Adivce Please

Volunteer to sell an intangible or call to raise funds and be very successful at it.

For example, you could volunteer to sell Chamber of Commerce memberships. They're an intangible and require the development of selling skills that can translate features of an intangible product into tangible benefits for the buyer. Become good at it and you will develop good contacts and selling skills, plus impress your potential employer. 

Fund raising for a non-profit is another way to develop good contacts and selling skills.

In either scenario, you must be one of the top sellers/fund raisers to really capture the attention of your potential employer.

In my opinion and possibly the opinion of anyone who interviews you, you've convinced me you have the brains to do the job (Math Major), but do you have the people skills to succeed at this? Unless there's something strongly "people oriented" in your background, you may not be given a chance. 

Real world success at selling intangibles or raising money for nonprofits would qualify as a strong positive for possessing "people skills".

Good luck!

Do you have a quality list of HNW individuals?

Do you have a business plan to give the your interviewers?

Can you get 15M in 2 years?

Plenty more questions to consider...

BrothaK,

I would be hanging out where wealthy people hang out and make as many friends as I can, which may be a bit of a challenge concerning your age (oops, sorry 'bout the age comment). 

Maybe find a hobby or interest which will put you in regular contact with wealthy prospects.......if you are serious, this is what you must do.  Start building your financial IQ and learn as much as you can in talking to these folks.  Try to start up conversations and develop rapport.  This probably won't result in any business opportunities for a year or more, but your timeline seems to be in line with that.  Don't come off as a punk kid; display ettiquite and savvy....try to come across as the brilliant young guy with a lot of potential. 

Make friends (sincerely) and ask for advice, like "Mr. Jones, I can tell that you're quite successful, in my carreer path I'd like to work with people like yourself, if you were me how would you go about doing that?" then shut up and listen.  Learn profiling techniques and try to implement them (be very subtle about this) in your conversations in a smooth manner, using open ended and close ended questions to learn about people. 

Develop a knock out list of high probability prospects through these activities.  Leave the college kid sh*t alone and spend your weeknights and weekends building credibility among your target markets instead of partying it up.  Maybe give some talks on investment topics that you understand well. 

BrothaK, you have been persistent on these boards and seem to listen.  I am telling you that if you are at all serious about this you have no time to waste.....so get to work, O.K.?

K:

 <?:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

 People will never take you seriously if you can’t form complete sentences with correct spelling using the proper grammar.

If you can’t get the people on this forum to take you seriously how will you persuade a manager to hire you? You think NASD is hard on you, guess what, its people like NASD who make the decisions.

There are 1000 other people who are more qualified, come from better schools, and have better contacts. These firms owe you dick.   

I am not saying it is impossible to get a job with one of these firms.  But you better change your attitude before you go into these interviews or you will be working at Joes burger hut for a while. 

Besides, I thought you were already interviewing with Merrill?  You claimed numerous times that you have had big interviews.  I am starting to think you are bull*******g everyone..

I can't imagine a good firm hiring him.

I offered to help him land some interviews and he sneered that he didn't need my help, that he knows--as in KNOWS--that he has what it take.

It's amazing that he's asking for advice when he has all the answers already.

brothaK,

Reading books is a good idea.  What REALLY helped me was sitting down one on one with some experienced advisors.  I sat down with 3 of them and learned a ton.  It really helped me in my interviews.

Also, interview with EVERYONE.  I mean from Smith Barney all the way to Edward Jones (and everyone in between).  That Ameriprise interview will really help you when you are talking with Morgan, Merrill and UBS.

Good luck!

Enjoy your last six months of college. Have fun, party, chase women, where shorts and t-shirts, go to some concerts, and take a vacation.

Be able to answer, "why do you want to be a Financial Advisor" hopefully it is something besides the fact that you think you can make money.

Also, why should they hire you?  How will YOU increase the AUM or revenue of the firm.  Can you sell?  Can you ASK people for money?  If not, go someplace else.

Are you interested in finance in general or specifically the advisory side?  Go talk to a prof in the finance department.  See what they think about you degree.  Mathematics degrees (albeit Ph.Ds) are in high demand on the institutional side (quants for hedge funds and even mutual funds). 

[quote=knucklehead] Enjoy your last six months of college. Have fun, party, chase women, where shorts and t-shirts, go to some concerts, and take a vacation. [/quote]

This is actually the most appropriate advice.

You're a long shot to get hired by any of the worthy firms. That's not being derogatory, it's just a fact. Your training cost will be in the neighborhood of $100K. That's a 100k bet on a kid with no sales experience or, for that matter, any real world work experience. I'm not saying that you won't get in, you might. Actually, for as much as you want this, it would be better for you if you didn't get in. Why? Because if you do make through the front door the likelyhood of succeeding at age 22 are slim and none. And once you blow yourself out of the business coming back 5 or 10 years from now will be almost impossible. The smarter play would be to volunteer as a fund raiser, as Doberman suggested, and then get a sales job. It doesn't matter what you sell, just be good at whatever it is. This will give you a realistic view of what you life as an advisor will be, and at least a few years of sales runs to show prospective employers that you are the real thing. Becoming a volunteer shows that community service is important to you. That reads very well on a resume.

And if that doesn't convince you to go another way try this; I'm 54 years old, I've been in this business for 23 years, I've forgotten more than you know, I'm the same age as your target market , and thus, can bond with them perfectly. We're all going through the same life experience, can't believe we're in our fifties. We share the same history. I totally get fifty year olds. On top of that I can sell snow to the snowman and sand to the sandman, number one trainee out of 102 in my training class. I left a major wirehouse a few years ago. That year as in all previous years I was in the top quintile for new accounts opened. My wife, who is my partner was 60th in the firm for new accounts, that's out of how many FAs, 8000, 10,000? At our current firm, it's dejavu all over again. Additionally, I'm a top quintile producer, Member of every service club you can mention, Board member and contributor to several charities, community leader and activist.

Have you ever volunteered for a charity? Swung a hammer for Habitat for Humanity, ridden your bike 100 miles for breast cancer, or 150 miles for MS, walked five miles for diabetes, ridden a motorcycle 1500 miles in one day to raise money for a pediatric hospital, served food at a homeless shelter, Brought toys to pediatric ward, washed cars for your church, dug ditches to bring water to a poverty striken farmers, given coats to the homeless, given the coat off your back to a homeless person? If not, why not? Any of this ringing a bell with you?

Have you ever written a check to a charity? Have you ever attended a town meeting? Who is the mayor in your town? Who are the council people? What is the hottest issue where you live? Do you know? Do you care? Believe me, the people you are prospecting know and care.

 I tell you that to tell you this; Do you think you have a chance against me? Honestly, little 22 year old math major?  You don't. What you don't know can hurt you. and you don't know me. I will hurt you. I am your competition, and I'm really good at what I do. Not only can I sell rings around you, I'm a community leader. I'm the guy in the sales books you are reading. And there are guys just like me in every little town in this country. How are you going to sell against me? That's the mountain you have to climb. And I gotta tell ya, at 22, or is it 23, it's ain't happenin'.

I'm being really hard on you purposely. I'm not trying to be a jerk. I have a son your age who wants to come into the business. I'm telling you the same thing I'm telling him, and that is, not yet.

You are a smart guy. Make the smart play and get some experience first.

I know, not the answer you were looking for.

[quote=tjc45]

You’re a long shot to get hired by any of the worthy firms. That’s not being derogatory, it’s just a fact. Your training cost will be in the neighborhood of $100K. That’s a 100k bet on a kid with no sales experience or, for that matter, any real world work experience. I’m not saying that you won’t get in, you might. Actually, for as much as you want this, it would be better for you if you didn’t get in. Why? Because if you do make through the front door the likelyhood of succeeding at age 22 are slim and none. And once you blow yourself out of the business coming back 5 or 10 years from now will be almost impossible. The smarter play would be to volunteer as a fund raiser, as Doberman suggested, and then get a sales job. It doesn’t matter what you sell, just be good at whatever it is. This will give you a realistic view of what you life as an advisor will be, and at least a few years of sales runs to show prospective employers that you are the real thing. Becoming a volunteer shows that community service is important to you. That reads very well on a resume.

And if that doesn't convince you to go another way try this; I'm 54 years old, I've been in this business for 23 years, I've forgotten more than you know, I'm the same age as your target market , and thus, can bond with them perfectly. We're all going through the same life experience, can't believe we're in our fifties. We share the same history. I totally get fifty year olds. On top of that I can sell snow to the snowman and sand to the sandman, number one trainee out of 102 in my training class. I left a major wirehouse a few years ago. That year as in all previous years I was in the top quintile for new accounts opened. My wife, who is my partner was 60th in the firm for new accounts, that's out of how many FAs, 8000, 10,000? At our current firm, it's dejavu all over again. Additionally, I'm a top quintile producer, Member of every service club you can mention, Board member and contributor to several charities, community leader and activist.

Have you ever volunteered for a charity? Swung a hammer for Habitat for Humanity, ridden your bike 100 miles for breast cancer, or 150 miles for MS, walked five miles for diabetes, ridden a motorcycle 1500 miles in one day to raise money for a pediatric hospital, served food at a homeless shelter, Brought toys to pediatric ward, washed cars for your church, dug ditches to bring water to a poverty striken farmers, given coats to the homeless, given the coat off your back to a homeless person? If not, why not? Any of this ringing a bell with you?

Have you ever written a check to a charity? Have you ever attended a town meeting? Who is the mayor in your town? Who are the council people? What is the hottest issue where you live? Do you know? Do you care? Believe me, the people you are prospecting know and care.

 I tell you that to tell you this; Do you think you have a chance against me? Honestly, little 22 year old math major?  You don't. What you don't know can hurt you. and you don't know me. I will hurt you. I am your competition, and I'm really good at what I do. Not only can I sell rings around you, I'm a community leader. I'm the guy in the sales books you are reading. And there are guys just like me in every little town in this country. How are you going to sell against me? That's the mountain you have to climb. And I gotta tell ya, at 22, or is it 23, it's ain't happenin'.

I'm being really hard on you purposely. I'm not trying to be a jerk. I have a son your age who wants to come into the business. I'm telling you the same thing I'm telling him, and that is, not yet.

You are a smart guy. Make the smart play and get some experience first.

I know, not the answer you were looking for.

Another classic from tjc45.  In my research, there are many that would concur precisely with his view.

[quote=joedabrkr]
2.) Hooking up with an experienced advisor or team of advisors in a support role.  Let them know you eventually want to get into production and want to learn the business.  The lessons you learn about how to succeed in this business will far eclipse the value of any monetary compensation you earn.
[/quote]

I wholeheartedly agree with this suggestion.  Everyone is telling you that you are too young for a reason.  With few rare exceptions, it’s completely true.  This does not mean that you can’t get into the business.  I’m work in an office with almost 100 FAs.  I’ve been learning that the majority of them did not build their books from scratch alone.  A fairly large number started out in support roles, learned the business and then became FAs as part of the team.<?:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

If you are looking at Merrill Lynch I would consider a position as a CA (client associate) or in their FAC (<?:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Financial Advisory Center).  CAs are more than just secretaries.  They work very closely with FAs and in turn learn the business.  I am surprised how many of the currently successful FAs in my office started out as CAs.  The FAC is a call center.  It’s filled with a bunch of young recent college graduates but you get an opportunity to learn the business and the products.  One of the POAers in my class came from the FAC.  He is already 4-months ahead of his hurdles.

If you were to go directly into becoming an FA then the odds will be stacked against you.  One bad experience too early in your working life could permanently close the doors to this career for you.

--WM

brothak, try to get an internship at any of those companies.  My last semester in school I interned at ML and called 300 people a day trying to give them a free research report on a local cable company’s preferred stock.<?:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

That experience helped me getting my first real job.

tjc, you are a class act.  Great post…keep up the good work.

Damn TJC, way to put it. 

K:

 <?:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

You never answered my question.  What happened with the Merrill interview?   You mentioned wearing purple and cutting your dreadlocks?  

WOW, I don’t even know where to begin.  First, I want to thank you all for the insightful and sincere replies to this thread.
NASDnewb, sorry for the negative comment I made about you in the beginning of the thread, however, you keep ruining countless quality advice with your ignorant views.  At first I thought you were being the devil’s advocate, and a “no bullsh*t” type of guy, but after a while I am just seeing an extremist who just doesn’t want to believe in the truth.  How am I supposed to take “advice” from someone who can’t build a good rapport on a lousy forum and suddenly transforms from nasdy to nice when he wants commission for a recruitment?

Knucklehead & Looney, I will be putting your advice into action!

Shmer I think you have the wrong guy, I’ve never said anything about interviews and trust me I don’t have dreadlocks.

Yes, I do understand it will be difficult to begin when I am young and that I should rather be selling insurance and making more money doing that and then jump in to this industry with all my contacts when I’m 35.  However, I know I will be successful and age is just a factor going against me like many other things (tjc) but it does not mean I will not defy the odds.  Why wait when I have what it takes to start it now. I want to build a business that keeps growing exponentially.  I cannot wait to get into this business and feel that I am gonna go crazy in these 6 months.  Tjc you had probably one of the best posts I have ever seen.  I think I am going to print it out and put it on my wall, ironically enough, as a motivator.
I came here to get advice and many of the posts were to “quit before I ever even begin”.  Trust me, I did not overlook any of those posts, but honestly none of them are compelling enough.  Do you think I won’t make it if I cold walk 300 businesses a week, how about hiring college girls to set appointments cold calling, or networking with attorneys, CPAs, realtors or even doing seminars.  How about my affluent untapped niche market and the networking inside of it?  Tjc I understand where you are coming from because you are building a relationship with your clients, because they are at your age.  Although, I would love to build the relationship I will first work with them on the business standpoint and gradually make it into a relationship.
Again, thank you all for your help.  I am really looking forward to diving into this challenging career and working/competing with all you great people out there.
Oh, and most importantly, make sure you have a great Labor Day weekend.

baradarK

Let's see if we have this right.  This is a 22 year old black kid with no sales experience--and he believes he's got something to offer?

Just what would that be--access to the affluent world of 22 year old black kids?

As for the comments at the top of his piece.  What I did was PM him to ask where he was--I figured I'd give him a few names to contact.

He wrote back saying he didn't need my help, that he knows exactly what he's doing.

What a joke.

++++++

In a separate vein--if you're in the NYC area don't miss the US Open--my wife and I have been out there for the last three days.  It's an annual rite of late summer and even though the faces are often new the games are still great.

Wonder if Andre can pull a Connors style swan song--who's that Roddick guy anyway?

Schmer33 - you are a racist pig and a disgrace to the profession.

brotha_k - I agree with the posters who think that you may be over-reaching, but if you are really that enthusiastic - why not go for it? You should definitely look into working for a private bank (JP Morgan, Citigroup Private Bank, BoA Private Bank) - programs that are more focused on training than business development. Bring your enthusiasm, professionalism and, yes, your color to our profession!

wait a minute Schmer33 - I owe you an apology. It would appear that someone has been “masquerading” as ‘brothak’, by posting as ‘brotha_k’. Clearly this person is the racist jac*off who wants this board to be “whites only”. I assumed that you had fabricated the “deadlocks and purple suit” post. Very sorry.

TJC45

Nice Post, however, if nobody my age did want to take you on, then
where would the fun be. Also, your situation maybe somewhat unique b/c
some guys I’ve seen in your situation are screwing people and it just
takes a little bit of coercing and hand holding to make some people
leave. Anyway, the odds sure are in your favor.

[quote=rook4123]TJC45
Nice Post, however, if nobody my age did want to take you on, then where would the fun be. Also, your situation maybe somewhat unique b/c some guys I've seen in your situation are screwing people and it just takes a little bit of coercing and hand holding to make some people leave. Anyway, the odds sure are in your favor.
[/quote]

I get taken on all the time. When a client leaves me I look at that as my failure. My clients are the competition's prospects. I work hard at building relationships with clients that makes it tough for them to leave. Yet, not every relationship works. Sometimes I fire them, and sometimes they fire me. It's part of the business. Yet, if any of my clients left me for a 20 something FA I'd probably have to commit suicide.

What's unique?

tjc45,

After reading your quality posts, the only reason I could think of, for a client to leave you for a 20-something FA is if that FA calls your clients Mom & Dad.

[quote=doberman]

tjc45,

After reading your quality posts, the only reason I could think of, for a client to leave you for a 20-something FA is if that FA calls your clients Mom & Dad.

[/quote]

Thanks Doberman. Unfortunately, clients do leave. The last client to leave was about two years ago. I was working my butt off to get him to trf his large SB acct to me. I built the acct up to about $400K and then got tired of him buying my reccos at SB. I told him I was tired of making his SB guy money. Then I cut him off. He called one day and asked why I hadn't had any stock or bond ideas for a while. I told him I had plenty of ideas and would be more than happy to share one with him, all he had to do was send me $100k first. Well, that didn't go over. And that was it, he fired me. OK, with me. I wasn't going to get any more from him. Couple other things he did, like giving a million dollar annuity sale to a friend's son, and holding a long term position in a very mediocre muni bond fund kinda topped it off for me. He wouldn't consider moving that money.

Another problem is that sometimes I'm too honest for my own good. That cost me a client a few years ago. The client called in looking for service of some kind. I can't remember exactly what it was, only that my assistant couldn't handle it for some reason. I had to do it myself. And that's a big problem. I'm just not good at doing the service end. I'm not a detail person. I'm a knows what button to push to get it done type of person. Which is why my assistant is so important to me. Anyway, this guy was sort of a PIA type. Always looking for service, without a lot of biz. So I put him low on the priorty list and then promptly forgot to do whatever I was suppose to do. It happens. It's happened to everyone on this board. About a week later the client calls to get answer to his request. I think "Oh S**t" I completely forgot about it. And that's what I told him as I apologized for not getting the request handled. The request was handled the next day. I made a point to get it done. Two weeks later the ACATS came in. So, I got fired for telling the truth, that I had forgotten his request. But, the real truth is that I deserved to be fired because as long as this guy was on the books as a client he was paying for and deserved my best, which he clearly didn't get. On the other hand, if I'd told one of the standard white lies, "Gee, I gave it to the home office and they haven't gotten back to me yet" maybe he'd still be a client. Couldn't do that. Oh well, I can sleep with that. But, the irony of it kills me.

So it's stuff like that. I don't care how good you are, no one is immune.

[quote=tjc45]I don't care how good you are, no one is immune. [/quote]

How true that is.  I've taken a couple of accounts from a big Merrill office and a big Jones guy recently.  Both producers enjoy excellent long-term reputations and are top-10 percentile producers in their firms.  The problem appears to be that success is killing them.  In one case, I shared a client and sent him a review letter.  He came in with his Jones statements telling me to transfer everything in because his Jones guy hadn't called him in five years (his words).  My take is that this guy's book is huge and he's having trouble servicing his clients.  I think the Merrill guy has the same issue...the account was pretty much dormant and the client hadn't gotten much advice at all from his Merrill guy, although I think he at least called once a year from what I'm piecing together.  the client told me that the advice sounded "canned" and not really tailored to his portfolio and he just felt like he'd became a number.

Sometimes, unfortunately, success can almost kill you...someday I hope to approach that level of assets...

[quote=Indyone]

[quote=tjc45]I don't care how good you are, no one is immune. [/quote]

How true that is.  I've taken a couple of accounts from a big Merrill office and a big Jones guy recently.  Both producers enjoy excellent long-term reputations and are top-10 percentile producers in their firms.  The problem appears to be that success is killing them.  In one case, I shared a client and sent him a review letter.  He came in with his Jones statements telling me to transfer everything in because his Jones guy hadn't called him in five years (his words).  My take is that this guy's book is huge and he's having trouble servicing his clients.  I think the Merrill guy has the same issue...the account was pretty much dormant and the client hadn't gotten much advice at all from his Merrill guy, although I think he at least called once a year from what I'm piecing together.  the client told me that the advice sounded "canned" and not really tailored to his portfolio and he just felt like he'd became a number.

Sometimes, unfortunately, success can almost kill you...someday I hope to approach that level of assets...

[/quote]

What never fails to amaze me is that clients whine about not being called, and they whine about being called.

I understand that I am cheapening what you guys do, but if somebody thinks about it there is no reason to have you as middlemen.

You're going to advise them to move their money from one manager to another--but in an environment where most managers are going to be performing very similarly what's the point?

Why should the client not simply select a family of funds and stick with them?  Isn't Morningstar reporting history?  Of course.  And isn't it true that past performance does not indicate future results?  Of course.

I understand that the point is to not sit in an underperforming fund while there are such hot funds out there to choose from--but what's to say that last year's underperformer is not going to be this year's star?  Or that last year's star is this year's dog?

It seems to me that you're playing on a form of "You can fool all of the people some of the time, and some of the people all of the time, but you can't fool all of the people all of the time."

Am I wrong?

[quote=brothaK]How about my affluent untapped niche market and the networking inside of it? 
[/quote]

The line that I quoted above reminds me of myself.  I came in here knowing that this business would be hard but I felt that I had a distinct advantage over others because of my exceptional network.  I am surrounded by extremely wealthy people.  They invite me to their private clubs to play golf, I’ve driven their half-million dollar cars and I’ve flown in their private jets.  With all of this I was sure I would be a superstar in the business.  While I’m still in training and that may eventually be the case, I’ve found that the network is not enough.  If you know all of these wealthy people then I suggest you ask them what you would need to do in order for them to trust you with even a portion of their wealth.  I’ve found that most of these people are already clients with my firm and are untouchable or that they have relationships at other firms which are well established and they are not interested in moving.  This is not to say that I won’t be able to eventually get some of their assets or that they wouldn’t refer people to me.  It just means that knowing people, even on a very personal basis, is not anywhere near enough for them to hand over their assets.  I don’t even want to think about how difficult it would be if I were 10-years younger and without my MBA.<?:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

I hope this helps.

--WM

[/quote]

Am I wrong?

[/quote]

Yes

Read and heed.  I too was very well connected and was somewhat  of a hometown hero to boot.

Most people won't do business with you because they know you're new and/or so young that you are not thought to be mature enough to be trusted.

What can be exploited is the social skills that come with being raised in the proper environment.  It's called "class" and those who have it realize what a benefit it is, and those who do not sneer at it out of pure ignorance.

Anyway, somebody who has been raised in the world of successful adults learns things--let's call them manners--and what they know can be employed in the hunt for other accomplished people who do not know your parents and do not know that a month ago you were a lifeguard.

[quote=NASD Newbie]Read and heed.  I too was very well connected and was somewhat  of a hometown hero to boot.[/quote]
Be honest NASD - are you Joe Namath?

[quote=opie]

[quote=NASD Newbie]Read and heed.  I too was very well connected and was somewhat  of a hometown hero to boot.[/quote]
Be honest NASD - are you Joe Namath?

[/quote]

Nope, but I am a Dandy.

And I’ll bet your wife yells at you for getting your lipstick all over the mirrors at the house.

Joe Namath?  More like Al Bundy.  He scored 5 touchdowns in high school, you know?

hubbabubba: Joe Namath?  More like Al Bundy.  He scored 5 touchdowns in high school, you know?

-----------------------------------------

I thought he only scored four touchdowns on the field and the fifth one he had to marry.

Hey NASD Newbie, how much can you be producing if you have 1342 posts?
My guess not too much. If I were a broker right now I would not be on
this board. You must be really good or really lazy. 

He is neither…he is retarded…I mean retired.

Don Meredith?

Dandy Don, what a guy.

Years ago he was one of the three guys on Monday Night Football--Gifford, Cossell and Dandy.

They were in Atlanta for a game with the 49ers.

Cossell commented, "These fans are really into this game...I'm not sure I've ever seen a more enthusiastic group."

Dandy responded, "Hell Howard, they're not enthusiastic.....they're drunk."

I am American by birth, but Southern by the grace of God--so I know that that was probably true.

I'm not The Dandy, but I am a Mustang and a damn good imitatiion of the real thing.

No…NASD Newbie is a cross between Hannibal Lechter and Mr. Magoo!!!

[quote=assetgatherer]No…NASD Newbie is a cross between Hannibal Lechter and Mr. Magoo!!![/quote]

outstanding!

[quote=joedabrkr] [quote=assetgatherer]No...NASD Newbie is a cross between Hannibal Lechter and Mr. Magoo!!![/quote]

outstanding!


[/quote]

Joeboy, looking at that the next day--does it portray you has being mature with a good sense of humor?

Do you suppose that your clients would be impressed to see how you spend your time-much less how childish you are?

[quote=assetgatherer]No...NASD Newbie is a cross between Hannibal Lechter and Mr. Magoo!!![/quote]

outstanding!

The character reference to NASD Newbie was actually meant to be a half hearted compliment. It is obvious that he has experienced many things in this business but the personal attacks and the denegration to others lends him zero credibility. The real problem with this forum is that there is no transparency. You truely don’t know if someone is telling the truth or are truely a legend in their own mind. The amount of testosterone thrown around here is hysterical. Its like a pissing contest all the time. Throw in the multiple screen names being used by the same cast of characters and you have to admit that it does provide for great entertainment at times.

Almost forgot one of these for NASD Newbie    

The word is truly, not truely.

How can you kids not know basics?  What kind of schools did you attend?

I am actually not a kid and you are correct I did spell truly wrong and thank you for correcting me.

[quote=assetgatherer]I am actually not a kid and you are correct I did spell truly wrong and thank you for correcting me.[/quote]

You misspelled it twice in the same paragraph indicating that you did not know how to spell it.

How many times do you suppose you wrote that to somebody in a memo or note and painted yourself as less than you'd like the reader to believe you are.

That is a very good observation NASD Newbie. I did spell the word incorrectly twice. Something tells me that you must be a Type A personality with narsicistic tendencies? I once had a manager that I reported to that acted just like you. The world is full of them, meaning your type, and that is why I left that environment. I run my own business and do what I want because I am the boss. And I happen to agree with you about how important it is to communicate effectively but picking apart that one spelling error just shines a spot light on how petty you are and how quick you are to pass judgement on others that you know very little about. It is a shame that you could not be more constructive in this forum because I am sure that you have a lot more to add than just being the spelling police.



Please feel free to correct any spelling and other grammer errors because I know that you can’t help yourself.

[quote=assetgatherer]

I happen to agree with you about how important it is to communicate effectively but picking apart that one spelling error just shines a spot light on how petty you are and how quick you are to pass judgement on others that you know very little about. [/quote]

You know what you're talking about?  It's called "You never get a second chance to make a first impression."

You're right, I know nothing about you, other than that you truly did not know how to spell a basic English word.

Think if I were a prospect.  You would have blown the opportunity because I would not be able to look at you and consider you bright enough to handle my money.

As you were sneering about being a Type A personality--which I am not, by the way--you said there were a lot of them.

That's why it's even more important to make a good first impression.

Especially since laid back types are usually not very good candidates for investment advice--in fact, would you not believe that your best prospect is a type A individual who is so driven that he wants to pay somebody else to choose his mutual funds?

Funny thing is that I am the prospect that all of you are looking to land. I tried being a financial advisor but I honestly did not have what it took to get the job done so I left the field. I own a sucessful business building custom hot rods for people that are re-living their teenage years again. You may have even seen some of my cars at the World of Wheels etc. Many of my clients have won trophies with restorations done at my shop. I just couldn’t swing two careers. I love what I do now. I get kids that come into my shop every day looking for a job. I give them an employment application and they can’t even fill half of it out correctly so I agree with a lot of what you say. Its just the sniping that bothers me and I am extremely thick skinned.

[quote=assetgatherer]Funny thing is that I am the prospect that all of you are looking to land. I tried being a financial advisor but I honestly did not have what it took to get the job done so I left the field. I own a sucessful business building custom hot rods for people that are re-living their teenage years again. You may have even seen some of my cars at the World of Wheels etc. Many of my clients have won trophies with restorations done at my shop. I just couldn't swing two careers. I love what I do now. I get kids that come into my shop every day looking for a job. I give them an employment application and they can't even fill half of it out correctly so I agree with a lot of what you say. Its just the sniping that bothers me and I am extremely thick skinned.[/quote]

Let's see if I have this right.  You call yourself "assetgatherer" and you are commenting on the insurance and securities sales game, yet you failed at it and now use bondo and turtlewax on cars.

Is that it?

Not even close… but I did just achieve my desired result with you!

[quote=assetgatherer]

I own a sucessful business building custom hot rods for people that are re-living their teenage years again. You may have even seen some of my cars at the World of Wheels etc.[/quote]

The word is successful--but let's let that go as a typo since it only appears once.

I'm curious about where you worked in the business--you don't need to name the firm unless you want to--but was it an insurance firm, a chop shop, a wirehouse, just what type of place?

[quote=assetgatherer]Funny thing is that I am the prospect that all of you are looking to land. I tried being a financial advisor but I honestly did not have what it took to get the job done so I left the field. I own a sucessful business building custom hot rods for people that are re-living their teenage years again. You may have even seen some of my cars at the World of Wheels etc. Many of my clients have won trophies with restorations done at my shop. I just couldn't swing two careers. I love what I do now. I get kids that come into my shop every day looking for a job. I give them an employment application and they can't even fill half of it out correctly so I agree with a lot of what you say. Its just the sniping that bothers me and I am extremely thick skinned.[/quote]

I gotta ask...WHY are you here?

I got my ticket punched in 1995 at T Rowe Price in Baltimore. I started on the phones in a call center and was lucky enough to have them pay for my Series 7 instead of the 6. I worked my way up into 401k institutional plan administration and ended up running a group of about 20 reps. I used to see all the rollovers go out from terminated plan members. It was staggering…definately a retail broker’s wet dream if he or she could get to these people before they rolled into Fidelity or Vanguard. I decided to make the jump and went back into the car business about 5 years ago. My family has been in that line for about 50 years and I like muscle cars and was also tired of dealing with middle management. In 2005 I decided to get back into financial services again so I interviewed at Morgan Stanley and was hired. Had to take the 7, 66, 31 etc all over again. I worked there for about a year while I had someone manage my other business. I couldn’t juggle two careers and quite frankly had a very difficult time gaining traction at gathering assets. So I left Morgan in January of this year. I still have a lot of friends in this line of work so that is why I am here.

[quote=assetgatherer]I got my ticket punched in 1995 at T Rowe Price in Baltimore. I started on the phones in a call center and was lucky enough to have them pay for my Series 7 instead of the 6. I worked my way up into 401k institutional plan administration and ended up running a group of about 20 reps. I used to see all the rollovers go out from terminated plan members. It was staggering...definately a retail broker's wet dream if he or she could get to these people before they rolled into Fidelity or Vanguard. I decided to make the jump and went back into the car business about 5 years ago. My family has been in that line for about 50 years and I like muscle cars and was also tired of dealing with middle management. In 2005 I decided to get back into financial services again so I interviewed at Morgan Stanley and was hired. Had to take the 7, 66, 31 etc all over again. I worked there for about a year while I had someone manage my other business. I couldn't juggle two careers and quite frankly had a very difficult time gaining traction at gathering assets. So I left Morgan in January of this year. I still have a lot of friends in this line of work so that is why I am here.[/quote]

As a condition of friendship, do your friends require you to be here?  

No I just like to keep tabs on what is going on.

[quote=assetgatherer]No I just like to keep tabs on what is going on.[/quote]

In eleven years you came into the business, left it, came back, and left--while also during those eleven years you went into the muscle car business, left it and came back to it?

Would it be cynical to think you have issues with the idea of growing up?

[quote=assetgatherer]No I just like to keep tabs on what is going on.[/quote]

What are you gonna do when the teenagers from the nineties get all nostalgic and want to restore some Mitsubishi Eclipses? The thought of that makes me sick.

[quote=knucklehead]

[quote=assetgatherer]No I just like to keep tabs on what is going on.[/quote]

What are you gonna do when the teenagers from the nineties get all nostalgic and want to restore some Mitsubishi Eclipses? The thought of that makes me sick.

[/quote]

Me too!!!

You know.... against my better judgement, I find myself beginning to agree with you on several things.   I'm worried about myself now.

Would it be cynical to think you have issues with the idea of growing up?



It depends on your definition of growing up. If that means doing something that you hate for many years and then retiring to a bitter life of posting on internet forums then I would much rather not “grow up”. Most people don’t have the balls to take a chance and be their own boss. Don’t kid yourself, working for someone else provides you with zero job security. You can be let go at any time. If I don’t get up in the morning and get done what needs to be done then the fault lays on me not any one else.

[quote=babbling looney][quote=knucklehead]

[quote=assetgatherer]No I just like to keep tabs on what is going on.[/quote]

What are you gonna do when the teenagers from the nineties get all nostalgic and want to restore some Mitsubishi Eclipses? The thought of that makes me sick.

[/quote]

Me too!!!

You know.... against my better judgement, I find myself beginning to agree with you on several things.   I'm worried about myself now.

[/quote]

Would it be because you got your hands on a naked picture of me?

[quote=assetgatherer]

If that means doing something that you hate for many years and then retiring to a bitter life of posting on internet forums then I would much rather not "grow up". Most people don't have the balls to take a chance and be their own boss. Don't kid yourself, working for someone else provides you with zero job security. You can be let go at any time. If I don't get up in the morning and get done what needs to be done then the fault lays on me not any one else.

[/quote]

Nobody disagrees with you and your philosophy.  What is crystal clear however is that you either can't make a living working with the cars or you don't get along with your family.  Otherwise why come and go from that business like a revolving door?

I have no problem with deciding that working at Morgan Stanley was nothing like working at T. Rowe Price--what interests me is why you left the car business to go to Morgan Stanley at all if the car business was your true love and all that jazz.

The story just seems like the epitome of not knowing what you want to do when you grow up.

Not that any of us ever really know for sure.

As an aside, I would think that building muscle cars is about as dangerous a business as one could be in--something tells me that when the economy goes south one of the first toys to go from the budget will be a muscle car to remind me of my youth.

You know, defensive, cyclical, counter cyclical and all that.

[quote=knucklehead]

[quote=assetgatherer]No I just like to keep tabs on what is going on.[/quote]

What are you gonna do when the teenagers from the nineties get all nostalgic and want to restore some Mitsubishi Eclipses? The thought of that makes me sick.

[/quote]

Speaking as an owner of two 1971 GTOs, I certainly agree with your sentiment, but I do wish that you had waited 'til after I had finished eating to bring that up.

NASD Newbie-I make a good living doing what I am doing now. And you are right about not getting along with my family regarding the family business. That is why I went out on my own. I don’t just restore cars…I also have a collision repair business that caters to a lot of high end vehicles and the doctors and lawyers that own them. That is why I tried to leverage my relationships with my clients. But my idea did not work so I went back to what I had known before which was the car business. And by the way my business is a lot more recession proof than you might think. No matter what people still have to get their cars repaired after they get into an accident. How many BMW or Mercedes Benz do you see driving around with their front end hanging off? Not very many.

[quote=assetgatherer]NASD Newbie-I make a good living doing what I am doing now. And you are right about not getting along with my family regarding the family business. That is why I went out on my own. I don't just restore cars...I also have a collision repair business that caters to a lot of high end vehicles and the doctors and lawyers that own them. That is why I tried to leverage my relationships with my clients. But my idea did not work so I went back to what I had known before which was the car business. And by the way my business is a lot more recession proof than you might think. No matter what people still have to get their cars repaired after they get into an accident. How many BMW or Mercedes Benz do you see driving around with their front end hanging off? Not very many.[/quote]

Imagine that, doctors and lawyers couldn't make the mental transition to taking investment advice from the guy who owns the body shop where they had their car repaired.

NASD Newbie I knew that you would come back with a response like that. You would be suprised to know that most of the clients that I had at Morgan Stanley were contacts that I made via the car business. Because, unlike you, most of the people that I came into contact with were genuine and real and not pompous. What do you think that small business owners think about people like you. We can smell you a mile away.

[quote=assetgatherer]NASD Newbie I knew that you would come back with a response like that. You would be suprised to know that most of the clients that I had at Morgan Stanley were contacts that I made via the car business. Because, unlike you, most of the people that I came into contact with were genuine and real and not pompous. What do you think that small business owners think about people like you. We can smell you a mile away.[/quote]

Wait, if that were true you would have been a roaring success at Morgan Stanley.

Would you hire a banker to fix your teeth?

There's a huge difference between a doctor and a body shop owner playing a round of golf, or sitting in a duck blind together, or going on a motorcyle fun ride for chairty---and that doctor trusting the body shop guy with is retirement plan.

Knowing a lot of people is part of the task--getting them to trust you is a whole different ball game.

I agree with you…thats one of the reasons why I left Morgan Stanley…I couldn’t get enough of my business contacts to come over. I told you from the beginning that it was difficult to gain traction. So I had an idea, tried it, and failed. Then I moved on. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that at all.

[quote=assetgatherer]I agree with you...thats one of the reasons why I left Morgan Stanley...I couldn't get enough of my business contacts to come over. I told you from the beginning that it was difficult to gain traction. So I had an idea, tried it, and failed. Then I moved on. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that at all.[/quote]

Absolutely--and may you have many good years of selling muscle cars, or funny cars or whatever they're called.

[quote=assetgatherer]I agree with you...thats one of the reasons why I left Morgan Stanley...I couldn't get enough of my business contacts to come over. I told you from the beginning that it was difficult to gain traction. So I had an idea, tried it, and failed. Then I moved on. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that at all.[/quote]

AG, please stop trying to explain entrepreneurial concepts to a man who spent his life as an employee.