Law school

Marry the son or daughter of an Edward Jones GP.

gus - have him start as a pb at a bank that will get him licensed. He can transition into the professional sales role down the road with a process, the ability and comfort to talk to people, and a knowledge of where the money is w/n 2 - 3 yrs. If he’s not going to make it because of some reason, that will become immediately apparent in that role, but the consequences are not significant. He also gets good benefits, etc.



The truth is that we have 90% of the products, 80% of the technology & 100% more trust of our clients at the bank.

If he is interested in sales, have him sell pharma, copiers, whatever.  The pipeline he can bring in once he feels ready to become a rep will put him miles ahead of the recent college grad.  Plus he can learn important sales skills that he may not pick up once he becomes a rep.

Gus, I agree that your son should get sales experience first, then go right to the retail side with one of the majors or super regionals. As posted, bags sales (copiers etc) will give him the aggressive training and experience selling a tangible product that will give a huge advantage once he moves into this business. Who knows, maybe he’ll find an alternative career that he enjoys. In addition to copier sales, medical devise sales and Pharma sales are other high end sales careers. The goal here is for your son to gain experience as well as develope a track record of success. Even if he sold cell phones or cars, a successful verifiable performance record would show that he can close the deal. That will go a long way in preparing him for this career.

mutual fund internal wholesaler.  Great job for a young person out of school

[quote=gusdelaney]My son will be graduating from college soon and is interested in getting into the business.  I have worked for thirty years on the retail side but wouldn’t recommend that he start on that sie of the industry.  Any thoughts or suggestions on what avenues you would suggest if it were your sone or daughter?[/quote]

Why wouldn’t you recommend it?

But did they bring any assets?

Gus, I would also entertain having him check out some smaller RIA firms.  While it may not appeal quite as much to him as the big firms at his age, I learned more in a year there than I did anywhere else just because you are involved in some many different parts of the operation.  It is certainly baptism by fire, but I didn’t view that as a bad thing.

Gus,

I find it very bizarre that you would be against your son going into retail and also be unwilling to clarify your reasons why.

More silence, or are you ready to come clean?

In my opinion the business is dying.  The market is glutted and the conflicts of interest and regulations are killing it.  When I started it was a people driven business the prized relationships, now it is just an asset grab…grab the assets, dump them with a money manger and move on to the next prospect. 

[quote=gusdelaney]In my opinion the business is dying.  The market is glutted and the conflicts of interest and regulations are killing it.  When I started it was a people driven business the prized relationships, now it is just an asset grab…grab the assets, dump them with a money manger and move on to the next prospect.