of firm.

SB, hands down the best training program. High standards once you graduate from the intial training program. Non producing managers, usually picked for their experience in the trenches.

MS, Good company, but somewhat of a mess at the corp level right now. Not a factor if strong local mgr is in place. Non producing mgrs and larger branches have a sales mgr.

AGE, comes across as a nice mid western firm. Questionable training program, producing mgrs, some from penny stock firms. AGE doesn't listen to criticism of high producing mgrs. A producing mgr is a big negative for a trainee. Not only are trainees competing for the BOM's time, they are competing against him/her for clients. The trainee comes out last on both counts. More so in some offices than others. Thus the original axiom still stands: Nothing is more important than local management.