If you are interested in finance and think that managing other people’s money may be your bag, you may be cut out to be a 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:stockbroker. Becoming this type of 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:investment consultant isn't easy, and the process can be quite intense and stressful at times. Still, many individuals coming out of 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:business school want to join their ranks. This article aims to answer questions and provide insight into this career, which now ♚offers more options than have previously been available.

Working as a stockbroker may sound glamorous, but the fact is that many first-year brokers drop out of the bu🎐siness because the job usuallಞy requires long hours, can be overly stressful, and requires a substantial amount of dedication.

A Stockbroker's Skillset

While no particular personality traits are required to become a broker, generally speaking, the successful ones have an inner drive to succeed, and they can take rejection. These are important qualities, given that most of a broker's day is likely to be spent on the phone, pitching 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:stock ideas to prospective or🐭 existing clients. O﷽ther key skills that can come in handy include:

• An ability to sell
• An ability to communicate effectively
• An ability to explain complex ideas without seeming condescending

Although 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:classes and seminars are offered to improve communications ability and salesmanship, they take time and money. Therefore, it's usually best if you already p🅰ossess these skills before entering the field.

Education Requirements

A college education is generally a must these days, as the competition to get into p🐭restigious firms and training programs can be quite intense. However, it is not unheard of to meet successful salespeople who have no formal training other than studying for the licensing exams.

While there are no formal educational requirements for becoming a broker (as there are to become a 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:certified public accountant (CPA) or financial analyst), many firms seek candidates who have at least a bachelor’s degree, preferably focused on some aspect of business or finance; individuals who major in these subjects probably will have a leg up on the competition. In addition, a 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:master's degree helps a candidate stand out from the crowd, as it implies a🦩dditional communication and finance skills that can be helpful on ♈the job.

Licensing Requirements

To become a 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:registered representative—and actually practice—all stockbrokers are required to obtain the same standard securities licenses. One must pass the Series 7 and 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Series 63 exams administered by the 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Financial Industry Regu🐼latory Authority (FINRA). These certifications authorize representatives to buy and s𓄧ell stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and other type🌱s of securities, as well as legally advise their clients.

The Series 7 exam is traditionally taken by beginning brokers. It is a general securities license that enables an individual to sell securities such as stocks, while the Series 63 exam focuses on state laws and regulations.

Would-be brokers should understand that these exams are not easy. In addition, you must be sponsored by a legitimate 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:brokerage to take them, and the firm sponsoring you for the exam expects you to pass.

Many stockbrokers either choose or are required by their employer to obtain other licenses as well, such as the Series 3 or 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Series 31 licenses for commodities and managed futures, a 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Series 65 or 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Series 66 to become a 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:registered inv❀estment adviser (RIA), or a life and/or health insurance license to sell life, disability, and long-term care products, as well as fixed and variable annuity contracts.

A prospective broker will also need to pass a strict background check that examines their criminal and financial history. Those with recent 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:bankruptcies, 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:tax liens, or repossessions will likely be discarded from the list of potential candidates just as quickly as those who have been in any type of mentionable legal trouble.

Deciding Between Competing Brokerage Firms

To get into a brokerage firm that will sponsor you for the necessary exams, be on the lookout for companies that have reputable and structured 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:training programs. These companies can be extremely helpfu♉l in teaching certain sales techniques, time-management skills, and the ins and outs of the industry. To find this information, conduct a search on the internet, search job ads, and, more specifically, on the websites of individual firms.

Beyond that, consider firms that match you🎶r personality and preferences. For example, as a would-be broker, consider whether you want to work for a large, internationally known financial supermarket or a smaller specialty firm.

Sometimes brokers who start off at 💃larger firms feel like small fish in a🐽 seemingly endless pond. However, the downside to a smaller firm is that landing customers or ensuring confidence in your firm might be harder because of its lesser-known name.

Types of Stockbrokers

There are three different kind🔯s of stockbrokers, and which one you become will largely depend on your personal preference as well as your ability to deftly handle clientele.

Full-Service Broker

Working at a 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:full-service firm or 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:wirehouses such as Bank of America/Merrill Lynch (BAC) or Morgan Stanley (MS) is still the most traditional approach to selling 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:investments. Brokers who work for th✱ese firms will be provided with a comprehensive training package that includes sales and product training as ꧂well as education in administrative procedures and compliance regulations. Typically, they are also provided with office space (or at least a desk), business cards, a guaranteed salary or draw against commission, and a high sales quota that they must meet within a relatively short period of time if they want to remain employed.

Some firms have changed their models and allow their reps longer time periods with bigger starting salaries so that they have a better chance of succeeding. But a relativel🔥y large percentage of each class of trainees will wash out of these programs because they are not able to generate enough business to meet their quotas.

Many successful brokers eventually leave these full-service firms and move on to independent 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:broker-dealers such as Raymond James (RJF) or Linsco Private Ledger. These firms typically offer a wider array of products and services and do not require their reps to sell proprietary products of any kind. They also usually offer much higher payouts on commission than full-service firms, and sometimes a warmer and friendlier atmosphere. However, they are usually only capable of giving 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:back-office administrative support and don't provide amenities such as office space. Those who work for these firms must pay all of their ow⭕n expenses and overhead.

Those without prior training or licensure might be wise to start atꦬ a full-service firm that will provide these things at no cost. Even if they ultimately want to join an independent broker-dealer, they will acquire skills that make them much more marketa꧅ble when they leave.

Discount Brokers

If you are not a super salesperson by nature but would still like to try your hand at managing investments, a 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:discount broker, such as Charles Schwab (SCHW) or Fidelity (FNF) might be t🍃he place for you. These firms are geared toward providing effective service for walk-in clients and usually pay their brokers a flat salary (albeit with some minor✅ bonuses or other incentives).

Many brokers who don’t make it at full-service firms end up at discount firms where they have a chance to really learn theꦛ business and get a feel for the markets. Some brokers can build up enough of an informal clientele that they can eventually move back to a full-service or independent broker-dealer and make a living there.

澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Discount brokers are likely to gain a much broader base of experience than many full-service brokers, who generally specialize in certain areas such as 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:IRA rollovers or 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:employee stock options. A rep who works at a firm like Schwab or Fidelity is expected to be able to provide a broad array of research and services, including basic technical and fundamental analysis, rollovers, stock options, margin accounting, derivatives, 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:bond ladders, mutual funds, 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:closed-end funds, 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:exchange traded funds, partnerships, charitable gifting, 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:1035 exchanges, and many other area☂s of investment, retirement, 🔯and estate planning.

Reps are often required to perform administrative duties such as cashiering, opening new accounts, processing 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:stock certificates, and other paperwork. But they are not subject to the kind of sales pressure as their full-service counterparts and, generally, have either very low or no production quotas of any 🅰kind.

Bank Brokers

Being a broker at a bank is an entirely different proposition than working at Merrill Lynch or Fidelity. Like most discount firms, many banks also look for licensed brokers with previous experience, but the banking system is so unlike the br🌄okerage world that it usually takes newcomers a while to get their bearings.

Brokers who work at banks are full-service brokers in a technical sense, but they are often given a lower payout on their 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:commissionsﷺ in return for having access to t♒he bank’s customer base. Bank brokerage positions were once viewed as dead-end jobs that were only for brokers who failed elsewhere, but this perception largely disappeared with the growth of this segment of the brokerage industry.

Most banks and 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:credit unions now employ in-house investment consultants who can offer non-澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:FDIC insured products and services. A growing number of banks also expect their rep🍎s to cultivate a clientele from outside the bank, however, and have worked to develop a system that rewards bank employees for referring customers to them as well🥂 as some sort of prospecting platform to bring in new business.

Experienced brokers understand that they need to be visible and present to the bank staff and work to educate them on what they do, but also be able to stay out of their way when they get busy with their banking duties. Many of them will invite wholesalers and other product vendors to ✨bring lunch for the staff and then explain how their products can benefit bank customers.

Bank brokers can also expect to work with a more conservative clientele than they will encounter elsewhere, and many of them rely heavily upon fixed annuities and other low-risk products to⛄ build their businesses. But bank brokers usually escape the high sales quotas and pressure to sell products that those who work at other full-service firms face.

Building Clientele

Wherever a fledgling broker lands, the core of their effort is on building a b�ꦆ�ook of business. There are many ways to seek clients, including:

• Making 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:cold calls in order to open accounts
• A list of pre-qualified prospects to start contacting to drum up business (these may be given to you by your firm or bought from 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:marketing firms)
• Tapping relatives or friends to obtain referrals
• Organization memberships, such as the local 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:chamber of commerce to network and meet 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:prospective clients

The Bottom Line

There is more opportunity than ever in the financial industry for those who are willing to work hard and deal with the negative aspects (long hours, high stress) that accompany the initial stages of a career in the brokerage field. The modern stockbroker has several major areas in which to build a business, but must acquire necessary🏅 licenses before practicing. This entire process can be a time-consuming and costly adventure, but many find the financial rewards worth the initial struggle.