Become A Financial Advisor

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

The independent broker/dealer landscape is lately littered with tales of woe—scores of smaller firms have gone up in a puff of smoke over the past two years due to everything from troubled private placements to insufficient net capital. In February of this year, independent broker/dealer QA3 Financial announced it would close its doors following an arbitration related to Regulation D products. Just over a month later, at the end of April, Ameriprise Financial said it would be selling Securities America, its IBD arm, while the firm was in the middle of finalizing a settlement agreement with investors related to private placements. And at the beginning of June, it surfaced that Harrison Douglas, a small IBD of about 28 advisors, would be closing up shop, after the firm was fined $200,000 in a client arbitration.

There are plenty of other examples. Of the firms that had exposure to the troubled private placements Medical Capital or Provident Royalties, at least 21 IBDs have either folded or announced their intent to sell since 2009, according to FINRA and published reports. Five additional firms went bust over the same period after selling real estate deals by bankrupt DBSI, another alternative investment that has rocked the industry. Meanwhile, another 11 IBDs shuttered in 2010 and 2011 for a variety of reasons, including failure to meet net capital requirements or pay arbitration fees.

Financial advisors who had significant exposure to the bad investments and who have smaller books of business will have to weigh their options carefully. Some b/ds won’t touch these guys because of the bad marks on their books and the risk of potential future liabilities. They are like “the walking dead,” says Todd Pack, president of Financial Advisers of America. Recruiter Jonathan Henschen of Henschen & Associates echoes that sentiment: They are “lepers of the industry,” he says. Some will simply exit the industry altogether. But observers say it’s probably not the end of the road for everyone. Some will jump to smaller, more obscure firms willing to take the risk; try the call center/salaried model; start their own RIAs; or go into fixed insurance.

Meanwhile, the very best of the orphaned advisors—those who typically had minimal to no exposure to the problematic investments, are large producers and have respectable product and business mixes—should have their pick of high quality firms. In fact, many firms see the current situation as a perfect storm for recruiting and a golden opportunity to get in front of some high-quality advisors who are desperate for new digs. Just a word of advice: If you are one of the good ones, be sure you don’t jump from one imploding firm to another. You are likely to be eager to get in the door at a new b/d, but be sure to do some thorough due diligence.

How to Become a Financial Advisor

Financial advisor is one of the best jobs in United States. The average of salary of financial advisor is 0,000 per year. It is a good opportune to get money or job while in crisis.

Anyone can become financial adviser as long the fulfill the requirement. In my country the broker company recruits the undergraduate from any majors. Some expert says that technician student is better than economic student.

The basic skill of financial adviser is sales. You have to sell financial product such as stock, bond, mutual fund, ETF, and more. Therefore, the financial adviser should learn about those investments. They can learn investment from book, journal, website, blog and more.

1. Apply financial adviser jobs at a broker company. Be sure the company provide financial adviser training. The company will train you when you enter the company. You just get little salary from the company.

2. Take series 7 stock broker exam and series 66 law rule exam. You should prepare the exam well. The company usually trains the employee before taking those exams. If you cannot pass the exam, you can take the exam next time.

3. After pass the exam, you can start to sell your company product. If you can sell more investment product, you will get more bonuses.

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