broker vs. financial planner/advisor

help me out !! have been offered a junior day trader position in a small wall street firm which can progress from an equity trader to a forex and commodities trading … they will only sponsor series 7 ! they would require a risk deposit of $ 4500 and will give training for a month and a half …after which they will give me some capital to play with after a demo trading prog of a week or two. HR person interviewing me told me that u dont start making money in the first 6 months … profits will be divided …i will recieve 60% got another offer for the position of a financial planner/ advisor at a very well reknown insurance company …which would sponsor CFP, series 7 , 6 , 63 and 66. they will pay salary for the first 6 months which would be training tenure and after that it will be comission based. i dont have alot of social networks in US ! i am a CFA level II candidate and am planning to start my masters in finance/ mathematics of finance or statistics two years from now what do u guys suggest for an entry level CFA level II candidate ???

I fail to understand. Why would they require $$ as risk deposit? Have never heard of anything like that. Do they get to keep this amount (or a portion) if you end up making losses?

yeah that sounds super shady

They say that they want to insure in case if a trader blows all the money away !

“blows all the money”??? Have they not heard of trading limits? I (strongly) suggest you wait for a few more replies here before confirming. “they want to insure” Should they not contact an insurance company in that case? Lol

for a CFA candidate I dont see the allure of a fin advisor role, it is primarily a sales role, not an investment analysis position. I guess it depends what you are looking for as those 2 positions are very different. The trader position sounds like crud though in my book

sorry … i just checked back with them … that is the money that i need to give to take the trader’s training prog !

i kinda of agree with u tvpm …it sounds more like a sales position … but its a bigger company and they are offering six months of salary … :frowning:

Regarding the insurance company…the licenses they sponsor are redundant in a lot of ways. The 6 is limited securities, the 7 is more expansive. You would not have both ever, you would just get the 7. Same goes for the 63/66, you have one or the other, they are essentially the same.

SO you think that as a CFA candidate … getting into trading is a much better option as compared to building a career in financial services ??? What are one’s career option after a heavy duty trading experience ??

Financial services is a very vast term and you can’t generalize like this. For me, even a trading stint would be a part of that. In fact, trading in forex in a trading room of a bank is a very coveted job where I study. Not sure how reputed is your profile though. Also, I’ll be very skeptical of handing over my $4.5K for such a training program. Agreed that you do not have a network but just try and explore a little more and maybe there are some analyst positions available in some small firm. If not, I’d do following: 1. a reality check on the trading profile eg how is the company and what is the opinion of those who have worked there. Trading would be my first choice. 2. If I do not get convincing answers to above, I’d go for the second profile obviously.

i am not saying he should choose trading over the advisor role, i am saying as a CFA candidate he should not choose the advisor role. I dont see how trading fits in as a CFA style profession that well either when compared to “slower” disciplines such as managing a portfolio, analyzing financials, etc. I just dont think financial services (as an advisor) is anything a CFA should covet.

I’d choose second choice. Take the sponsored CFP, it’ll make your resume look better. You don’t have to starve for 6 months too. Do you need to sign some kind of bond in return of the CFP sponsorship? If not, you can always leave and find a better job, after you passed your CFP and CFA level 3. Day trading can be stressful, and I think it’s also a sales job because you have to convince your clients you are the best trader to represent them. You may be liable if your clients can’t pay their losses (the risk deposit may be intended for this) and may not have time to study for your level 3. Besides, compare the commission schemes, I bet the insurance company offer more (I’m not saying it’s easy selling). On the positive side, day trading job may give you the opportunity to construct your own portfolio to suggest to your client, instead of just selling some funds managed by others, in the case of an advisor. The problem is still the same for both advisor and trader, you still need to sell to your clients. Another case is you are trading for your company and do not need to find and serve your own clients. Then I would probably take the 1st choice if only I’m clear what kind of training I’m paying for (4.5k isn’t a small amount).

well the company is trading its own capital so there is basically no dealing with clients as such and they start you with equities and then progress you to forex if they think you can handle that … I am planning to meet the partners of the trading company next week to talk to them about the training … im concerned abt the 4.5k amount … u dont have that lying around … specially when ur entry level person ! :frowning:

A 4.5k deposit is completely absurd, in my opinion. It even sounds like a scam. Do yourself a favor : don’t think about this so-called firm again.

Semper Augustus Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > A 4.5k deposit is completely absurd, in my > opinion. > > It even sounds like a scam. > > Do yourself a favor : don’t think about this > so-called firm again. Agreed^^^

Sounds like Northwestern Mutual

i have met the partner … now they are saying that this is the amount of cash they require for training you … and partially for risk management … they are saying that i have two options … either i start with 5000 which would be the capital i trade with or either i give 4,500 … do u guys really think that this is a scam ??

By any chance is this “firm” known as Trillium Trading?

Or Ponzi trading? Do you have some really compelling reason to go ahead (eg. this firm is very reputed). Come on they are not even sure of what for they are taking money and now asking for $500 more. A reputed firm will never give such *options* when they recruit anyone (for any worthy profile). I’d take a break and contact alumni!