How To Sell A Mutual Fund To A Financial Advisor

I was given a job offer from a company that sells mutual funds, life insurance, annuities, college savings 529, fixed. How do you actually make money on this career. It seems you have to sell to all of your friends and family otherwise you won't get enough clients. Anyone have experience doing this? Thanks.
I was offered $30,000 for the first year base + commissions. This sounds really good for a recent college grade but I don't want to bug my friends and family every day to sell something.

First of all, you'll need your Life Insurance producer's license, and the Series 7 and state license exams if necessary in your state. Starting fresh out of college will be tough. To be successful you need to sell, and sell often. Selling your friends won't do much for you as they won't be putting much into the market. Consider mutual funds at a front load of 4.5%. If you get 10 friends to each set aside 100 a month in an IRA invested in mutual funds, your commission will be $45.

You need to land a couple of big clients every now and then to keep you going, but it's hard to do as the wealthiest people will know as much as you do, and probably have had relationships with their advisors for years.

Having a base salary to work with is a great way to get started in the business for your first year, but it goes away fast and then it's sink or swim. One thing to consider; if you feel like you'd be bugging your friends or family, people who know and trust you, just imagine how a cold prospect will feel. You have to believe in the stuff you're selling, otherwise you'll either 1.) Go broke or 2.) Give poor advice just to bump up your commissions.

2009-01-27 18:34:09 by Bill D

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To put it simple, I want to sell high and buy low, but if the price of your shares are down, should I still go ahead and trade into a better performing fund? That is what my financial advisor is advising, and he adds "it's never a good idea to wait for your principal to recover".

Also, how to trust worthy are those financial advisors at major brokerage firms? I was told by mine that he makes no commission on my trade, and he's on salary, and he's simply trying to increase the value of my portfolio?

Any opinions on my two questions?
I would rather just hold my shares to wait out this financial catastrophe, but all the advisors I spoke with encourage me to trade. This brokerage is one of the very well know SIPC insurance brokerage.

Without knowing what you're invested in now, it's hard to comment. But if you've got a broadly diversified mutual fund(s) - large caps, mid caps, small caps, international, I say stick with them.

Your broker may make no commission, but is there not a fee involved in moving from one fund to another??

Everyone of my funds, is down from where it was a year ago. But I've got a diversified allocation, with a decent group of funds. So I am content to stick with them. You may well want to do the same.

2009-10-12 16:17:34 by i live ariozona

Can anyone please recommend their financial advisor. It doesnt matter to me if they are out of state (as long as they do phone conferences).
I have 25k in an online savings acct earning 3.5%
9k in a Roth IRA retirement fund through Vanguard
I want to retire rich and I'd like to have an investment now so that in me 40's I have some muoney working for me. I dont know if I should get a mutual fund in addition to what I have, if I should invest with sharebuilder (even though i dont know how to pick stocks). I would like to meet with someone that can offer me the best advice on reaching my goal. The thing is I did speak to a financial advisor before and he only sold american funds and that is the company he wanted me to buy from and it was a loaded fund, and from everything I've read it said don't buy loaded funds. So id ont know what is the best way to pay a financial advisor. SHould i look for an advisor that charges a fee rather than charges for each transaction.

Also i'd prefer if you all could refer me to a specific financial advisor and not just a website directory.

I am single and I just feel overwhelmed with
what hsould i invest in
am i saving enough for retirement
should i get life insurance now (since it will probably be cheap and maybe a fixed rate)

CD's wont be good for me since they are offering pretty much what I get what with my savings account plus my money is liquid...

OH on another note:
My dad is giving me 100 for a bond. Which bond should he get that will give me the highest return? is it worth getting a tax free bond although the rate is lower and where (what site) can I get that from?

You can do some reading and certainly be able to take care of your own situation...or you can get some help at a place like Fidelity...log on there and print up anything from " basics" to long-term investment strategies.
Basically, you seem to be in good shape...just keep maxxing that IRA...and certainly open a second " investment" account...get some of that 3.5% money into a few funds that could at least double that return...but still be available at the click of a mouse to be withdrawn.

If you take things a step at a time, you won't be " overwhelmed"... nothing has to be " set in concrete" right now...not every penny has to be placed in some " strategic" place. Get into one or two funds...see haw they perform for you after six or nine months... add to them...or move them around ..as the results will tell you what to do. It is Soooo simple now in this computer age.
If you still think you need more attention, that Fidelity site also has a phone number ..you can talk to a rep...have them send any info you think you might need...or ask them to suggest some...there is no " hard sell" with them...they know they have a good thing and just present it to you.
As far as the bond...I'd say ALWAYS go tax-free...just one less headache...and returns are still decent.

2008-09-12 17:47:17 by Ellie

In September, the very day that Fannie and Freddie were taking the dive that began our economy's free-fall, I was coming into some mutual funds which had previously been held in trust. The funds had not been tended to for about a year previous and were already doing rather poorly. I knew that I wanted to pull the money out of the current funds, but reinvesting in an alternate fund seemed to me like a pretty risky (STUPID) thing to do at the time. However, I do not know a damned thing about economics our how our market works; all I know is, I see big, time-honored companies biting the dust and I feel that it is time to worry. So I asked my "advisor" (an employee of Citi Smith Barney) "Is it really a good idea to be investing right now, or should I just hold onto this as cash for awhile?" His response was that it's never a bad time to begin investing, and yada yada yada all would be fine. Transfer of ownership and selling the old shares took a couple weeks time and we were soon looking over the plans for my new funds. Things were obviously still looking down for the economy (hell, they still are) and I asked again, "Is it really a good idea to be investing right now?" And his response, once again, was that the market was not that volatile and that mutual funds are especially safe (do not suffer as extreme ups and downs as stocks -- well duh).
So I, being young, naive and by my own judgment STUPID, went ahead with the purchases he suggested for me -- handing him a tidy 4.75% purchase fee which I have come to discover is unnecessarily high. 6 months and 50% later, I can't help but feel a burning hatred deep in my soul for this guy...but there's nothing I can do, is there?

Let my follow up by saying that I completely understand that LOTS of people lost lots of money in the last year. I also completely understand that there are substantial risks involved in any investment. I just can't get over the fact that I, with no experience or training, knew better, yet this guy, with his degree and career, had no idea.
Hey Geniuses -- did I not already mention that I know ***I*** am at fault here? I'm not asking to be told that I am at fault, I get that and have definitely learned my lesson.
The question is whether the advisor can be held accountable in any way.

I just saw an add on TV regarding your question. I didn't catch the 800 number because it didn't concern me . Some advisors can be at fault. I wasn't paying much attention , sorry.

You might want to do a search on the net. Search tag words like :
lawsuit against Financial Advisor

2009-03-21 19:05:12 by salt shaker

My fiancee and I want to get a good adviser to help us make the right choices. and to help put us towards our goals. We are not at the point to be getting investment such as mutual funds etc but we will to be at some point. We need advice on home loans, student loans, retirement, planning for family growth, debt management, insurance, etc. How much does this kind of service cost and where do we find one that does not have a primary goal of selling us investment products. Also, are there any planners that specialize in Military/Vets

look for a certified planner that charges by the hour. There are some "free" advisers that may steer you toward products that they sell on commission.

2009-05-27 14:03:44 by soren