[quote=dude]Then the bank started f*cking with the grid (within my first 4 months too) and I saw a 30% drop in income during a time when I had signed up based on the income I would be making.[/quote]

Dude...are you sure we didn't work for the same company?!!

I've learned that my experience pretty much sums up the majority of bank broker's experiences (other than the relocation stuff).

Even with my wretched experience, I'm sure that there are many other banks that are probably fine places to park a business.

In my bank program it appears the median production is around 300k.

I'm around that figure in year 2 and should exceed it in year 3.

I figure by year 5 I should have approx 30M in managed assets at about 1.25% so on Jan 1 i'm guaranteed almost 400k if I stay home all year.

My goals two years ago was to reach production of 500k in five years.  I'm on target, but more importantly I'm happy and my clients are too.

Have a good weekend.

Scrim

Scrim, I’m pretty surprised about your velocity, which appears to be between 2 & 3% if I remember your AUM number right.  I just wonder how long it will take the bank to start tinkering with your payouts…get back to us in a year on that, OK?

Would you agree velocity is not as relevant until your practice is mature?

I'm mostly opening up new accounts at this stage and getting usually around 2.5-3% up front.

scrim

[quote=dude][quote=mikebutler222] <?:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

[quote=bankrep1]
This sounds like my program, I do not have any 5 million dollar accounts, but probably 10+ over a million and many over 250K.

We do not have private banking, trust, or a platform program so I handle everything. Million dollar accounts to the 2K IRA and things are great. I have the option of dumping my branches for increased payout 40-55% when my book is large enough.
[/quote]

You handle everything but don’t have any accounts over $5MM? Look, my jabs about $2k IRAs were 40% jest, and I’ll admit to blurring together a few of you folks with “bank” or “ez” in your names, but the prompting was the assertion by one of you guys that you essentially do what wirehouse (and I assume you’d include indies and regionals) do, except you don’t have to prospect.

My point was that that’s just not true. You (and these are generalizations across the bank world) have to deal with anyone referred to you (or you may p$ss off the referrer and thereby never get another) no matter how poor a prospect. You deal largely with smaller, less profitable accounts and that forces you, as you admitted, to under-service those accounts (once a year? Really?). You just don’t get much of a crack at the bigger, more profitable relationships that careers are built on.

Now, having said that, if I were a twentysomething and new to the industry, I may well try to earn my little broker wings at a bank rather than take the plunge (unless I had a network in place already) into a wirehouse or regional (and I wouldn’t even consider an indy role, there you really need to start seasoned). Even imagining having to go back to building a book as I did when I started out (if you even could with DNCL and the like) sends a chill up my spine and I’d even endure life at a bank to avoid it.[/quote]

You are making very BROAD and narrow generalizations Mike.  I told the tellers who I wanted to talk with and although I would receive some low quality referrals, most were well above my minimums.

[/quote]

My “generalizations” based on my personal experience (and, it would appear, Indy’s) are no broader than yours. In our program there were no Series 6 people, we had the obligation (and management was happy to remind us) of fielding all calls. In fact, at a wirehouse I like to say I don’t have to work with everyone I encounter, at the bank I specifically had to agree to do just that.

 [quote=dude]

A platform rep is 63 and 6 licenced and can sell a limited menu of mutual funds and annuities.  These reps would be more in line with your stereotypes. [/quote]

I don’t know how common “platform reps” are in the industry, but I’ve heard they often come with their own set of issues, like “call nights”, splitting commissions and fighting for referrals.

 [quote=dude]

I left the bank because… [/quote]

I understand your reasons, it’s just interesting how you portrayed it as a HNW target rich environment and then said you wouldn’t go back.

fyi,

My velocity right now is around 1.4%

Since 80% of my practice is fee based at around that aforementioned 1.4% my velocity would usually be around that figure even when my practice is mature.

Of course, that biggest variables are that as economies of scale and competitive pressures kick in the advisory fee being charged can only decrease hence my production will be sliced somewhat.   I am definitely anticipating that somewhere down the line.

scrim

[quote=scrim67]

I figure by year 5 I should have approx 30M in managed assets at about 1.25% so on Jan 1 i'm guaranteed almost 400k if I stay home all year.

[/quote]

It's insane to think that any organization is going to allow employees who took none of the risks to establish such arrangments.

It just isn't going to happen, period.

As I've said since day one, this idea of fee based compensation is too new to know if clients will accept it and it's also too new to know if employers are going to accept it.

Why in the world would any employer allow an employee to stay home and earn anything, much less signficant income.

I know, I know--the employee won't stay home, they'll go to the office and talk to the girls.  Still won't work.

Banks are notorious for cutting people free who are dead wood.  Of all of the venues where people can invest bank customers are the least likey to leave the broker/dealer.  They are investing at the bank because they are nervous investors to begin with--the same reason that a wirehouse or independent broker has a very difficult time luring a bank client to their shop, a bank broker will be just as unable to move clients with them--even to another bank.

"Michelle, you're a nice woman and I appreciate that you've handled my account while you were here, but I am a customer of the bank and I am sure that your replacement will be a nice person too."

If a teller moves from Bank A to Bank B is it expected that the clients will all move to Bank B too?

Of course not.

[quote=Indyone]

MB, much of what you just said is a pretty fair assessment of what I saw.  I literally had to ignore 90% of the referrals I received and build my book with the remaining 10% that were worth something and my own prospecting efforts.  [/quote]

Some how I was under the impression you were in PB or trust and not a "bank broker".

I think a fee based practice whether at a bank, indy or wire is most often a best arrangement.

It tends to mitigate the conflict of interest issues that arise is a purely transactional business.

Why would such a win-win-win scenario disappear?   Certainly evolve, but not disappear.

scrim

[quote=mikebutler222]

[quote=dude][quote=mikebutler222] <?:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

[quote=bankrep1]
This sounds like my program, I do not have any 5 million dollar accounts, but probably 10+ over a million and many over 250K.

We do not have private banking, trust, or a platform program so I handle everything. Million dollar accounts to the 2K IRA and things are great. I have the option of dumping my branches for increased payout 40-55% when my book is large enough.
[/quote]

You handle everything but don’t have any accounts over $5MM? Look, my jabs about $2k IRAs were 40% jest, and I’ll admit to blurring together a few of you folks with “bank” or “ez” in your names, but the prompting was the assertion by one of you guys that you essentially do what wirehouse (and I assume you’d include indies and regionals) do, except you don’t have to prospect.

My point was that that’s just not true. You (and these are generalizations across the bank world) have to deal with anyone referred to you (or you may p$ss off the referrer and thereby never get another) no matter how poor a prospect. You deal largely with smaller, less profitable accounts and that forces you, as you admitted, to under-service those accounts (once a year? Really?). You just don’t get much of a crack at the bigger, more profitable relationships that careers are built on.

Now, having said that, if I were a twentysomething and new to the industry, I may well try to earn my little broker wings at a bank rather than take the plunge (unless I had a network in place already) into a wirehouse or regional (and I wouldn’t even consider an indy role, there you really need to start seasoned). Even imagining having to go back to building a book as I did when I started out (if you even could with DNCL and the like) sends a chill up my spine and I’d even endure life at a bank to avoid it.[/quote]

You are making very BROAD and narrow generalizations Mike.  I told the tellers who I wanted to talk with and although I would receive some low quality referrals, most were well above my minimums.

[/quote]

My “generalizations” based on my personal experience (and, it would appear, Indy’s) are no broader than yours. In our program there were no Series 6 people, we had the obligation (and management was happy to remind us) of fielding all calls. In fact, at a wirehouse I like to say I don’t have to work with everyone I encounter, at the bank I specifically had to agree to do just that.

 [quote=dude]

A platform rep is 63 and 6 licenced and can sell a limited menu of mutual funds and annuities.  These reps would be more in line with your stereotypes. [/quote]

I don’t know how common “platform reps” are in the industry, but I’ve heard they often come with their own set of issues, like “call nights”, splitting commissions and fighting for referrals.

 [quote=dude]

I left the bank because… [/quote]

I understand your reasons, it’s just interesting how you portrayed it as a HNW target rich environment and then said you wouldn’t go back.[/quote]

C'mon MikeB, I clearly explained what happened.  To be completely honest, I was blown away by the quality of referrals I was getting at the time and was happy as a lark until my wife started b*tching and then the bank dropped my payout like a hot rock at a very bad time for me.  I don't see anything unusual or 'interesting' about what I have explained.  I would go back to the same AREA if my wife would have it, just not the same company...like I have stated many times before, banks are not for me.

[quote=scrim67]

I think a fee based practice whether at a bank, indy or wire is most often a best arrangement.

It tends to mitigate the conflict of interest issues that arise is a purely transactional business.

Why would such a win-win-win scenario disappear?   Certainly evolve, but not disappear.

scrim

[/quote]

I think it will disappear because clients will come to resent having their pockets picked my middlemen who are performing little or no service worth paying for.

I suspect it is the first step to a compensation format where clients only pay fees if their portfolios increase in value.  That has always been a goal, but the problem is how to institute it without encouraging a frenzy of churning by advisors who know that if the client doesn't profit they don't either.

The way to pay you guys is a one time commission for selling the fund to a client, and then a trail based on the performance of the client's portfolio.

Something I legitimately do not know because it's never been of interest to me.  If a client wants to take delivery of his mutual fund shares I assume he won't have to pay the 100 to 125 basis points so many of you are currently raping them for.

Don't you think that a spokesman for some group--say AARP--appearing in TV commericals could persuade most people to ask to have their shares delivered to them to stop the bleeding?

I will also add that the generalizations you were making concerning $2k IRA's etc... are akin to people lambasting the wirehouses about production quotas, proprietary product quotas, selling crappy stock 'out of inventory' for bigger commissions, conflicted research or any other moot points.

And we know how 'colorful' you get when others start reciting the above tired lines about wirehouses.

[quote=mikebutler222]

[quote=bankrep1]

At the bank I get about a 40% payout, free office abd my calendar is pretty full without doing any prospecting. What exactly don't you get? while your looking for your next sale I am writing business all day long.

[/quote]

One $2k IRA at a time.....

[/quote]

PWN3D!

[quote=dude]

I will also add that the generalizations you were making concerning $2k IRA's etc... are akin to people lambasting the wirehouses about production quotas, proprietary product quotas, selling crappy stock 'out of inventory' for bigger commissions, conflicted research or any other moot points.

And we know how 'colorful' you get when others start reciting the above tired lines about wirehouses.

[/quote]

Seems to me the difference is I saw the $2k IRA flow....

And I saw MASSIVE pressure to sell Portfolio Architect over Fund Solution, this was after all the proprietary fallout.

Hmmmmmm, maybe all that crap about wirehouses is true.

~rolls eyes~

[quote=dude]

And I saw MASSIVE pressure to sell Portfolio Architect over Fund Solution, this was after all the proprietary fallout.

Hmmmmmm, maybe all that crap about wirehouses is true.

~rolls eyes~

[/quote]

How did the "massive pressure" present itself?

Branch manager giving accounts, attention, resources etc… to those who focused more on Portfolio Architect.  It was subtle for those who didn’t focus on the wrap business…but for us rookies and those who did wrap business it was quite obvious what our manager wanted us to do.

I will clarify that my comment about wirehouses was drenched in sarcasm. 

[quote=dude]Branch manager giving accounts, attention, resources etc... to those who focused more on Portfolio Architect.  It was subtle for those who didn't focus on the wrap business...but for us rookies and those who did wrap business it was quite obvious what our manager wanted us to do.[/quote]

Over those that did the other fund program? That had to have been an office issue, not firm wide, or perhaps your perception as a newbie.