Hey Norm,

    It is a very set in stone culture, a kinda rigid one.  Managers only see you as a revenue generator (youre not so much an asset gatherer as you are just to put clients in certain funds/annuities.) and bankers/tellers can go either way as far as giving you business.     Depends on what area your branches are in.  It could be a very wealthy area or it can be the South Bronx and therefore, can go either way in your favor.   Try to block diff days at a particular branch (branch A MWF, branch b TuesThurs, you get the idea).    As far as prospect/closing ratios, again that all depends on how you work your branches and your skills as an advisor.  Seems you might be new to the biz so I leave that to you.  They will give you the tools but in the end its up to you.    Oh.........and expect a lot of cross-selling/referencing (JPM LOOOOOOOOOOOOVES home lending so much they expect FA's to refer to loan officers to get a HELOC/Home Loan).  You def dont have nearly the same autonomy as an indy rep and management most of the time doesnt have a clue.   Expect haircuts on what business you do as well b/c of that.   Wasnt too crazy about working for JPM but it looks good on a resume and a good experience as to why sometimes the bank is just not the place to be as an FA.    

[quote=NORM]I have an interview with JP Morgan Chase next Wednesday.  I would like to hear from someone who has worked for or is currently working for Chase what the corporate culture is like.  What is management like?  How much autonomy does the FA have?

  Also, what is a typical day like?   Since this is a VP position does the FA have decision making authority?    This will be a multiple branch position.  How does one manage multiple branches?  Do they provide sometype of software, CRM program to help organize and track?   What is the current traffic like in your area?  How many prospects do you actually sit in front a day from walk ins?  Phone Calls?  Ratio of successful appointments to walkins?  phone calls?   Curious, Thank you for input.   Norm[/quote]

I am currently an FA at JPM Chase and was previously at a wirehouse, so I can relay the differences thus far.

First off, if you aren't coming in with some prior experience or pre-existing training you're going to be facing a difficult challenge b/c they do virtually no training.  Where I got a month or more training in my previous position, at Chase Investments you will get 4 days.

If you are fairly prepared to step in then you will probably still be overwhelmed at first.

I do not have multiple branches so that you'll figure out on your own.  From what I've seen of other FA's who do multiple locations, you will end up working mostly with who brings in the appts (PBs) and which loc has more traffic. 

The biggest challenge for me was learning how to work with PBs/branch partners, and learn how to meet & profile bank customers without being obtrusive.  There was a learning curve there for me, but it really depends on your personality.  I'm more of an 'observe, get familiar and then work into it' kind of guy, rather than balls-out from day 1. 

That's one of the reasons I left the wirehouse, b/c I hated cold calling.  The firm was great, they didn't put pressure on me and I did the calls long enough (months) to know it wasn't my strong suit, and never would be.  I build great relationships & trust quickly and I needed to be where I could get face-to-face with more people b/c I knew I could close business.

And, that's exactly what's happened at Chase. 

You will be exposed to 100-300 walk-ins a day (in a fairly busy branch).  The average daily # of new bank accts opened per day in our Metro area (top 5 in the US) is 5 accts/day.  That's 5 new people per day to profile, if you want to go that route. 

You can intro to people in the teller line; you should absolutely leverage all the daily contacts that PBs make---they should be pre-screening bank customers (existing & new) for investment opportunity.  Having a good team of PBs is absolutely key....much more important than the BM.  The PBs make 2x as much from investments as anything else they sell, so most are motivated to refer to you.

As an aside, most BMs I've heard of (and worked with) are pro investments b/c we drive bottom line results to the branch P/L.  Substantially increasing investment biz alone can move a branch from below average in performance ratings to top tier.

Be prepared to work a lot.  But, if you want to make the big bucks in this biz, that's the case anywhere.  I'm working about 50-60 hrs/wk consistently, but it's paying off in a big way very, very quickly.  You will do all of your own paperwork, research, training, etc...but I feel like their support systems are very well set up to assist us.  The Broker support line is exceptional; they are very well informed & helpful. 

As an FA you will be looked at as an equal to the BM by the bank employees, and you really are an equal.  You do not report to the bank side, but you have to be on their side to have success. 

Typical day that mgmt wants to see is 4 pre-set appts, meet 10 peeps in the lobby & make ~20 calls.

But, as someone above stated, if you are producing then those are all just parameters.

I will say that it is not at all as cut-throat as is made sound above.  In my experience, if you are putting in the work & get positive reviews from your bank associates (to your mgr), they are willing to accept the down months as you build. 

What should concern you more is making a living, b/c they payouts are substantially lower than at a wirehouse or regional.

So, the trade-off you have to determine is: is much more volume & opportunity to see people worth a lower grid rate, or do you want to slog it out CC/networking/seminaring, etc and get a higher payout?

I'm not saying one is better than the other----I will say that you need to be honest about what your strenghts and weaknesses are, and go where you will find success.

Lastly: the sweet spot of the bank platform is $100K-$1M. 
Below and above is fine too, but HNW prospects who want more sophistication won't find it on this platform.  The Mgd Acct program is good, but mgmt limits what we offer quite a bit from what I was used to prior.

Also, people ARE paying attention right now:  the JPMChase name is GOLDEN and has helped win a ton of business in this environment.