Anyone recently get their Series 24?
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I’m a producer at a hybrid Indie RIA/BD. The founder recently asked me if I’d be interested in becoming a General Securities Principal to supervise incoming reps. I have two questions for everyone:
1) What’s the negative aspect of being a General Securities Principal?
2) Who has the best Series 24 prep?
Thanks in advance,
DEDUB
My experience is that the big negative is that it hurts your production...and the override is usually not enough to make up for the damage to your production. I have another independent that I OSJ and he is on a deadline of May 31st to get his 24 or go back to LPL's in-house OSJ. My time is better spent on my own production. The only reason I want a 24 is to avoid the 10-15% haircut for being under someone else's OSJ. I used Kaplan's book and CD...spent about 40 hours of prep and scored an 80. It's hardly rocket science...just a lot of rote memorization.I’m a producer at a hybrid Indie RIA/BD. The founder recently asked me if I’d be interested in becoming a General Securities Principal to supervise incoming reps. I have two questions for everyone:
1) What’s the negative aspect of being a General Securities Principal?
2) Who has the best Series 24 prep?
Thanks in advance,
DEDUB
Another huge negative could be a failure to supervise charge. Don’t forget, you are responsible for how these people operate and if they do something wrong, it could be you thats on the line.
Well said! What is the risk worth to you! I have the 24 for the same reasons indyone said. But from what I have been hearing from those that have recently taken it, is it is geting tougher the NASD is short manpower needed to inspect all the offices and now with reps bailing out of the wires and going indy they will not be able to keep up with all inspections so the short solution for them is slow the growth of principals.Another huge negative could be a failure to supervise charge. Don’t forget, you are responsible for how these people operate and if they do something wrong, it could be you thats on the line.
I used the Securities Training Corporation for study material and they provide a class-room training session as well. It is 2 days long and it really helps you learn the material.
As far as the downside to being a Principal, the risk and the liability of being responsible for the reps underneath you. Just be careful of who you choose to supervise.
Hope this helps
I got my S24 years ago because I was working with trainees in some states who required the S24. If I remember correctly I used STC. Didn’t attend any classes, studied part time for a week or so. It wasn’t terribly difficult. I’d echo Indy’s comment about memorization. If you can do that, you’re golden.
OP—I can respond only to your test prep question. Go with Kaplan. They have the best manual and CD with a couple thousand practice questions. I also have about 30 pages of notes/bulletpoints from an expensive NYC test prep company that I am willing to provide at a fair price and can provide via email. The material is not difficult, it is just that there is a lot of information to memorize and they can really ask you anything. Just to give you an idea of what I got on Ebay when I sold my Kaplan materials with the supplemental notes I mentioned----it was bid up to about $350. But I will tell you the notes are invaluable. Make sure you get the LATEST 24 Kaplan book as they changed the format in early 2008. I took the new test 2 weeks into it being offered and luckily pulled a 73! Let me know if I can be of any a**istance.
Im taking my S24 on monday, i went to the first part of the 2 day class today (STC). The guy said the first 30 or so questions will be extremely easy…then it gets insanely hard (lot of people walk out to ask the proctor if they are taking the right test) and then at the end it gets easy again. But it seems like mostly memorizing facts…im going to redo all my practice exams 2 more times over the weekend and hopefully rock this on Monday.
fifth,
IMHO, the 24 is almost entirely rote memorization. Was a VERY difficult test for me while the series 7 was a breeze. Be ready for lots of tricky timing questions, i.e. If a company wants to issue this with the SEC, how many days prior must it file, etc. Good luck!
[quote=YHWY]fifth,
IMHO, the 24 is almost entirely rote memorization. Was a VERY difficult test for me while the series 7 was a breeze. Be ready for lots of tricky timing questions, i.e. If a company wants to issue this with the SEC, how many days prior must it file, etc. Good luck!
[/quote]
Thanks bud,
Yea i heard they have alot of those “how many days”, or “within how many seconds must ___ report.”
Took the test today, got a 66%
The STC practice tests weren’t even close to the real test. Saw alot of questions that weren’t even mentioned in the book…the class probably helped 10%, but alot of the questions were really tough and tricky…ill try again in 30 days.
anyone recommend any other test prep material? STC was way off…i heard good stuff about Greco (Spelling?) and Dearborn. Can anyone comment on these two?
as I’ve already mentioned above…the Kaplan stuff is the best material…I even passed the new format without being prepared with a 73% --meaning 10% of the material I saw on the test was basically new to me…I also have high quality bulletpoint notes…30 pages worth…so pm me if interested…
Personally I don’t think it is the study material that makes the difference - it’s just putting in the time. Most of them offer pretty much the exact same material. When I took the test MANY years ago I studied for one hour every night for a month and then for 2 hours per night for a few nights right before the exam. Passed. You just need to put in the hours.
The Enrolled Agent exam was the exact same way. Far more experienced people than me take that test and they fail repeatedly. You just have to put in the hours of studying what they want you to know.
yes test prep is key...but to have materials that are even slightly better than the rest makes all the difference in the world ...because many people who fail repeatedly get high 60s....it's getting over that hump...so again, contact me if you want to get there!
That's it ... any brokers gets called in the manager will be charged by default for failure to supervise.Another huge negative could be a failure to supervise charge. Don’t forget, you are responsible for how these people operate and if they do something wrong, it could be you thats on the line.
If you have an indy and you want to bring on other advisors to share the expenses and then pay into a kitty i.e. the corporation would you have to have a 24?