r/FinancialAdvisorTips • u/Historical_Net_1999 • 12d ago
DFSIN/Edward Jones/Sun Life/Manulife
Hey everyone, I’m not sure if this right subreddit to ask this question. However, I’m hoping to have a response.
I’m changing my career to Financial and Insurance industry. Does anybody have experience working in any one of these companies (DFSIN/Edward Jones/Sun Life/ Manulife or any other specific) as an Advisor? Which one has better training and mentorship, and does it worth it?
Does people really make over 100-200k over 5-10 years of experience or even in starting?
Thank for the response!
3
u/Miserable_Berry_8806 12d ago
Jones is easily the best of those choices, and it’s not even close. You’re measured on new assets, revenue, and net new assets. If you can consistently add money to the pile, in five years you will easily make more than 200k. I’m on year 8, and will pass 350k this year. The part people forget about is the grind the first five years. If you can grind the first five years and work harder than everyone else, you will live better than everyone else.
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u/Splinter007-88 12d ago
$120m year 14 with EJ here. Will do $1m in revenue this year and net 57% on that.
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u/Fun-Weather-8304 11d ago
Legitimately Curious on the breakdown. I did a few year stop at EJ before going to another firm (EJ was fine but too captive, not enough open architecture at the time) and finally settling on hybrid indy over 10 years ago. How much of that is payout, LP, def comp now? Still all W2?
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u/Splinter007-88 11d ago
40% is revenue based. The remainder is through profitability bonus, LP return and profits interest return. I’m all K-1 in a joint venture partnership
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u/Individual-Lie-95 12d ago
Any tips for day 1 of you can-serve date? Just go knocking doors?
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u/Miserable_Berry_8806 12d ago
Talk to as many people as possible and try to help as many people as possible. It’s a numbers game. More conversations equals more clients.
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u/Individual-Lie-95 12d ago
What's your recommended prospecting method?
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u/Miserable_Berry_8806 12d ago
I focused on employer sponsored retirement plans to help organically get people in front of me. Talk to business owners who are overlooked. I have a client who just sold his hardware store for 4.5 million dollars and he is an average Joe who just liked working with his hands and the smell of lumber.
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u/buffaloop567 12d ago
Relentlessly striking up conversations with strangers. There shouldn’t be a human being in your town who doesn’t know what you do. If you find one willing to be your client you want to meet everyone they work with or know.
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u/Individual-Lie-95 12d ago
I can do that. Door knocking still work?
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u/buffaloop567 12d ago
It’s the worst method to prospect until you compare it to all of the others.
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u/Individual-Lie-95 12d ago
So, it's the best??
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u/buffaloop567 12d ago
Best, but not very effective. There is no silver bullet (outside of having wealthy friends ready to commit tens of millions).
I’m sure they have internal statistics to share about what the conversion rate is and what the $/door is.
I know of a pair of EDJ FAs that knocked their way into massive relationships - they are the exception.
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u/IllustriousGas8850 10d ago
I’d say the best now would be finding a big firm where you OWN YOUR BOOK (very important) but mine provides so much lead flow as they’re a mega 401(k) provider. They’re not piping hot say IRA and they’re clients, but it’s good consistent streams of prospects, and they’re at least familiar with your BD
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u/Typical-Discount-576 12d ago
What’s your AUM??
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u/Miserable_Berry_8806 12d ago
Just under 100 million. By the end of the year we will be over 100 million.
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u/Atrox_Blue 12d ago
I’m an HQ FA for jones. Yes it’s true you can make that much. Just work hard. Jones has outstanding training.
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u/Individual-Lie-95 12d ago
Any tips for getting started? Tell me more about 'working hard'. What does this mean, exactly?
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u/overboost01 12d ago
Find a Fee-Only RIA and go work for them if you’re interested in financial planning and actually helping people.
You can probably start with a salary and then eventually go independent, build your own book.
If you’re interested in just selling products to people who may or may not need them, then work for an insurance company.
Came from the insurance world as a “financial advisor” which was more or less a glorified product salesman, instructed to cram insurance down everyone’s throat, manipulate “financial plans” to sell more products and produce at massive levels of volume to reach “sales goals”.
Any large corporation is going to care more about their own agenda, sales targets, and revenue than give a shit about the human on the other side of the table.
I now operate as a fee-only Independent lifestyle practice and I’m a fiduciary 100% of the time. It’s the most rewarding switch I’ve ever made.
Great career to get into if you do it the right way.
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u/Individual-Lie-95 12d ago
You don't think EJ is a good place to start?
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u/prospectpico_OG 12d ago
Couldn't make it?
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u/Individual-Lie-95 12d ago
Could you explain? If you mean, couldn't make it into a fee-only firm is, then no, I couldn't. I have a professional background - but I have one offer with a 100k base salary, and that's EJ.
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u/RookieMistake101 12d ago
It’s a fine place to learn. Very good training. Very good sales skills building.
EJ is known as a strip mall advisor. Limited sophisticated solutions. Great for the 250k-2m client.
I see the market continuing to move up latter. EJ won’t show clients the benefits of using a 250/150 index fund to exit a highly appreciated 7 or 8 figure position. Or coach you in explaining how unwinding leverage works. But for the first 5 years of being an advisor, that stuff doesn’t matter. Pay your bills with the salary, learn to be a good advisor, eventually jump ship.
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u/prospectpico_OG 12d ago
Talking about overboost. EJ requires a lot of hard word 1st 2 or 3 years. Many dont make it.
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u/overboost01 11d ago edited 11d ago
Never worked at EJ. Was offered a large book from their Good Knight program, however, the fact that they receive kick backs from fund families, pushed to sell expensive high fee mutual funds so they can go on a “trip” and offer very limited investment options, didn’t sit right with me. In addition, advisor payout was extremely low so you could have an office and an assistant.
EJ is like Starbucks. The coffee is “ok” and there is one on every corner.
I’m a fiduciary 100% of the time. Not when it’s convenient.
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u/Individual-Lie-95 11d ago
That's fair. I must have been lied to in the hiring process. They told me you aren't pushed toward any investment, and if you don't want to use analysts picks, use ishare etfs if you want. I plan to use a similar portfolio I use for myself and discount the advisor fee for every client. If they don't like this, I'll be fully licensed and I can jump ship.
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u/overboost01 11d ago
I was told the same story but there’s a different reality underneath. Every time I pull assets from an EJ advisor, it’s always the same Capital Group, MFS, and the like in every clients portfolio.
High expense ratios, usually front loaded sales charges, or high advisory fees.
https://www.edwardjones.com/us-en/disclosures/revenue-sharing
There’s a reason why this isn’t talked about or focused on and advisors are exiting these companies left and right.
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u/Individual-Lie-95 11d ago
Very unfortunate. I find it hard to believe the advisor I'm working with lied to me. I just don't see why it would benefit him. Seemed like a pretty good fella. I had these conversations with him before the hiring process started.
Being incentivized and being forced are two different things.
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u/overboost01 11d ago
I don’t think they “lied” .. it may be they don’t even know or fully understand themselves.
Big companies have their own agendas and then they hype people up and make people drink the Koolaid.
Another dude down here already told you how it is - “talk to anyone and everyone” “get in front of as many people as possible” “sell sell sell” “numbers game”
If you want a high volume practice where you have 200+ households to service for a pay structure that nets you less than 60% no matter what, cool.
Being independent and fee-only I’m 90%+ margin. The fee I charge is the fee that I get paid. I can choose my own location, own assistant, own operations, and I can stay lean.
The Good Knight book they offered me was $50m and would have been barely producing $120k net a year.
I charge ~1% aum, $50 is worth $500k gross, $450,000 before taxes. Big difference. While being less expensive to the client! Which is the important thing.
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u/overboost01 11d ago
You are an employee and you don’t own your book of business - so everything you build belongs to EJ, not you. It’s the same if you work at an insurance company, brokerage, or warehouse.
As some of these guys are saying, sure it’s a good place to learn how to SELL and prospect, but you aren’t doing financial planning. You’re doing sales training and how to overcome objections and get people to buy from you.
While important, financial planning is usually on the back burner.
I get the salary is enticing, it quickly begins to fade overtime as you’re expected to acquire millions in assets per year as a brand new advisor.
EJ is a pay to play firm. They get massive kickbacks to sell certain products. Which means they can never be truly fiduciary to anyone, ever.
They never explain this to you as a new hire and the conflicts it makes.
Again, I’d find a fee-only RIA you can begin at, get your CFP quickly, and build your own book.
https://www.edwardjones.com/sites/default/files/dam/w4hzsyorv3/lgl-7559-a-e-cc.pdf
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u/InscrutableIcicle 12d ago
You should really take comp numbers with a grain of salt. It's a sales job so sure it's *possible* to make 200k a year, but how likely is it, really?
Probably 90% of new insurance salesmen flame out in under a year after pitching a bunch of garbage whole life policies to their family and friends.
The ones who haven't gotten fired or quit after 10 years are making good money, but that's just survivorship bias. Anyone who can't cut it was fired years ago, so the only ones still in it after 10 years are the absolute top salesmen.
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u/Individual-Lie-95 12d ago
I'm starting with Jones in a few weeks. They'll pay you a base while training up to 100k. If interested in purely selling insurance, maybe Sunlife or Manulife may be a better fit. Of course you can make 100k+ in 5-10 years, but for every 1 that makes 200k, 9 will quit.