Two Job Offers - Still Unsure Which To Accept

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PJStyles

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I'm currently a CFA Level 2 Candidate. My career aspirations revolve around becoming a Portfolio Manager where I'd be managing investments for high net worth clients on a discretionary basis with one of the large banks here in Canada.

In the meantime, I've decided to move on from my current employer where I manage investments for clients of varying net worth. I've been offered two positions, one consists of a base salary + trailers on assets under administration that you build up over time. The base salary is decent but it's going to take 2-3 years before I reap the rewards of trailers for building up the assets via referrals from various branches. The other thing is that I would be IDA registered here in Canada which is always a plus allowing me more flexibility and might even help me with registration as a Portfolio Manager when the time comes. However, within 2-3 years, once the trailers kick in, I may very well have completed my CFA and ready to move into a Portfolio Manager position - thereby never really enjoying the trailers.

The second offer doesn't involve managing client relationships but it's more about booking the investment sale and then moving on to other new clients. It still involves financial planning, similar to the position above but they are offering a $24,000 signing bonus and pay large upfront commissions on sales generated but no base salary and no trailers. It's attractive because I know I could book quite a bit of business and make some decent money. However, they are MFDA registered and not sure how well that would lead into the Portfolio Manager role down the road.

Both of these roles are with 2 large institutions here in Canada. On the one hand, I'm leaning towards the 2nd role because I can make more money over the next 2-3 years while I finish my CFA and the move on. However, on the flip-side, the first position offers a 2nd viable career path in case my CFA studies falter but lower income potential in the first 3 years. I'd be interested to get as much feedback, suggestions or thoughts as possible on this :) I've struggled with this question now for almost 2 weeks and have to make a decision shortly. Much thanks to all that reply.

PJStyles
 
Go with Option 1. Reason: you get a salary.

Unless you have a strong, established track record of being able to consistently close sales, you should avoid commission-only sales jobs like the plague.

Really, it's a risk/return issue. You can take job 1 with little risk regarding fluctuations in your income, but your salary will be rather small in the beginning. Job 2 offers a signing bonus and aggressive commissions but you have absolutely no established income stream upon which you can reliably depend.

Also, consider the time and stress involved in studying for/taking the CFA exam. Do you really think you should compound that stress with the stress of working a commission-only job? What if you have several bad months, you can't pay your bills AND the CFA is coming up in a few weeks?

I'll tell you from firsthand experience: let the suckers or the true salesmen work commission-only sales. It's either feast or famine.

Option 2 is a sales job and you run a high risk of being pigeonholed later in your career as just a salesman.

Another thing about Option 2: I have worked for several companies who have dramatically changed their commission schedules when they felt their salesmen were making "too much" money. This means any commission schedule a recruiter shows you today is worthless, since it could be changed tomorrow. I've seen one company *retroactively* tighten their commission schedule, costing salesmen thousands of dollars. Another company I worked for slashed commissions 75% in one day. Yikes!

Option 1, IMO, sounds like it would be a more logical career choice to move towards a Portfolio Manager. So, with Option 1, you take on responsibilites that are a step in the right direction of becoming a PM and you get a guaranteed salary.

Good luck in whatever you do!
 
I was actually thinking the same thing regarding the added stress of making money while studying for the CFA. The downside to option 1 is that it represents a $12,000 pay-cut from my current salary.... and with option 2 there's the possibility of making that money and more.

Career wise, there's no question that option 1 is probably the best option, but when your faced with an offer consisting of a signing bonus that represents almost 50% of option #1's base salary for the year, it's tough to turn that down... still not sure and I need to decide by the end of today.

PJStyles
 
Well, what you want to think about then is how badly do you need money in the short-term? Do you want to take the risk of being pidgeonholed into sales/commission based jobs for the rest of your career? How badly do you want to reach the end-goal of HNW portfolio management? It'll be difficult to land a PM role from job offer #2. Not impossible, but very difficult to segway from a sales job to another path.
 
funnymoney Wrote:
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> Well, what you want to think about then is how
> badly do you need money in the short-term? Do you
> want to take the risk of being pidgeonholed into
> sales/commission based jobs for the rest of your
> career? How badly do you want to reach the
> end-goal of HNW portfolio management? It'll be
> difficult to land a PM role from job offer #2.
> Not impossible, but very difficult to segway from
> a sales job to another path.


I couldn't agree with FunnyMoney more. After 5 years in sales and after I got my MBA, 95% of all job offers and interview invitations I received were for sales positions.

It has taken me 3 years to find a non-sales job and break out of the cycle of get signing bonus/probationary draw, it runs out and sales aren't enough to pay the bills, so I get another sales job with a signing bonus/probationary draw.

A $12,000 pay cut isn't that much, really, considering Option 1's pay is around $45k/year. It's about a net $300 per paycheck difference, based on a 26-pay schedule. You *are* living within your means, aren't you?
 
Let me clarify... with option #2 I'm still a Financial Planner. On my resume I can easily put that I help clients build and structure investment portfolios. Both options have virtually the same job descriptions except in one case you manage the client relationship ongoing and the other you don't, but even that can be adjusted on the resume, particularly since my current position involves client relationships ongoing.

I guess you can say that my fear is this: Having work my ass off with option #1 just to get my income back to where it is today. I'm worried that I'll become extremely frustrated.

PJStyles
 
Which one of these institutions offers you the best chance to realize your goal of being a PM? Can you get this IDA registration for sure at firm 1 if you push the issue? Do either/both offer the eventual position that you want?

"Financial Planner" reads as sales either way (this isn't necessarily a bad thing at all). How much solicitation do you want to be doing once you reach your goal - do you want to manage clients that others bring to you, rely on referrals, etc.?
 
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