Hello,I have been interviewing several different places and have come across something a little different. I did a cursory search here and did not find anything similar so I hope this is not a dupe.I may be getting an offer from an independent bd to sell financial services to teachers and school administrators. This firm pretty much owns the local 403b market and one of my jobs would be to get people to enroll in the plan, and most of my days will be spent in the schools talking to teachers and administrators. I will have about 9-10 schools in my pool and have access to about 3,000 employees.I can also bring in my own business, and cull any business I can out of the teachers and administrators. There is no salary...100% commission.Has anyone gone this route? Anyone heard of similar shops? Thoughts?
Bad info ironhorse (no offense). The new 403B regs have basically eliminated competition from b/ds and insurance cos that aren't VERY dedicated to that marketplace. The new regs have absolutely NOTHING to do with compensation. My firm is a 403B centric firm (b/d). We can do A/B/C share mutual funds, or our wrap program that has 1% + 12b-1s hitting your "grid" each year. There are wrap products that only hit 1%, or about 75 bps as well. New regs have zero to do with compensation. There are insurance co. reps in my market still selling the shat outta VAs - normal compensation to the rep.Who is the firm you are considering, btw?As far as the market itself...it's not something you can do casually. You must be dedicated to it to make any real money - and with 10 school districts, you should have a decent shot. I use the 403B marketplace to get a foothold - then I mine the rest of the household (old 401Ks, 529s, Roth IRAs, you name it), plus get referrals (other 403Bs, friends, parents, grandparents, etc.). FWIW, there are guys @ my firm (of about 500 reps) with $50 - $100MM AUM (and a handful with over $100M, and doing $1MM a year). Obviously, the "bread and butter" in this market is the pension rollovers, and the chance to mine the rest of the household. $50/paycheck isn't ever going to make you rich.One drawback to this is that if you go "balls to the wall" in 403Bs, and you ever want to change firms, you have to jump to a firm that has a payroll slot at the districts you cover, or else you can't take some of your HH with you.
Hello,I have been interviewing several different places and have come across something a little different. I did a cursory search here and did not find anything similar so I hope this is not a dupe.I may be getting an offer from an independent bd to sell financial services to teachers and school administrators. This firm pretty much owns the local 403b market and one of my jobs would be to get people to enroll in the plan, and most of my days will be spent in the schools talking to teachers and administrators. I will have about 9-10 schools in my pool and have access to about 3,000 employees.I can also bring in my own business, and cull any business I can out of the teachers and administrators. There is no salary...100% commission.Has anyone gone this route? Anyone heard of similar shops? Thoughts?
So Valic?
i respect your position and situation ice-but you are not doing that in my resident state.
As I do yours...but I can't get my brain around how the state has anything to do with it? The new 403B regs are @ the Federal level, not the state.
I guess the amount of the pension rollover would depend on what state system your clients participate in also - but still not a "deal breaker."
I understand if elaborating further compromises your ID too much. Could you elaborate coneceptually, without giving away specifics?
i was not referring to fed regs per se, but the new agreements my state has with the 4 chosen vendors reps can use. they slashed comp.
No kidding? The state mandated the vendors employers could use?
I could be an idiot, but I thought the school districts normally mandate the vendors?
You're not an idiot - that's what I thought too, which is why I'm so confused.
You're not an idiot - that's what I thought too, which is why I'm so confused.
I think you can go to any school district you want and if you receive their agreement then your plan is offered with all the others, and they'll pretty much rubber stamp anyone rather than being selective which would require too much work.
BB - The new 403B regs have done away with them "rubber stamping anyone." Providers must be listed in the formal plan document, and/or sign an information sharing agreement with the district (or their TPA)..and of course, they then must actually share the information, lol.
Well, you could go work for VALIC, but remember, when you start, they will give you a book of business of people that don't contribute to their accounts, don't have any money, and will call you constantly for loans and distributions. Then, your manager will get you to sign up all of your friends and family members. You get looked down upon by brokers and advisors and make a below average living but gain experience. Now, you get fed up with the company and want to leave; but, you forgot you signed a contract with them and you can't take your accounts with you because VALIC won't sign the Protocal. So now your friends and family members are stuck at the company that you hate. If they do want to move over, they will have surrender charges, and then VALIC will sue you.
Advisors that leave VALIC discover that they make 2 to 3X more with other companies or firms. However, only select few companies will hire you because in the investment world, VALIC advisors have a huge black-eye. Meaning, you are viewed upon as a servicing agent and not a financial advisor. The reason being, they have no capabilities to provide actual advise. Furthermore, I hope you like paperwork. You will spend most of your time doing sales reports. You will spend approximately 20 hours a week doing paperwork and 10 hours a week doing reports requesting why you aren't producing new sells.
I will say they have a great training program on how to sell, and sell hard. A lot of people go on to successful careers at car dealerships and time-shares.
Lastly, everybody has an attitude because they are at the bottom of the industry with regards to compensation. Seriously, people don't like working there.
Other than that, it's a great place to work.
the 403(b) market in my state is not even worth the time of day. new rules have essentially made the pay around .2-.5% up front with worse trails and it isn't like these people are the high net worth people everyone wants. i have teacher clients, but would never try to start, or focus on, that market. but that is just me.the retirees are a different story, to a certain extent. you can run some pension max concepts but still, not exactly the market we all want.