Banking to Stockbroker

So now you know some history and can guess why I need a job. I still like my business, however I need a job to support my family.

Now you may ask yourself, "Why should I hire this guy, if his business is successful, he’s just going to jump ship!" You should ask this question. However, I would be fully committed to any work that I decide to take on and would be so for at least five years (barring any other circumstances)*.

Yes there is an "*" there. The only thing that I would consider going back to my business full-time is if I had an opportunity to appear on the Oprah Winfrey Show! Aside from that, I’d be working for you, 100%.

I started trading stocks at a young age (13) and it started my love affair with the investment industry. During my last year of high school I got a job at a Trust Company in the mortgage area. It was fun learning about a specific area of the financial services sector. While attending University and shortly after I worked my way up the Teller (aka Customer Service Representative) ladder.

I finally left banking and got a job at an investment company doing low-level work. This gave me the opportunity to study for my securities course and other exams that would allow me to get licensed in the industry.

Almost immediately after passing my securities exams, I left the low-level stuff and got myself a job as a real "stock broker"!

I knew nothing about selling stocks. What I knew is that I liked investing. The investment industry is huge and newcomers need to establish themselves as there are 1000’s of others out there that are doing the exact same thing!

Having zero creditability made it a bit difficult for you to get respect with prospective customers. My main job at the other investment company was cold calling. Eight hours a day, five days a week, cold calling. I was good at generating leads. I took the same approach in the new job. Soon I had a decent base of prospects.

Having prospects is one thing, but I needed clients. You’ve got to convert the prospects. I decided to become a writer at this point. I was still a stock broker, but one who also now had a news letter.

The newsletter added to my creditability. I also managed to secure a small spot in one of the daily newspapers. It wasn’t an article per se, but two to three sentences every few weeks. It was enough that I now could send them out to prospects. It wasn’t too long before my clients list was growing. My writing (and self-promotion) became better and I managed to get a couple of articles in a national newspaper and other publications.

My personal investment interests were evolving which was reflected in the type of clients I was getting. Eventually I got very interested in Pension Plans (401K, Money Purchase Pension Plan, Defined Contribution Pension Plan, Group RRSP). The company that I was working for was somewhat supportive of efforts, but really wanted me to focus on investing with individuals. I eventually was hired at a new company with the authority of creating a Pension department.

More later

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