I think the salary with the wirehouses is alot more flexible than I was originally lead to believe (although I was straight out of college).

Ask about the little things, cause you need everything in your favor to succeed.

-will you have a computer?

-who pays for mailings?

-any staff support?

-where will you sit?

-WILL YOU HAVE A MENTOR?

-what is your training program like?

I assume you already know the AUM and revenue goals.  Other than that, check out the Branch Manager.  Go with your gut.

good luck.

Great.  Thank you, maybeeee.  I will take these into consideration.  My experience comes from a background in corporate finance and this position had its own benchmarks for goals.  It would follow a career as an FA would have its own unique performance goals and I am beginning to understand that Assets Under Management and Revenue goals are pivotal in choosing an employer.  Can anyone go into depth about 1) the definition of these goals [and any other significant performance criteria] and 2) how are they realized?  For a simple example, we know a car salesperson makes commission (among other factors) largely off the spread between the cost paid for the car and what it ultimately sells for.  So, where do $X in AUM and $X in revenues come from?

Well you are welcome.  There are some decent people here.

But, actually, that brings up another point.  If you can start as a member of a team with sharing of the revenue and assets.  Do it.  It is next to impossible to start from scratch and make it.

And there is NO TEAMWORK with any other brokers in the office.  YOU concentrate on YOU.  Most of the successful brokers are extremely self centered, self focused, self important TAKERS.  Just be nice to everyone, but don't let them take advantage of you, because they will.  YOU should be able to keep ALL of the accounts you bring in and ALL of your revenue.  You should own your book.

Well, I would assume most first have your first year asset goal around 5 million and your revenue at around $50k.

The way you get paid depends on what you sell.  You have to make a decision to do transactional business (which I don't recommend) and take approx. 5% up front.  On $100k that is $5k and you get a portion of this, the rest goes to your firm.  Your trail will be about .0025% on that $100k or $250 a year.

If you do fee based business (which I do) you will get 1% upfront and 1% a year.  If the client prospers, you get more, if they fail, you get less.

OK I am at lunch and typing fast, so grammar police stuff it.

Summary:

Transactional on $5million.  First year about $250,000 and your payout maybe 20% or $50,000.  Every year after $12,500

Fee based on $5 million.  First year about $50,000 and your payout is the same for trainees about 20% or $10,000 (that is why you need a salary).  Every year after $50,000 if your clients made no money.  If they grow at 10%, you get $55,000.  If their account went down 10% you get $45,000.  So you work very hard to make their account grow.

Back to the clients.  Good luck.