Keep in mind that I'm biased, as I started w/ a desk and a phone.  Still, I survived (over a decade in the business) while 80% of my peers are out, most within the first 2 years.  Keep it simple:

-contact 50 new people every day (250/week including Saturday). You will generate 25 leads, 100 per month.  10 of these leads will become clients over 2-12 months.  That's approx. 120 new accounts per year; average acount/household should be about 150k- that's 18 million per year.  It will take a couple of months to "get the plane off the runway" but it is possible to bring in 20 million in 18 months.  Anything else (family, connections, call-ins, etc) is pure gravy and should be treated as such.  When you've survived and have some experience under your belt, THEN you can focus on referrals, networking, etc. In addition to continuing your daily prospecting that got you where you are.

BTW- it will be hell.  You will go home some nights practically in tears due to the regiment/frustration.  Prospects will blow you off; people rarely return calls; you'll be chastized by some of the people you contact; the market goes down and people lose $; etc etc etc. Nevertheless, it can be the greatest business in the world when you are "successful." Give it some thought.

does the new ML platform have a 20mm requirement now for 18 months?

That seems like a steep goal. My 2 cents

It IS a very steep goal. Normally, the platform goal is $15mm over 24 mos, but i had heard before that they actually want $20mm (which was confirmed for me in the interview) and the other issue is that if you are NOt licensed, you get 6 mos to get your licensed and everything. Since i am already licensed and have been in the business for a few yrs, i was told i would only get 18 mos.

[quote=bjack73]It IS a very steep goal. Normally, the platform goal is $15mm over 24 mos, but i had heard before that they actually want $20mm (which was confirmed for me in the interview) and the other issue is that if you are NOt licensed, you get 6 mos to get your licensed and everything. Since i am already licensed and have been in the business for a few yrs, i was told i would only get 18 mos.[/quote]


$15M is the goal.  This is the second-highest goal among Wirehouse programs.  ML does count all of your AUM towards that goal (other may exclude certain asset categories).  But even taking this into consideration, ML still has very high expectations.

I suppose any manager would “want” his trainees to bring in $20M instead of $15M.  In fact, he’d probably prefer $100M.

All puffery aside, consider that it takes about $15M at ANY firm to make a decent living once the training salary goes away.

who’s goals are higher than ML’s? I thought theirs was the highest.