What are wholesalers' pay structures like?
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[quote=B24]If you’re not going to use someone’s funds, you shouldn’t be taking their marketing dollars. And I don’t think you should use a fund company just because they give you money. If you have a fund company that you believe in, and you are going to sell THEIR products, and you can help each other build your busiensses together, then you should accept marketing money. But all this “they need us more than we need them” stuff is garbage. Act like businessmen, and treat these guys like partners, not some kid on the playground that you can steal lunch money from, just because he’ll let you.
If you are neutral on what fund companies you use, do your own seminars. I never use wholesalers because I never sell just one fund company, and my opinions change on the funds from time-to-time.[/quote] Amen.... Don't become a wholesaler ho.....I won't even take a lunch unless I want to do business with that company and I won't let them visit unless I want to do business. I don't want to waste their time and I don't want them wasting mine either.I use Franklin because their offering seem diverse and their performance seems solid. A vet I respect recommened them to me. I’ve also used American and Hartford. To be very honest though, I use them because I don’t know any better. Over time I’ll learn more and more funds … but I won’t have a guy pay for a seminar and not use his products. If ever there is a hot wholesaler in my region - I will be using the hell out of her.
Wonder if some people's clients think of their advisors the way some advisors think of their wholesalers?[quote=voltmoie] I use Franklin because their offering seem diverse and their performance seems solid. A vet I respect recommened them to me. I’ve also used American and Hartford. To be very honest though, I use them because I don’t know any better. Over time I’ll learn more and more funds … but I won’t have a guy pay for a seminar and not use his products. If ever there is a hot wholesaler in my region - I will be using the hell out of her.
Wonder if some people’s clients think of their advisors the way some advisors think of their wholesalers?[/quote]
That’s what I mean. A guy pays for a seminar, and then you use his products. Whether you admit it or not, there is an inherent conflict in that.
Pay for your own seminars and you eliminate that particular conflict.
Lord Abbett likes to hire hotties and send them to Jones branches. I know one guy who thought he had a chance, saying, “she asked me out for drinks!”. Then he shows up and there are 15 other Jones guys at the bar!
This entire business is a conflict of interest. You just do the best you can but we are all faced with it daily. The least of my concerns is allowing a wholesaler to buy me lunch.
[quote=voltmoie]I use Franklin because their offering seem diverse and their performance seems solid. A vet I respect recommened them to me. I’ve also used American and Hartford. To be very honest though, I use them because I don’t know any better. Over time I’ll learn more and more funds … but I won’t have a guy pay for a seminar and not use his products. If ever there is a hot wholesaler in my region - I will be using the hell out of her.
Wonder if some people's clients think of their advisors the way some advisors think of their wholesalers?[/quote] I don't think many of us treat wholesalers like dirt. We may talk about the crappy ones behind their back if they are complete schmucks, but I was just trying to get across to the original poster that he should never put himself in a position where he is treated like he should owe something to his wholesaler. Unless I guess he completely takes advantage of the guy. The main point is that they need us more than we need them. Sorry for those who see that as too blunt of a statement, but it is true. That doesn't mean we need to treat them that way, though.This entire business is a conflict of interest. You just do the best you can but we are all faced with it daily. The least of my concerns is allowing a wholesaler to buy me lunch.
I disagree. I think wholesaler lunches are a subtle way to influence brokers/advisors into selling their product.
[quote=Moraen] [quote=voltmoie] I use Franklin because their offering seem diverse and their performance seems solid. A vet I respect recommened them to me. I’ve also used American and Hartford. To be very honest though, I use them because I don’t know any better. Over time I’ll learn more and more funds … but I won’t have a guy pay for a seminar and not use his products. If ever there is a hot wholesaler in my region - I will be using the hell out of her.
Wonder if some people's clients think of their advisors the way some advisors think of their wholesalers?[/quote]
That's what I mean. A guy pays for a seminar, and then you use his products. Whether you admit it or not, there is an inherent conflict in that.
Pay for your own seminars and you eliminate that particular conflict.
Lord Abbett likes to hire hotties and send them to Jones branches. I know one guy who thought he had a chance, saying, "she asked me out for drinks!". Then he shows up and there are 15 other Jones guys at the bar!
[/quote] That's like my friend that goes to the strip club and insists that the girl really likes him, and then drops a couple c's to buy her some stupid fruit drink at the bar and have her rub herself on him. Idiot.
The wholesaler would not be buying lunches if it did not produce a positive ROI. They are not buying us lunches or giving us money for seminars because they like us, they are doing it because it has a positive ROI.
Instead of focusing on the wholesalers who buy you lunches and drinks to get your business, look at the fund families you currently use and like- then contact their wholesalers.
Personally, I use Blackrock, Henderson, Templeton funds more than others, so I have gravitated to their wholesalers. To me the process has been product and performance driven rather than marketing driven.[quote=SometimesNowhere] [quote=Moraen] [quote=voltmoie] I use Franklin because their offering seem diverse and their performance seems solid. A vet I respect recommened them to me. I’ve also used American and Hartford. To be very honest though, I use them because I don’t know any better. Over time I’ll learn more and more funds … but I won’t have a guy pay for a seminar and not use his products. If ever there is a hot wholesaler in my region - I will be using the hell out of her.
Wonder if some people’s clients think of their advisors the way some advisors think of their wholesalers?[/quote] That’s what I mean. A guy pays for a seminar, and then you use his products. Whether you admit it or not, there is an inherent conflict in that. Pay for your own seminars and you eliminate that particular conflict. Lord Abbett likes to hire hotties and send them to Jones branches. I know one guy who thought he had a chance, saying, “she asked me out for drinks!”. Then he shows up and there are 15 other Jones guys at the bar! [/quote]
That’s like my friend that goes to the strip club and insists that the girl really likes him, and then drops a couple c’s to buy her some stupid fruit drink at the bar and have her rub herself on him. Idiot.
[/quote]
So are you saying that Lord Abbett wholesalers are the strippers of the investment world?
Of course it is! What, you've never taken a good prospect or client out for dinner or a round of golf before?[quote=voltmoie] This entire business is a conflict of interest. You just do the best you can but we are all faced with it daily. The least of my concerns is allowing a wholesaler to buy me lunch. [/quote]
I disagree. I think wholesaler lunches are a subtle way to influence brokers/advisors into selling their product.
[quote=voltmoie] This entire business is a conflict of interest. You just do the best you can but we are all faced with it daily. The least of my concerns is allowing a wholesaler to buy me lunch.
I disagree. I think wholesaler lunches are a subtle way to influence brokers/advisors into selling their product.[/quote]
You've never taken a CPA or another referral center to lunch or dinner? Never taken a client or prospect to dinner and invited a *hint, hint* friend? We are ALL selling a product.
There was an agent/registered rep from our company back in the mid 1990s that worked in a rural area an hour north of here that used to take his top clients to the local strip clubs. The oprhans up there I’ve run across have told me that.
[quote=Moraen] [quote=voltmoie] This entire business is a conflict of interest. You just do the best you can but we are all faced with it daily. The least of my concerns is allowing a wholesaler to buy me lunch. [/quote] I disagree. I think wholesaler lunches are a subtle way to influence brokers/advisors into selling their product.
Of course it is! What, you’ve never taken a good prospect or client out for dinner or a round of golf before?[/quote]
Nope. Suck at golf. The difference is I am not selling one specific product. I want their business, but I am not limited like a wholesaler is.
As a matter of fact, I also don’t take CPAs to lunch, dinner. I don’t give gifts to clients. And there is no inherent conflict if I do.
Hmmm… Moraen, didn’t you suggest to me I mail a gift to clients with my new companies logo if I ever leave Jones?
Leverage your wholesaler by requiring him or her to do the research for you. We require wholesalers to be fair and balanced. Every fund they praise of their own must be accompanied with a competitor's fund that is equally worth recommending. Same goes for the other side. If a wholesaler decides to bash another fund they must one for one admit poor performing funds of the company they represent. And they must provide proof to back up their claims.
Some stay some go, either way it is a win win for our clients and us.