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Retention....please do not hijack

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Dec 28, 2008 2:41 am

Have any of you people ever actually worked for a living? Holy Shit, you’re in a business where you have the opportunity to make M.D.-type money, or better, with essentially no credentials. You don’t like how your “boss” firm compensated you? Seek your fortune elsewhere, either on an alternative platform in this business or in another field altogether.
Christ, some of us actually worked real, low paying, difficult jobs in our formative years in order to hope to get an opportunity like this.

Dec 28, 2008 3:17 am
YHWY:

Have any of you people ever actually worked for a living? Holy Shit, you’re in a business where you have the opportunity to make M.D.-type money, or better, with essentially no credentials. You don’t like how your “boss” firm compensated you? Seek your fortune elsewhere, either on an alternative platform in this business or in another field altogether.
Christ, some of us actually worked real, low paying, difficult jobs in our formative years in order to hope to get an opportunity like this.

  I agree it does not take real brains or any skills to do this job so we are probably all over paid by society standards.  But my opinion is this job has gotten more difficult to succeed in over the last 10 years...Discounters, Bank Brokers etc are all having an effect on the business.  These firms blow money on so much garbage that you would think do something to help out the sales force...7.00 postage fee's, 100.00 account fees and all the other takeaways are not helping me.  Not that easy to pick up and leave everytime you feel annoyed with stuff you can't control.  I have left once and will not do it again, would set up a lemonade stand in the middle of death valley before I signed another contract.
Dec 28, 2008 3:22 am

Fritz,
 I’m honestly not trying to antagonize (this time anyway), but what relatively high-paying jobs have gotten easier and less competitive over the past ten years (Government NOT included)?

Dec 28, 2008 3:33 am
YHWY:

Fritz,
 I’m honestly not trying to antagonize (this time anyway), but what relatively high-paying jobs have gotten easier and less competitive over the past ten years (Government NOT included)?

    Agree with you..believe me there are positives about this job.  But I thought this business was about building "your business," it just seems like it is really not your business when someone is putting up obstacles in your way a lot of the time.  Just had to explain to 75 people about account fee's when their accounts are down.  Or how the minimum commission goes up every other year, and then after 4-5 years of that than all of a sudden because the company decides, i do not even get paid on the elevated commission because the account is too small or the trade fell at 100.00 or less.  Maybe i am the only one that feels this way...
Dec 28, 2008 5:55 am

I’m with you Fritz. I think my new job will be to unionize the financial services industry. And to answer YHWY question; I have held some very physically and mentally tough and demanding jobs. Jobs I would not ever want to do again. I worked my way through college and also benefited from the GI Bill. I like my career now. I just hope it survives this recession/depression whatever you want to call it or whatever it becomes. I work my balls off and am a solid producer, but I’m a realist. This economic mess we are in will not get better for a long time. The industry is a mess and it will be survival of the fittest and smartest going forward.

Dec 28, 2008 3:55 pm
YHWY:

Fritz,
 I’m honestly not trying to antagonize (this time anyway), but what relatively high-paying jobs have gotten easier and less competitive over the past ten years (Government NOT included)?

teachers??  How about attorneys?  Teachers make more then a lot of financial advisors when you figure benefits and hours worked.  What is the failure rate in the teaching profession?  This job is way too hard to do for under 150k a year, especially in metropolitan areas with high costs of living. 
Dec 28, 2008 4:07 pm

bondguy,
 Do you have the credentials to be an attorney? If so, and it really has become an easier job over the past ten years, why aren’t you an attorney? As for “teachers”, last I checked, the vast majority of teachers are employed by the Government. And, as the son of two career teachers, in their part of the country, at least, your compensation estimates are WAY off. Try again.

Dec 28, 2008 4:54 pm

Am I the only one who is amazed that so many professionals who are selling themselves as financial advisors have managed their own finances so poorly? We are in an industry where our incomes are highly variable. The only prudent course of action is to live somewhat below my means so that when the occasional bear market comes along I have a cushion against the inevitable shocks to my income. If we cannot manage our own finances well, we have no business advising others.

Dec 28, 2008 5:06 pm

Well… this thread is completely and hopelessly off topic…

Dec 28, 2008 5:39 pm

[quote=illinoisrep]Am I the only one who is amazed that so many professionals who are selling themselves as financial advisors have managed their own finances so poorly? We are in an industry where our incomes are highly variable. The only prudent course of action is to live somewhat below my means so that when the occasional bear market comes along I have a cushion against the inevitable shocks to my income. If we cannot manage our own finances well, we have no business advising others.[/quote]

…and doctors who get colds ought to have their licenses yanked.

Dec 28, 2008 8:32 pm

HIJACK !!!

Dec 28, 2008 8:56 pm

So… When is retention and how much??

Dec 28, 2008 9:02 pm

At least AGE Forever remembers the point of the thread.  I will guess for Legacy AGE a step up in the deferred amount of our previous retention package.  We will find out at the end of January.

Dec 28, 2008 9:14 pm
JamesF:

At least AGE Forever remembers the point of the thread.  I will guess for Legacy AGE a step up in the deferred amount of our previous retention package.  We will find out at the end of January.

  The reason this thread is off topic is because many have thrown in the towel..my question is at what point does silence tell you all you need to know.  Jan, Feb, March, Jan 2010?  But with 40,000 plus views this thread should always continue
Dec 28, 2008 9:52 pm

What’s sad is that I started a thread that passed away - 43k views - on the same topic.

Dec 28, 2008 11:22 pm

[quote=Vet20]HIJACK !!![/quote]


Gay!!!

Dec 28, 2008 11:23 pm

[quote=Gordon Gekko]What’s sad is that I started a thread that passed away - 43k views - on the same topic. [/quote]


You’re still a good person.

Dec 29, 2008 12:50 am

The sad part is not that my beloved thread passed away, it's that another montrosity could be created and still no word from Walk-all-over-ya. Having left the firm and not having a dog in this fight, I still hope they treat the AGE guys fairly.  

Dec 29, 2008 12:51 am

Let’s face it…the folks in this business who are successful are well compensated.  So when someone on the outside gets wind of the income or even better yet the transition or retention packages paid it seems over the top.  The truth is this business is ruthless and about two things, your crd and trailing 12…you can add what percentage is annuitized over the last 5 years.  All firms still throw shit at the wall and see what sticks.  That is the process of hiring talent.  The reason retention and transition is what it is is because those who succeed do something almost everyone else who tries this cannot…not fail.  The math works here to pay transition and retention because the firms make money net of paying us.  They may provide the support and research, but we provide what counts most, the ability to generate revenue, year in and year out.  This year at WS has been a complete disaster.  First, the big move to St. Louis.  We lost Rod and Michael, our managed money platform, esp fundsource, has sucked, calling the home office is a joke, WB blew up, the industry and markets became the story and the reason markets fell, we were on display to the country for days as WFC and C fought over who was getting us for a song and a dance and now we wait like street people wondering when and what retention will be.  Those who think it is not of good character to expect a retention must be in a different business than me.  When any of our names are mentioned within the business either inside this firm or from recruiters on the outside the question is, “What’s his/her trailing 12?”  So with all due respect to the MD’s out there, and I have plenty of them as clients, what we do is as rare and we get the income because believe it or not we do what almost everyone else cannot.  WFC will pay the industry standard.  If not they will lose the best talent they have, because this first decision will be a  window into what all future decisions will look like.

  Danny seems like an honorable guy.  He seems concerned for us and respects the job we do, even if at times he talks to us like our DAD.  That being said, he has not once tried to lower out expectations about retention.  I choose to believe that in the end, he is what he says.  He might even be in a dog fight with WFC about how to offer AGE retention in addition to what was already paid out.  Regardless, we will know soon.  If WFC blows us off for whatever reason, this firm is done.  They know that and that is why they will pay.    We may not have gone to medical school, but give us some credit.  If this was so easy, the compensation would not be what it is.    
Dec 29, 2008 1:44 am

Danny can go to bat for his troops all day long but WFC is now king and they make all the rules.  They don't have to pay a retention.  They know that the only reason any one would transition away from WB in this environment (or any environment) is because they are flat broke and if they do leave only taking 1/3 of book anyway.  Remember, WFC bought Wachovia Bank, Wachovia Securities was like a free side order of beans with your burrito, nice, but you don't really need them.