Prudential Vs Morgan Stanley

[Georges]

Hello everyone,


I had interviews for both prudential and Morgan Stanley. I know it's not directly comparing apples to apples, however I am curious to see what some of you feel in regards to what company I should start my career with. I am graduating college with my bachelor degree in business in May. I would start for either company some time end of May/beginning of June.

Thank you all for your insight, it is much appreciated!

Georges

 

[hammerken]

I started in the business at the old Dean Witter (now part of Morgan Stanley) and have been a Rep/Agent, Manager, and Trainer at both Wirehouse Firms (Merrill, PW, HRBFA) and Insurance Companies (MetLife, Pac Life, Trans, Hartford Life). Personally, I am glad I started out on Wall Street but I was fortunate enough to have been in a good office. That is really what it will come down to, how the environment makes you feel. I am now independent and do training for both types of firms as well as Regional Firms like Stifel on a contract basis. Every office is different. Interview them as much as they interview you. I will tell you that the Wall Street firms devote invest more in training than the Insurance Companies do. But really try and get a feel for the office if you can.

 

[Georges]

Yes the Morgan Stanley office is differently more cut throat. I feel the managers and directors at prudential would be more hands in in the beginning in terms of helping you and being there for assistance. I feel both are reputable companies to get on the resume. I'm my going to be picky about the pay in the beginning I'm in it more so for the experience I will gain for the first 2 years..thoughts?
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Sorry I meant to say I am not going to be picky in the beginning in terms of pay*

 

[Bwell86]

Pru obviously has a focus on insurance and you'll only be able to invest with mutual funds and annuities. Even wrap accounts are all mutual funds.
Morgan Stanley is focused on investments. You'll be able to sell individual stocks and bonds. I'm sure MS can also deal in calls and puts.

I'm a Pru man myself, but I have friends at MS and they love it. One is part of a "wealth group." He and two other guys all work the same book and split the managing commissions three ways. That's just not my cup of tea.

 

[MikeM.]

Before jumping in make sure you have a strong network, a strong marketing plan in place, a way to find clients. These firms can teach you how to sell all they want but if you don't have a way to find clients, it's an uphill battle.

I was with Pru for a short time when they use to sell P&C. Pru had really competitive P&C at the time and it was the ONLY reason why I went with them. Their Life was competitive as well.

The only thing Pru taught me was this LOOOOOOONG sales presentation. It was a two day selling process. That wasn't what I was looking for at that time. I needed marketing training. How to find clients in a cold market. Yeah, good luck to that. My managers were about as clueless as I was when it comes to marketing and finding clients.

My wife works for an investment firm and she said that two of their new people struggles because they couldn't find clients and eventually left and went to Chase. Both doing well there because they were able to get in house referrals from the bank side.

My brother also said the same thing. He works for a credit union and he said they all make their advisors' life easier because they do a lot of in house referrals whenever they see a client who has money in their account, they refer these clients over. Just something to think about.

 

[LGilmore]

How old are you actually?

 

[hammerken]

The most important thing is finding an office that won't have you die on the vine. Pru has you do the Project 100 or whatever they call it. Not a big fan of that method but for some it works. They also will toss you some orphans. A good Wall St. office will have a mentorship program in place. You can sell Insurance very successfully in a Wall St firm but you will be the Salmon swimming upstream usually. Some managers actually frown on it. (Usually not good ones.)

In terms of beginning income you need to be prepared to work smart and hard. I cannot tell you how many times I have been in an elevator listening to rookie brokers on Wall Street say how long their day was what with all the research they read, product rollouts they attended, and training they had. They pulled a 12 hour day and seen zero clients. Wasted time. Insurance guys tend to be a little more focused on getting in front of folk because they have less distractions usually.

 

[xrac]

It depends more upon you and your personality. Either will be great experience. This is a situation that I would say trust your gut.

 

[Full Throttle]

Many of the wires only pay on $250,000+ accounts, you are not even allowed to service the smaller accounts. Do you have a Rolodex of people who fit that criteria? If not, how will you get in front of them? Great gig if you hit their insane asset goals, but most do not and the accounts roll to their senior advisors. You were a glorified bird dog.

With insurance, the need is much more universal. Much wider market to target. Still tough to make it, but nearly guaranteed if you do the right things daily. At MS, it will take a combo of hard work, connections, AND luck.

However, MS may still be a good training ground while getting a salary and you can always go to insurance or a firm like Edward Jones if it does not work out.

 

[xrac]

Many of the wires only pay on $250,000+ accounts, you are not even allowed to service the smaller accounts. Do you have a Rolodex of people who fit that criteria? If not, how will you get in front of them? Great gig if you hit their insane asset goals, but most do not and the accounts roll to their senior advisors. You were a glorified bird dog.

With insurance, the need is much more universal. Much wider market to target. Still tough to make it, but nearly guaranteed if you do the right things daily. At MS, it will take a combo of hard work, connections, AND luck.

However, MS may still be a good training ground while getting a salary and you can always go to insurance or a firm like Edward Jones if it does not work out.

Your chances of success with EDJ may be much higher if you are interested in the wirehouse gig.