I have an interview with ‘AXA advisors’ institution for financial Advisor Entry Level position next week and as I am trying to find more about this company I find more bad reputation about it. The company seems to be big but apparently have a bad reputation and Fraud history. Anyone in this forum aware about this institution? I know its might not be a correct place to post this discussion but i was wondering if you guys have any opinions about this institution?
http://www.indeed.com/forum/cmp/AXA-Advisors/AXA-Advisors-Interview-Ques…
http://www.indeed.com/forum/cmp/AXA-Advisors/Don-t-get-job-at-AXA-Adviso…
http://www.indeed.com/forum/cmp/AXA-Advisors/AXA-Advisors-Salaries-Bonus…
I have already been interviewed twice and the next one will be with the VP of NY Branch! I am confused if i should take the position if they offer me any!
Any comments are welcome!
Oh jeez, AXA advisors. I’ve had my experience
Let me guess, your first “interview” consisted of a huge room of people watching a presentation about how awesome it is and how there’s huge potential.
Then they made you make a list of everyone you know and their contact and income and said this is your “natural market” and you’re selling a bunch of insurance/investment products to these people first.
You can choose from having a pathetic base salary and commission or pure commission.
It’s a chop shop. They hook in 50 or so people every couple weeks or so, “hire” a bunch of them and make them sell insurance or investment products to the people that trust them most. They set a high quota that you have to meet and most don’t make the cut, then they fire you when you exhausted your contacts.
But it’s OK, because there is another new group of people coming in soon to exhaust their contacts soon.
If you are a young person trying to learn finance and the industry, stay away! This financial advisor role is only best for people with a good book of clients, have worked in finance for a while and have wealthy contacts.
Ask them how much employee turnover they get and watch your interviewer squirm a bit and say something like “oh some people do find out that it’s not for them…” or some related BS
Hope. It is the quintessential human delusion, simultaneously the source of your greatest strength, and greatest weakness.
Oh I forgot to say that they really try to screw you over by making you pay for a lot of things out of pocket up front, and after a year or so even make you rent your own cubicle. Seriously isn’t that f*cked up?
I was young and skeptical at the time, but went along with it. But in only a couple months I got a real job and bailed. Also did I mention you get paid nothing while taking your license exams?
Look at this comment someone posted :
As far as quotas, regardless of what you were told, you absolutley have them, both to keep your benefits and to keep your job. You are evaluated quarterly based on either production or app count, of this, you will get 1 free pass and then you will be terminated with no exceptions or extenuating circumstances. Part of your quotas also entail a proprietary business selling requirement, meaning your business must include a certain percentage of AXA products to keep you job regardless of how much you sell. What are you going to do when your quarterly validation comes up and you are forced to choose between selling a certain product to keep your job or doing whats best for your client? It may not always be one and the same.
Hope. It is the quintessential human delusion, simultaneously the source of your greatest strength, and greatest weakness.
Alright then that VP is gonna get right from my face next week. How can such a instution of net assets 730billion do that? And how can they be that big if they do all these scams..I find it so F**ed up!
well as I said, for people who have worked for years and have wealthy contacts or a big network of people, you can be successful and yes life can be great because you are an entrepreneur. That’s how the business is designed to be. But as a young person perhaps recently graduated or wanting to learn finance, you are fed huge promises of success and money, but the reality is far more difficult than it sounds.
Hope. It is the quintessential human delusion, simultaneously the source of your greatest strength, and greatest weakness.
AXA’s pretty much a middle of the road shop. Those things iteracom is describing - having to pay for your own licensing, quotas (otherwise known as sales goals), and generally not making any money for the first year or two - are all correct. And, that’s accurate for just about any financial advisor.
Try going to Merrill or Morgan Stanley. Once you find out their quotas you’ll beg AXA to take you. If you want a place that’s more laid back, go to LPL, Northwestern Mutual, or Ameriprise.
Being a financial advisor can be a pretty sweet gig if you’re the type of person that doesn’t have a problem marketing yourself. The first 10 years as an FA is all about asset gathering. If you’re good at it, you may never want to stop and just keep growing. There are advisors out there that manage over $1B.
Just don’t think someone is going to hand you $50mm and ask you to be a “portfolio manager.”
Studying With
Run.
True. The wealthy clients will go to the experienced financial advisors, and all the junior financial advisors have to fight for the scraps getting joe smith to invest in some life insurance equity plan with his 50,000 in savings etc
Get ready to make less than a waiter your first year or two, and that’s if you make it to year 2. Over 90% fail.
Also, don’t ever fall for the scam when they tell you “oh our lowest associate pulled in about $75,000” because first that’s before fees and crap which are HUGE, and that’s not including the 90% that failed and make nearly nothing after expenses
Hope. It is the quintessential human delusion, simultaneously the source of your greatest strength, and greatest weakness.
I again got offer for an interview in these two companies
www.emeraldfinancialresources.com
www.MassMutual.com/careers
And the first thing they asked whether I have my relatives in NJ or not and if I am able to manage all my expense on my own for the next 6 months.. they were like dont expect to make money for the next 6 months then depending upon how well you do and your commision your future will move ahead.
Are these two institutions messed up like AXA advisors too?
I am applying for all financial analyst positon but I have been getting positive responses from companies like these where i have to sell financial products and life insurance products.. wth and its a position for trainee as financial advisor. I dont get it..
MIght be just me, but any company that doesn’t pay you for 6 months seems like a sketchy deal.
“I’m a CPA! I got money b***h!”
Well at least this company was up front about it.
The problem is that these companies are misleading you. The positions should really be called: insurance and investment products salesman. And you’re getting call backs from these jobs because as I said, they take lots of people, it’s very little cost to the company, and they milk you as much as they can because everyone is bound to have people they know. So they take advantage of that by making you sell stuff to the people that trust you most.
Don’t think of these as financial analyst positions at all. It’s no different then trying to sell cars or shoes. Except here it is a finance related product you are selling
Hope. It is the quintessential human delusion, simultaneously the source of your greatest strength, and greatest weakness.
STLeg is right on this, it’s an opportunity and it can work out great. It’s not a scam and you can get something worthwhile out of it if you try/succeed. I’ve seen some of these insurance salesmen making >500K from the golf course. Yes, of course there are better opportunities, there always are - though if you’re considering a role like this, not likely anything significantly better will materialize. These kinds of jobs exist for a reason, and if they weren’t around people would complain there are no opportunities.
…besides 99% of people in finance are used car salesmen, it’s just that some wear nicer suits - it’s all the same game.
Sure, people also win the lottery too. That’s a great opportunity as well
Hope. It is the quintessential human delusion, simultaneously the source of your greatest strength, and greatest weakness.
He does make a good point though. if you had a better opportunity, you wouldn’t be considering this.
“I’m a CPA! I got money b***h!”
Here’s my advice, since it seems like you don’t have other options, you can take the job just to get some of the security licenses like the series 7 and 63. Those two are required for a real financial job, or equity research, asset management, etc..
You can only get to take those exams with a company sponsor. so, like how they want to milk you, you’ll be milking them for the licenses. You’ll be paying for those yourself, but at least you’ll walk away with something
Hope. It is the quintessential human delusion, simultaneously the source of your greatest strength, and greatest weakness.
Studying With
I worked at emeriprize for 3 weeks. I was a youngin’ and fell for the hook line and sinker. Iteracom is spot on. At least at emerirpize we got a bonus for passing the exams and a hourly wage of minimum wage during training/client acquisition.
Once the brainwashing wore off, I waiting until the bonus hit my bank account, cleaned out my desk, then walked out the door. The 7 was step into my next investment job.
I didn’t even have emeriprize on my resume so when asked where the 7 came from, I told them. They’d chuckle and say, “Yeah, I get it. I wouldn’t put it on my resume either.”
^ that’s what I would have done.
So there you have it. Or you can choose to ignore us and listen to Lpoulin and try to make $500,000 while “on the golf course “
Hope. It is the quintessential human delusion, simultaneously the source of your greatest strength, and greatest weakness.
Lol, you make it sound like a bad thing - let me leave it at this, he’s got a better chance of making 500k from the golf course at AXA than he does trying to make that on the PGA.
It’s kind of like when you’re offered an interview with Northwestern Mutual. Just run the F away.
Yeah these suck. But very common, my old boss started out at one of these (Merill Lynch), where they took a whole bunch of young brokers, and put them in front of a phone, and were told to raise money basically. He survived, and made out well while developing a great book of clients. The rest? No idea.
Cities teem with evil and decay, let’s give it a good shake and see what falls out!!
Studying With
watch the movie boiler room (1999)
Good movie!
Hope. It is the quintessential human delusion, simultaneously the source of your greatest strength, and greatest weakness.
Dude these are some crappy deals… From no pay for 6 months to having to pay your own cubicle to all commission pay.
Being an FA right after undergrad and having to cold call 200 times a day, I’d say going to any of the big wire houses is a far better bet than any of the companies mentioned above. They give you salary, the company name that sounds better than AXA or Mass Mutual and honestly all you gotta do is bring in assets. Just cold call, mail brochure/letters to business owners and go on meetings.
As many have said above, run away from these firms or so called financial services firms.. Most likely you’ll be selling insurance products or at best insurance related products such as VAs and VULs.
I have to concur with what seems to be the general consensus, being a young FA sucks and most fail. The job has little to do with finance so if you’re not earning it’s not like you’re even getting any real experience. I’ve known successful FAs but they were career changers in their 40s with large networks.
Studying With
Why are you doing the CFA if you are considering being an FA? You will be WAY over qualified with a CFA as an FA. Like they said… you will be selling insurance and investment products. Don’t dream about managing large portfolios at those places.
Heck I work for a large bank in Trust and most of our PM’s don’t have their CFA’s nor have they taken them. I have my CFP(r) and probably on paper would be more qualified then some of our PM’s… But then again i’ve worked at an insurance company where if you wanted to do any investment management (instituational or personal) you had to have your CFA or at least have passed level 1. Think it really depends on your focus for a career and what you want to do.
I’m looking to get into more Portfolio management instead of Trust/Financial Planning so that is why I am going complete the CFA.
Get after it study hards!
http://nickelroadgifts.com/
Being an FA wouldn’t be my brand of vodka, but I feel like I should defend them here. Not sure why all the hate. There are basically two types of FA shops - ones that offer you a salary to start and ones that don’t.
The former are the wirehouses (Merrill, MS, Wells, and UBS). In return for the salary, you promise to raise $15m your first year. If you don’t, you get fired. However, they offer very good resources and training. Most still fail though.
The second group are made up of everyone else. It’s actually the norm not to get paid. If you’re lucky, you might find a place that will give you a draw on future commission for a few months, but probably not. These are the Ameriprises, Northwestern Mutuals, etc. Much less pressure, but also less training and little external motivation. Making it is all up to you.
Another route to go that is applicable to CFAs is to join a large RIA or FA team as an analyst. Guys that manage over $300m need a good analyst or two and pay fairly well, and if they like you there may be an opportunity to buy their book when they want to retire.
Out of all these guys - wires, independents, or RIAs - some are douche bags and some are amazingly sharp. The bigger teams almost always consist of at least three people. One that specializes in insurance, one that handles the investments, and one that manages clients and tries to bring in new assets. If more than one guy happens to be good at the relationship side, all the better. There’s normally a tax guy too. Point is if you want to be really successful, you won’t be doing it alone. You’ll be working on a team with guys you like.
In the end, FAs do provide essential services so the good ones aren’t just some assholes trying to scam people for an insurance premium. You do a good job for people and word gets around. After several years you’ll hopefully have a business with a few hundred million under management. That’ll put you in the top 10% of all advisors. At that point it doesn’t matter what firm you work for. You could be at Ameriprise and UBS would kill to have you. It’s just about the money. Speaking of which, you make the top 10% and there’s a good chance you’re pulling down seven figures. Not a bad gig/