Skip navigation

AGE / Wach - Discussion of Options for Moving

or Register to post new content in the forum

58 RepliesJump to last post

 

Comments

  • Allowed HTML tags: <em> <strong> <blockquote> <br> <p>

Plain text

  • No HTML tags allowed.
  • Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically.
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
Mar 12, 2009 8:46 pm

I recruit to what I consider the Ritz-Carlton on Independent Firms. If you do 300-500 and want to join an office or more than 1.5mm and want to open an office PM me.

Mar 12, 2009 9:40 pm

Looks like the upfront deals for bank channel advisers are done. ML and MS no longer offering upfront money to bank side FA’s. Now its a 1 yr salary, plus commissions and a backend component. The backend will be about 100 to 120% of current t-12 if you hit the hurdles over a 5 yr period.

Mar 12, 2009 9:50 pm

Stifel will take you ShowMe…come on over!

Mar 12, 2009 10:29 pm

NESTEGG…is the contact mgmt better or worse in your opinion than Brokervision?  Does it have a calendar system for appts that link to clients accts or do you use the Outlook calendar?  I think you left before SmartStation so you cant compare to that system, but take my word for it…it sucks !!  What about the report system?  Any good?  Is the back office what AGE used to be, not on hold for 20 mins and then get an incompetent person who gives you an incorrect answer?   Are you proud to say you work for Stifel, unlike me who is ashamed to say I work for Wachovia ?   Also, does Stifel carry the Frank Russell Pathways program ?  Is Stifel still paying brokers signing bonus?  I think my team has conference call with them next week and I am trying to figure out my game plan too. As I previously posted, I am a CA and I need to consider how a possible move will affect me.  Do you know if Stifel offers a CA anything to move or is that between me and my team?  Will my team have to sign a contract if they move?  If they are offered a signing deal, is that in cash upfront (so maybe I could get a share) or is it paid over time and with an offer of stock?   Is 401K vested immediately? Company matching?  I know I am asking a lot of questions…this environment is very scary right now (single mom of one small child)  and I need options, these boards have helped me lots.  The more information I have the better off I am.  Thanks for any input and your patience, it is appreciated.

Mar 13, 2009 2:23 am
brokergirl:

NESTEGG…is the contact mgmt better or worse in your opinion than Brokervision? 
Definitely not BV, but then again nothing out there is. You access the Contact Mgnmt through a program called dashboard and it ties to Outlook.

Does it have a calendar system for appts that link to clients accts or do you use the Outlook calendar?
See above…I used outlook for appts  at AGE so this wasnt a big deal for me.

 I think you left before SmartStation so you cant compare to that system, but take my word for it…it sucks !!
Yeah I didnt have to deal with SS so I cant compare.

 What about the report system?  Any good? 
Great, there are reports you can run off dashboard that are very nice, or you can print out things thrugh thompson.

Is the back office what AGE used to be, not on hold for 20 mins and then get an incompetent person who gives you an incorrect answer?  
The back office has been great, you talk to a person!!! And they know what they are talking about and are actually happy to help!

Are you proud to say you work for Stifel, unlike me who is ashamed to say I work for Wachovia ?  
I am very proud, we have one of the best stories out there right now!

Also, does Stifel carry the Frank Russell Pathways program ?  Is Stifel still paying brokers signing bonus?
Yes we have Russell…there is nothing you can do at WS that you cant do at SF.
Yes Stifel pays,they dont pay as big as a wirehouse, but then again you dont have to deal with the BS…they dont need to pay…people want to come here.

 I think my team has conference call with them next week and I am trying to figure out my game plan too. As I previously posted, I am a CA and I need to consider how a possible move will affect me.  Do you know if Stifel offers a CA anything to move or is that between me and my team?  Will my team have to sign a contract if they move?  If they are offered a signing deal, is that in cash upfront (so maybe I could get a share) or is it paid over time and with an offer of stock? 
Each deal may be structured differently figure on some upfront cash and stock, and back end bonuses if targets are hit.

 Is 401K vested immediately?
401k Vests in 3 years I beleive?
 Company matching?
Yes, not as great as the old AGE plan, but good. This is probably the weakest point in comparison to the old AGE. Good fund options but match is lower.

 I know I am asking a lot of questions…this environment is very scary right now (single mom of one small child)  and I need options, these boards have helped me lots.  The more information I have the better off I am.  Thanks for any input and your patience, it is appreciated.
No problem…I am happy to save more people from the evil empire!

Mar 13, 2009 9:54 am

nestegg........thanks very much for the info

Mar 14, 2009 5:20 am
nestegg:

[quote=Redpen][quote=maddog]I have pulled up a few branches - but, only see the manager listed.  Are there not websites for the reps - or rep contact info on the sites?

  That's because they are the only ones in the branch[/quote] Not the case...my branch only shows the Mgr's and we have 15 or so FA's here[/quote]   nestegg, lots of accurate info from you. In Cali. they post all the people in the branch....some are just the MGR because they just opened. Not trying to start anything. However , some of their recent hires, not to mention names , but the initials are Paul Coffee make me nervous. Also, I just went to FL and met with Raymond James. Nice folks but not as impressed as I thought I would be after reading these posts for sometime. Really not impressed with the bond dept. or trust company. Mr. James had some great insight but is stepping down.  I like what I see at finet so far.
Apr 15, 2009 5:24 am
Redpen:

[quote=nestegg][quote=Redpen][quote=maddog]I have pulled up a few branches - but, only see the manager listed.  Are there not websites for the reps - or rep contact info on the sites?

  That's because they are the only ones in the branch[/quote] Not the case...my branch only shows the Mgr's and we have 15 or so FA's here[/quote]   nestegg, lots of accurate info from you. In Cali. they post all the people in the branch....some are just the MGR because they just opened. Not trying to start anything. However , some of their recent hires, not to mention names , but the initials are Paul Coffee make me nervous. Also, I just went to FL and met with Raymond James. Nice folks but not as impressed as I thought I would be after reading these posts for sometime. Really not impressed with the bond dept. or trust company. Mr. James had some great insight but is stepping down.  I like what I see at finet so far.[/quote]   Finet is not as good of an option as I thought. The Haircuts are the same at Wachovia and the attitude is the same. 27 dollar ticket charges ? The admin charges on fee based are charged......before the payout so reducing your " compensatable" gross buy about 10% if you have about 50% of your business in fees. No ACAT fees but the 15 % haircut the first year pays them back. They could care less if you join. Maybe that is what they are told to do .....so they do it and you should to or just leave ! You bank hater whiney ass entrepenuer, think for yourself , client loving , moral pain in the ass !
Apr 15, 2009 6:08 am
Redpen:

[quote=Redpen][quote=nestegg][quote=Redpen][quote=maddog]I have pulled up a few branches - but, only see the manager listed.  Are there not websites for the reps - or rep contact info on the sites?

  That's because they are the only ones in the branch[/quote] Not the case...my branch only shows the Mgr's and we have 15 or so FA's here[/quote]   nestegg, lots of accurate info from you. In Cali. they post all the people in the branch....some are just the MGR because they just opened. Not trying to start anything. However , some of their recent hires, not to mention names , but the initials are Paul Coffee make me nervous. Also, I just went to FL and met with Raymond James. Nice folks but not as impressed as I thought I would be after reading these posts for sometime. Really not impressed with the bond dept. or trust company. Mr. James had some great insight but is stepping down.  I like what I see at finet so far.[/quote]   Finet is not as good of an option as I thought. The Haircuts are the same at Wachovia and the attitude is the same. 27 dollar ticket charges ? The admin charges on fee based are charged......before the payout so reducing your " compensatable" gross buy about 10% if you have about 50% of your business in fees. No ACAT fees but the 15 % haircut the first year pays them back. They could care less if you join. Maybe that is what they are told to do .....so they do it and you should to or just leave ! You bank hater whiney ass entrepenuer, think for yourself , client loving , moral pain in the ass ! [/quote]   Redpen: Sorry to hear that you have discovered Finet is not all that it seems. We have been there several years and have become very frustrated. Good luck.
Apr 17, 2009 1:36 am

Redpen, be thankful it only took you a day to figure out they don’t care if you come over…we left about a month ago, and it’s been anything but seamless. 

  the lack of having a consistant trainer (we've only had a few days of assistance by phone, with two different ones) assigned to my conversion, combined with having the wrong technology installed (i.e. all the wrong "versions" of docs) has caused all of our business for the last few weeks to get stuck in various stages of limbo.....and of course trying to find anyone there that can fix it is, well, you know the drill.    they very well have updated the process at this point, and we knew it was a horrible time to go that close to conversion.  We don't regret it at all, it's at the very least a logical first step to be able to use our own name and put theirs in the fine print.  We took everyone we wanted, well over 90% of the book but I swear if things don't improve...that number won't either.  I've already heard "I thought it would be better" enough for my comfort level.  keep telling myself it will.    
Apr 18, 2009 4:30 am

Cutter, Thanks for the honest feedback . Are you from AGE ? I just wonder if they treat AGE different. It sounds like they are really busy and understaffed. I have thought like you. Once there , I can transition out to real indy . Did you use FP Transitions ?

Apr 19, 2009 10:12 pm

I’m a senior FA at Wachovia - legacy Prudential.  I’m somewhat interested in Finet.  I saw a message here that said you have to get clients’ permission to move their accounts to Finet - is that really true?  Do the clients get new account numbers?  Will they get two 1099’s for the year I make the switch to Finet?  I’m not worried about ticket charges - we do a considerable amount of business and the ticket charges are either a non-starter or just a minor annoyance.  Someone else mentioned a 10% haircut on fee-based business - is that the case?  We have a large percentage of our book in the PIM program and we take no haircut currently at WS.  We have not contacted Finet directly since we don’t want branch management to know we are considering this option, and may yet decide to move to another firm, so most of what I know about Finet is second-hand or hearsay, which I have little confidence in. 

Now for my reaction to the comments here from what appears to be disgruntled AGE reps.  You have my sympathy - but not much of it.  Most of you would never survive in a competitive wirehouse environment anyway, so why don’t you get on your horse and go somewhere else?  You are a free agent, right?  If you were dumb enough to not have sold the WB stock you got in exchange for your AGE, you have no one to blame but yourself.  Sorry, but I’ve met a number of former AGE reps at meetings and I’ve never seen such bitterness and complaints in my 30+ years in this crazy business.  Get over it and get on with your life.

Apr 19, 2009 10:59 pm

Redpen, yeah I’m AGE, and I don’t think they treat us any different at all…they’re simply totally overwhelmed and understaffed is what it seems to us as well.  We didn’t use Transitions, frankly were too busy coordinating the move that close to conversion on our side, all the more frustrating when the Finet team didn’t deliver on many issues they said they would.  If you’re legacy WS, you would have picked up on some of their errors sooner than us, that’s it.

  like I said, still worth it.  just wanted to give our experience for others in transition or looking at it
Apr 19, 2009 11:18 pm
BrokerBill:

I’m a senior FA at Wachovia - legacy Prudential.  I’m somewhat interested in Finet.  I saw a message here that said you have to get clients’ permission to move their accounts to Finet - is that really true?  Do the clients get new account numbers?  Will they get two 1099’s for the year I make the switch to Finet?  I’m not worried about ticket charges - we do a considerable amount of business and the ticket charges are either a non-starter or just a minor annoyance.  Someone else mentioned a 10% haircut on fee-based business - is that the case?  We have a large percentage of our book in the PIM program and we take no haircut currently at WS.  We have not contacted Finet directly since we don’t want branch management to know we are considering this option, and may yet decide to move to another firm, so most of what I know about Finet is second-hand or hearsay, which I have little confidence in. 

Now for my reaction to the comments here from what appears to be disgruntled AGE reps.  You have my sympathy - but not much of it.  Most of you would never survive in a competitive wirehouse environment anyway, so why don’t you get on your horse and go somewhere else?  You are a free agent, right?  If you were dumb enough to not have sold the WB stock you got in exchange for your AGE, you have no one to blame but yourself.  Sorry, but I’ve met a number of former AGE reps at meetings and I’ve never seen such bitterness and complaints in my 30+ years in this crazy business.  Get over it and get on with your life.

  client has to sign a consent form for every account, keep same account number and everything account related.  Don't know about all programs but mine cuts fee business .35% to offset the higher payout.  IMO, you gotta do this for more than money, as our total comp would have been higher at WS, but our local expenses are higher than most.   Many AGE guys whine and complain too much, but many of those always did IMO.  I did sell my AGE, and I don't want to disclose much so I'll just say that me and my +100MM I just took to Finet would have done just fine in the "competitive wirehouse environment" that I witnessed over the past year, so we "got on our horse" and completed step one of what becomes a two step process if they don't fix STL.  I'm not complaining about what I've been offered, I'm saying they haven't delivered on it.  Especially in regards to my conversion
Apr 20, 2009 2:27 am
BrokerBill:

I’m a senior FA at Wachovia - legacy Prudential.  I’m somewhat interested in Finet.  I saw a message here that said you have to get clients’ permission to move their accounts to Finet - is that really true?  Do the clients get new account numbers?  Will they get two 1099’s for the year I make the switch to Finet?  I’m not worried about ticket charges - we do a considerable amount of business and the ticket charges are either a non-starter or just a minor annoyance.  Someone else mentioned a 10% haircut on fee-based business - is that the case?  We have a large percentage of our book in the PIM program and we take no haircut currently at WS.  We have not contacted Finet directly since we don’t want branch management to know we are considering this option, and may yet decide to move to another firm, so most of what I know about Finet is second-hand or hearsay, which I have little confidence in. 

Now for my reaction to the comments here from what appears to be disgruntled AGE reps.  You have my sympathy - but not much of it.  Most of you would never survive in a competitive wirehouse environment anyway, so why don’t you get on your horse and go somewhere else?  You are a free agent, right?  If you were dumb enough to not have sold the WB stock you got in exchange for your AGE, you have no one to blame but yourself.  Sorry, but I’ve met a number of former AGE reps at meetings and I’ve never seen such bitterness and complaints in my 30+ years in this crazy business.  Get over it and get on with your life.

  BrokerBill, your comments are ringing in my ear because my old edwards branch is about to move to a wachovia branch. When the take over happened AGE had about 7000 FC's. That number is down to about 4700. So it seems your advice has been taken by many. Those of us who have hung on believed the promoses that Danny et al made and now we know he ......well it did not happen the way he said it would. So, here is what i am saying. I know many of the Wach/Pru guys think we are sissys , so that will be a hostile place to work and I am not looking forward to it. Second , maybe, you and others think abuse is part of the game but it isn't. I think if you had spent your 30 years at AGE you and your clients would have been happier. By the way , I am leaving in August, so don't put me on the whinny list.
Apr 20, 2009 2:59 am
Redpen:

[quote=BrokerBill]I’m a senior FA at Wachovia - legacy Prudential.  I’m somewhat interested in Finet.  I saw a message here that said you have to get clients’ permission to move their accounts to Finet - is that really true?  Do the clients get new account numbers?  Will they get two 1099’s for the year I make the switch to Finet?  I’m not worried about ticket charges - we do a considerable amount of business and the ticket charges are either a non-starter or just a minor annoyance.  Someone else mentioned a 10% haircut on fee-based business - is that the case?  We have a large percentage of our book in the PIM program and we take no haircut currently at WS.  We have not contacted Finet directly since we don’t want branch management to know we are considering this option, and may yet decide to move to another firm, so most of what I know about Finet is second-hand or hearsay, which I have little confidence in. 

Now for my reaction to the comments here from what appears to be disgruntled AGE reps.  You have my sympathy - but not much of it.  Most of you would never survive in a competitive wirehouse environment anyway, so why don’t you get on your horse and go somewhere else?  You are a free agent, right?  If you were dumb enough to not have sold the WB stock you got in exchange for your AGE, you have no one to blame but yourself.  Sorry, but I’ve met a number of former AGE reps at meetings and I’ve never seen such bitterness and complaints in my 30+ years in this crazy business.  Get over it and get on with your life.

  BrokerBill, your comments are ringing in my ear because my old edwards branch is about to move to a wachovia branch. When the take over happened AGE had about 7000 FC's. That number is down to about 4700. So it seems your advice has been taken by many. Those of us who have hung on believed the promoses that Danny et al made and now we know he ......well it did not happen the way he said it would. So, here is what i am saying. I know many of the Wach/Pru guys think we are sissys , so that will be a hostile place to work and I am not looking forward to it. Second , maybe, you and others think abuse is part of the game but it isn't. I think if you had spent your 30 years at AGE you and your clients would have been happier. By the way , I am leaving in August, so don't put me on the whinny list.[/quote]

If you are being consolidated into a WS office expect to be treated with respect as long as you treat others with respect. I know it's that way in mine. The WS associates will go out of there way to help you with the transition. No one is gonna ABUSE you Come on get real.
Apr 20, 2009 8:13 am

 WS people will go out of their way to help ? !!Dude , what planet are you on? Please let me know so I can move there . That is what all us pussys are complaining about and you just put out a statement like that as if  the sky has cleared and the sun shines every freakin day.

Hydeho, you have really helped me. Here is what I need to do right now. Never come to this site again. If I come back , I will only print news or information about the company I believe in and trust.
Apr 24, 2009 1:26 am