Assistant to an advisor or a few advisors.  You do operational
duties, schedule appointments, talk with clients regarding client
service, help the advisors put out fires, help the advisors with their
sales and service efforts.  Generally it is an
administrative/sales assistant.  Pay is int he 20 to 40k range.

Thank you for your reply.  Would this be a good opportunity to learn the business and slowly move up with Merrill Lynch?

yes

MLManager posted this a while back.



Posted: Aug. 06 2005 at 8:27pm | IP Logged      

------------------------------------------------------------ ------------The CA

position is at its base, a secretarial position. That being

said, I expect CA’s to get fully licensed, to know about

investments and be able to advise clients. The CA is there to

help the FA grow their business. A CA should be extremely

value added in reviewing clients’ accounts and identifying

business opportunities. I interviewed a prospective CA on

Friday that I hope we can get because she is exactly what we

look for in that position. She is licensed, takes an active role in

her FA’s business, she helped a group of FA’s triple their

production by organizing their book and pointing out what they

are doing that works and showing them opportunities… She

also seeks out opportunites in the office in order to provide

expertise in specific areas.



As a manager, I expect that a CA do everything and do it well. I

expect the same from FA’s and from other members of the

management team.



The starting salary varies from region to region. I work in a low

paying region and a basic, non-registered CA gets little. Your

best bet is to take a salary you can live with, get licensed if

you’re not already and start working. As your abilities grow,

one of two things happen. One, your FA’s recognise the value

you bring and they add supplemental comp or other FA’s or

management recognise your abilities and you get a new team

that is willing to pay you more. I know CA’s in small market

areas that were making $80K. (but not right off the bat).



It is a good area to get experience if you have none. You can

learn the way things work and how to get answers. You can

hone your skills talking with clients and develop “your” way of

working. Talk with management and your FA’s and let them

know that you don’t want to be a CA forever. Develop tight

relationships with clients. I have seen clients fill out deposit

slips and list the CA as their Financial Advisor. There are

always opportunities to move up. There is management, back

office, specialist and FA. It isn’t unheard of for a CA to

eventually join the team as an FA.



Prepare for the interview as you would any other.

There are a couple CA’s in my office who have recently partnered with
their FA.  Any new assets that the team beings in are “given” to
the CA/FA, so they are basically walked through POA without having to
do any real prospecting.

[quote=MobileMentor]

MLManager posted this a while back.

I interviewed a prospective CA on Friday that I hope we can get because she is exactly what we look for in that position. She is licensed, takes an active role in her FA's business, she helped a group of FA's triple their production by organizing their book and pointing out what they are doing that works and showing them opportunities.. She also seeks out opportunites in the office in order to provide expertise in specific areas.

 [/quote]

Note the repeated use of the feminine pronoun.

Care should be taken to realize that this is historically the female position more commonly called "secretary" dressed up for the brokerae industry.

Yes the girls get registered, but beyond that there is going to be a whole lot more "Do this for me" than "Let me do this for you."

Yes it is a path to becoming an FA, but since most CAs don't ever intend to go that way those looking to create FAs rarely consider a CA for the job.  Not to say the CA cannot make her desires known, and push for them at every turn.

Additionally, I suggest that males who take the job are instantly pegged as being of questionable sexuality and ambition.  There are very few masculine CAs around the country.  I know, I know there's one in your branch.  What I said was around the country.

They're like flight attendants and nurses, every so often there's a man doing the work that is traditioinally done by a woman, but not that often.  Be realistic, if somebody says "He's a flight attendant" what do you think of?

If you're a 23 year old heterosexual male go sell something somewhere while you mature.  Coming of age doing a girl's job is not going to impress very many people, even the clients will think, "He was doing secretarial type work the other day and now he wants me to be his client?"

Now, before the cock crows in the morning I will be attacked as being a sexist pig, out of touch with "modern" times and all that.

Those doing the attacking know I'm right, they just can't stand to acknowledge it.

[quote=Big Easy Flood]

[quote=MobileMentor]

MLManager posted this a while back. I interviewed a

prospective CA on Friday that I hope we can get because

she is exactly what we look for in that position. She

is licensed, takes an active role in her FA’s business,

she helped a group of FA’s triple their production by

organizing their book and pointing out what they are doing that

works and showing them opportunities… She also seeks

out opportunites in the office in order to provide expertise in

specific areas.

[/quote]

Note the repeated use of the feminine pronoun.

BEF, sell what?

Ace

[quote=Ace Planner]

BEF, sell what?

Ace

[/quote]

Anything that needs to be sold.  Intangibles would be best, but a successful career in anything will look fine on a resume.

Wall Street needs salespeople and where that selling experience came from is close to irrelevant.

The only mistake that cannot be overcome is the required inclusion of a wirehouse firm on a U-4.  A Smith Barney manager is going to want to know all about what happened at Merrill, and vice versa.

If you didn't make it at the competition why in the world would you be hired?

So go somewhere where the going is easier, make something of yourself, and get a little older.

I'll say it again, the reason why the older men and women are doing most of the business is not because they have better selling skills, or because they've been in the business longer, it's because they're older.

Two guys are in the same training class.  One of them is 24 the other is 44.

There is an excellent chance that the 44 will earn more money in his first year in the business than the 24 year old will earn in his first five years, if he even lasts that long.

Not always.  If you're banging your head against the wall screaming that BEF is wrong relax.  But don't use the exception to disprove a rule.

If you're 23 you have a similar chance of making it in the NBA as you do making it at Merrill Lynch.

I'll ask this again.  Why should anybody who is your parents age see you as something different than your parents see you.  If your folks would honestly say that you're some sort of business wizard go for it, but if  your folks think of you with a skateboard so does everybody else your folk's age.