What's in a name? A lot, if you're a younger broker just starting out.
According to a survey of 334 prospective brokers by Securities Training Corp., New York, nearly three-quarters of reps 25 years old or younger say recognition of their firm's name is critical to their sales success.
By comparison, those age 41 and older say they are less dependent on the firm name. About half believe a salesperson can sell wherever they work.
Younger brokers are more optimistic than older reps about the future of the securities markets--28 percent believe the market will continue upward, compared with only 21 percent of the older reps. The majority of the whole group (61 percent) expects market performance to moderate compared with the past five years.
Here are some other trends among future brokers:
* Just more than half (55 percent) of the survey group expect to sell individual stocks and bonds, while 28 percent expect to focus on fee-based advice and 17 percent will sell packaged products.
* Prospective reps were motivated to choose brokerage by a variety of factors--69 percent say it offers financial rewards, 54 percent note the demand for good advice, 46 percent say it affords independence, 25 percent say it's where the action is and 12 percent had other answers.
* Soon-to-be rookies say the top personality traits that contribute to success as a broker are, in order, persistence/tenacity, honesty/integrity and communication/listening skills.
