I have been to Mortons, but not the Palm Springs location.  You can drop $300 bones on dinner and drinks per person. Especially if you are sipping cocktails before, during, and after the meal.   

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NASD:

I would never drop more than $100 on a client.  I am not going to start breaking and bending the rules as a rookie.     

[quote=Shmer33]

I have been to Mortons, but not the Palm Springs location.  You can drop $300 bones on dinner and drinks per person. Especially if you are sipping cocktails before, during, and after the meal.   

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NASD:

I would never drop more than $100 on a client.  I am not going to start breaking and bending the rules as a rookie.     

[/quote]

That's good, rookies are the worst violators of the rules.

You never know when the gift police are going to be out and about.

Lets get back to GS...what is their setup in terms of support staff and how their teams are arranged?

[quote=dude]

Look, I doubt anyone here can provide any real inside perspective on the company.  Their brokers operate on a much different level with their customers, generally work in teams of 5 and work much closer with the manufacturers of investment products (investment bankers) then your average wirehouse guy.  Each member develops a specialty and is the lead for a target of 20 clients each with a minimum of $10 million (although they do take accounts with less).  I have heard of guys competing for some accounts that had $5 plus million that were mostly in poor performing Goldman Sachs mutual funds and other investments that were not all that inspiring.  I imagine that those with higher balances get great access to house underwritten issues and some pretty tony Ultra High Networth investments ( Private Real Estate, Mezzanine Loans etc....).  They will take guys who aren't from the Ivy Leagues, but they must be top of class and are usually under 5 years and at $1 million in production.

I'd really love to hear from any current or former GS brokers as well. 

[/quote]

See highlighted text above.

I guess that most info provided is going to be speculative in nature.  You can go to Goldman Sachs site and look under their careers section, but it's going to be vague. 

I'm wondering if any brokers from Lehman or Bear Stearns hang out around here.

I believe the general rule is that if you are at the top of the heap then you probably wont be posting here much, if at all.

Dude:

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What firms are the “top of the heap”?  I was under the impression that Morgan, Merrill, UBS, Wachovia, are top tier and Goldman is the best. 

Look at the US government.  Half of the officials in the treasury department came from Goldman.   

Top Tier Firms are actually (from an average broker production perspective):

Goldman Sachs

Lehman Brothers

Bear Stearns

Dutchebank/Alex Brown

Credit Suisse First Boston

and maybe Brown Brothers Harriman?  Although I'm not sure about that one.

Have I left any out?

The notables you mention are far bigger in scale (they make the brokerage operations of the 'exclusive' crowd look tiny), but are much more mainstream and less exclusive.

Like I mentioned before the brokers at the firms I mentioned are in a different league than the rest (generally speaking) and work much closer with the investment banking department.  They also generally work more with investments that target 'accredited investors'.

Oh and it's Deutsche Bank....just caught that one.

[quote=Shmer33]

Dude:

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What firms are the “top of the heap”?  I was under the impression that Morgan, Merrill, UBS, Wachovia, are top tier and Goldman is the best. 

Look at the US government.  Half of the officials in the treasury department came from Goldman.   

[/quote]

What does 'the best' mean?  Goldman is just marketing to a very limited and exclusive prospect base, but their brokerage arm is laughable compared to Merrill from a size perspective.

Goldman, I would say carries the most mystique, but 'the best' is a vague concept dependent on what paradigm you are coming from.

I am referring to the firm having the most qualified and educated brokers.  <?:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

Correct me if I am wrong but brokers and investment bankers working together would pose a serious conflict of interest.   After all, investment banking and the retail brokerage business are on opposite sides of the scale.  Couldn’t an individual trade based on inside information gained from the investment banking side of the business?

Didn’t some 23-year-old puke just get in trouble for that?   He was an investment banker for Merrill or something. 

I know that Credit Suisse is a very high class opertion. I have met with a few of their teams, and they are with GS in the ultra HNW category. The team I spoke to went after 20-30M. One of the solo brokers minimums was 10M. Very impressive office too!

Can anyone explain my brokerage vs. investment banking question?  Its on page 5. 

[quote=Shmer33]Can anyone explain my brokerage vs. investment banking question?  Its on page 5.  [/quote]

Look up "Chinese Wall"

When I say work closer with investment bankers it has to do with the development of investment products (structured, private equity, mezzanine etc..)and since they target those who generally are heading up sizeable businesses, there is usually opportunity to do banking business. 

Yes there has to be "chinese wall" procedures in place.

Your typical broker is not usually involved in marketing limited partnership (in addition to other structures) accredited type investments.

I guess what I'm saying is that a Goldman broker leverages their entire platform much more than a traditional broker does from my understanding.

[quote=NASD Newbie]

[quote=Shmer33]Can anyone explain my brokerage vs. investment banking question?  Its on page 5.  [/quote]

Look up "Chinese Wall"

[/quote]

ooooooooo  no wonder you were a "real sr vp"

GS is widely considered to be the most elite firm for Wealth Management.  The furthest I went there were two informational interviews.  One was with institutional sales and the other with Wealth Management.  Even with some good personal contacts and an MBA from NYU/Stern I was not assured an interview should I have wanted one.  The below information is what I learned prior to and in the informational interviews.<?:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

GS has a formal training program where you learn a lot about the history of the company in addition to the basic 7, 66, insurance and products.  The training starts once a year in June and is made up of people with MBAs from top schools who were given offers as far back as October.  Some of those given offers also interned with the company but an internship does not guarantee you an offer.  After getting though the basic training and passing all of the tests, you form a team consisting of five people from the training program.  You are not put onto a team of seasoned professionals.  Instead it is the responsibility of five newly minted young MBAs to gather assets and manage those accounts.  I don’t know what the success rate is but I can’t imagine it is easy for these young newbies to gather assets with a minimum of $10mm per client.

If you want to learn more I suggest a report from www.wetfeet.com

--WM

Do you know if they hire undergrads, people who have already been working as advisors (although with more regular not 10M accounts) or only MBAs?

Any idea on pay?

Not usually and very highly unlikely.  They target a very highly pedigreed individual, typically with an MBA from a Wharton, or similar school.  The chances of getting brought on by GS with an advisory background is slim-to-none, unless you have a proven track record of getting the $10MM+ client and are highly regarded within your current firm’s wealth management side.

Recruit:

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That’s what I wanted to know.  Thank You   

Whoever claimed that GS recruited from state schools was not totally wrong.

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I just did not clarify my question.