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Oct 5, 2009 7:39 pm

Anybody have any input on the enviornment at a TD Ameritrade office?  Curious about the pay and what type of client base is attracted there?  Thanks.

Oct 6, 2009 1:19 am

Don’t. 

Oct 6, 2009 1:20 am
carlspackler:

Anybody have any input on the enviornment at a TD Ameritrade office? Curious about the pay and what type of client base is attracted there? Thanks.



i'd say it's everything BUT the classic cinderella story
Oct 7, 2009 6:05 pm

stay away from the darkness

Oct 7, 2009 6:23 pm
carlspackler:

Anybody have any input on the enviornment at a TD Ameritrade office?  Curious about the pay and what type of client base is attracted there?  Thanks.

  Ever been the skinny guy in prison?
Oct 7, 2009 7:10 pm

None of these respnses have any content. Can someone give some reasons why they feel this way?

Oct 7, 2009 10:20 pm

Don’t even consider this option. The branch network at TD Ameritrade is an absolute joke. You will be compensated on assets brought in and nearly every time you do so, especially for a million dollar or above account, it will be “declined” by a regional manager for “not showing enough influence” over the account. Your comp will constantly be lowered by a managers discretion. The larger the account, the more managers (branch, regional, regional vp, etc) need to “approve” what you’ve done!

  There are only two products you can offer, one of which is referral to an RIA firm using TD as a custodian, the other of which is a proprietary ETF platform called Amerivest. Absolutely AWFUL product that is impossible to open. (Will take at least two client visits plus phone calls.) There are constant technical bugs with this product which will be considered your primary metric. The monotony is outrageous.   Back office is HORRIBLE. You will constantly be called from clients because ACATs have taken weeks to even be initiated. Internal transfers within the firm can take up to two weeks. I am sadly not making this up. Try calling someone in the back office to get something resolved and you may as well be pulling teeth. You'll get a yahoo in Nebraska who was hired away from wall mart and on his third attempt to take the series 7 before finally getting booted who will be unwilling and unable to assist in any way.   Under NO circumstance should you consider a branch rep position at TD. Feel free to ask any specific questions but I wouldn't even bother.
Oct 7, 2009 11:32 pm

[quote=freefromTD]Don’t even consider this option. The branch network at TD Ameritrade is an absolute joke. You will be compensated on assets brought in and nearly every time you do so, especially for a million dollar or above account, it will be “declined” by a regional manager for “not showing enough influence” over the account. Your comp will constantly be lowered by a managers discretion. The larger the account, the more managers (branch, regional, regional vp, etc) need to “approve” what you’ve done!

  There are only two products you can offer, one of which is referral to an RIA firm using TD as a custodian, the other of which is a proprietary ETF platform called Amerivest. Absolutely AWFUL product that is impossible to open. (Will take at least two client visits plus phone calls.) There are constant technical bugs with this product which will be considered your primary metric. The monotony is outrageous.   Back office is HORRIBLE. You will constantly be called from clients because ACATs have taken weeks to even be initiated. Internal transfers within the firm can take up to two weeks. I am sadly not making this up. Try calling someone in the back office to get something resolved and you may as well be pulling teeth. You'll get a yahoo in Nebraska who was hired away from wall mart and on his third attempt to take the series 7 before finally getting booted who will be unwilling and unable to assist in any way.   Under NO circumstance should you consider a branch rep position at TD. Feel free to ask any specific questions but I wouldn't even bother. [/quote]

Does the Back-Office for the RIA platform perform any better, or is it all the same?

Oct 8, 2009 12:31 am

No. To be fair, especially since an RIA can have multiple custodian firms, you may as well look at TD to potentially get into their referral network, which is decent, although direct all of the clients that you are bringing from outside TD to Schwab or Fidelity. The service RIAs get at TD is just as bad. Getting an internal transfer to happen between the institutional and retail side can often take several days. Another big detriment is that if your client has a retail and institutional account, you’ll constantly have someone from a branch attempting to prospect them, weakening your relationship with the overall assets. I can’t stress enough how utterly disorganized in every possible way the back office environment and upper management are. Under no circumstance would I tell an RIA to go with TD if they are not offered a place in the referral program. I saw at least two accounts that were closed lost by the institutional side by screwing up the process in any number of ways.

Oct 8, 2009 6:36 pm

Agreed - do not even consider TD Am. I spent a miserable 8 months as an IC in a branch. You basically have one product that you can recommend - Amerivest - which is their fee based etf platform. You aren’t a true advisor there. No ability whatsoever to build a business because the clients are not really your clients. You start each day like it is your first because of this. As previously mentioned, the back office is full of morons, and most of the mgmt is bottom of the barrel wire house / regional rejects with a grossly inflated ego. Save yourself the time and trouble - try to get on with a bank brokerage or a regional.

Oct 9, 2009 3:52 pm

I got approaceh by a TD branch manager months ago.  Base pay for in branch IC is around 45K, everything else is bonuses on top of that.  You can’t make investment recommendations and you do not build a book of business.  I’ve heard it is heavily phone based, which if you like being on the phone you are better off cold calling and building your own book at a wire house.  There are better options out there.

Oct 11, 2009 4:05 pm

what about schwab?

Oct 12, 2009 10:02 pm

Don, you’re not a sales guy.

Also, use Google, it’s very simple.

Oct 14, 2009 1:56 am

I have my personal accounts with TD. I’ve had nothing but excellent customer service.

Funny how different the world can be between the retail side and the institutional side.

Oct 15, 2009 3:09 am

[quote=someonewouldntexpect]Don, you’re not a sales guy.

Also, use Google, it’s very simple.

[/quote]

I am not a sales guy b/c I am curious about how schwab’s institutional service is? get f***ed, moron.

Oct 15, 2009 11:36 pm
Don Draper:

[quote=someonewouldntexpect]Don, you’re not a sales guy.

Also, use Google, it’s very simple.
[/quote]

I am not a sales guy b/c I am curious about how schwab’s institutional service is? get f***ed, moron.

  No, "moron", I'm making a pun about your avatar. You know, Don Draper on the TV show where he is the creative director and gets into petty arguments with the sales (accounts) department because he's "not a sales guy"?   Don't take everything personally, bud.