If you had to choose between a career in one of those, which would it be, and why?
I was fortunate I had the the chance to do both. In wholesaling, you will live comfortably and do things you wouldn’t do on your own (fancy dinners, trips…). As an advisor however, especially if you are an independent and sell both insurance and investments, you can do a lot better financially. So it comes down to how many people you know will do business with you as an advisor, and your ability to convert prospects to clients.
PM me if you want. I was a wholesaler and now am in Institutional Sales so fairly similar. I can provide a lot of insight.
What Empire said is essentially correct. However, I would add that the impending DOL regs (assuming you’re US based) are going to impact both wholesalers and advisors. Wholesaler comp is coming down and entertaining may also be on the way out. Advisors are going to have a whole host of issues if they have retirement plans or do commissionable business.
As for who does better financially, wholesalers make more than 90% of financial advisors. You’d have to be at the very top of the FA world to make what an average wholesaler makes.
Wholesaling in Canada is also paying less than a few years ago as firms are trying to cut cost and maximize profits. Wholesalers used to make $300-400k back in the 2000’s. Very few make that much nowadays. What STL said is also correct. Wholesalers make more than 90% of advisors. This stat will probably be even more accurate over the next few years because of CRM 2 (more fee disclosure) in Canada.
Where are you located?
I am in the US. By 300-400K that’s for external not internal right? Sounds like wholesaling is more stable unless you can really hit a gold mine as a FA.
Thanks, I PM’d ya.
I think STL is in the US so he will be more helpful in your situation. In Canada, as an internal, you will make anywhere from $70k to $110k.
Internal Comp: $65k to $130k (how much the firm values internals, tenure, and blowing out your sales goals are the primary factors)
External Comp: $300k to $750k with a very small chance at going higher if you really crush your numbers.
These numbers are a lot lower in Canada these days, especially for the external gig. Not even the national VP of sales would pull a $750k pay cheque…
^ what is an example of an external role?
I should have mentioned it varies a lot by the size of the firm too. I’m assuming we’re talking about a top 40 asset manager by AUM.
Leaders on the distribution side - the person that manages the externals’ managers, the head of national accounts - generally make just shy of a million. Their manager, the head of sales, makes closer to $1.5M.