Anyone have information or experience regarding Pacific Advisors. They are with Guardian and Park Avenue Securities. Mentioned in the first interview the salary component but was wondering if anyone had more information on this firm.

Any takers? I would really appreciate some advice.

I am in the same boat that your in. I want to get into the financial planning business. I’ve narrowed it down to 3 firms i.e Aflac, New York Life & Prudential.

I just turned 50 and I have 3 years of real estate sales & one year of sales working as a sales assistant working for a wirehoure broker.

Any advise will be of help.

Tyler if you’re just out of school working for a national shop has some advantages . . . but only if you are willing to push to maximize what is available. If I could start from just out of school I would start with Northwest AND I would be clear that I want to learn the insurance and the equities side together.

Understand their business model they see you as an inexpensive and replaceable resource. So you will learn the ropes, have a bit of support but always be pushing to maximize personal value either for your advancement with them or to go out on your own.

What about Wells Fargo Advisors? What are the pros & cons working here…what is there trainning program like?

Thanks in advance.

I would suggest Edward Jones. There is no better training in the industry and you will be exposed to either sink or swim! It is an opportunity like non other out of college.

Edward Jones is a good place to start but if you are going to be going independent, I would strongly suggest going that way, all the way. Go to a place that allows you to actually own your book. It sounds like that is not your preference any way.

Since you are in California, you should really look at Schwab to “learn the ropes”. They have great name and honestly, you will be very valuable to other firms if you decide to leave because you learn the markets well before insurance (anyone can learn insurance products). The majority of advisor I have met in my 15+ years came from the insurance background, but ask them about bollinger bands or candlestick charts and you see their eyes glaze over.

If you do pick an insurance company, understand you are an insurance agent first and an advisor second. Not terrible but understand that. You might also want to look at a bank platform since those jobs come with good training and usually a small book to start with.

Hi Tyler,

I was in the same position as you… I would check out this website. It gives a detailed description of some training programs you may want to look at, as well as other materials.

thejunioradvisor.com