Anyone on here have any personal or second-hand experience to pass on regarding working at one of UBS' Wealth Advice Centers? There's one in Weehawken, NJ, and one in Charlotte, NC.
Seems like a decent way to get into the industry (I'm transitioning out of the military), but with relatively low pay ($50k base & opportunities for commission), but you're not working with HNW/UHNW like I would ideally like.
Any thoughts, experiences, or feedback would be great.
It’s okay, but not ideal. This place is basically where all the real UBS advisors dump their small garbage accounts... You’re not allowed to prospect new clients and you’re only allowed to work with the existing small accounts.
Very fews ways for you to make money as you’re only getting compensated on very limited products... and your goals reset on a quarterly basis and no trails on the products you sold. And a lot of people there missed their quarterly goals and don’t get jack shit..
Many people working might not even know, but this place is literally marketed as “free lunch” to the FAs because they will get a cut on whatever you sold and keep the earnings trial.
So yeah.. it’s okay if you don’t have a better options or ur from a completely unrelated background. A lot of people use this as a jumping board to other positions in the firm like myself. I was lucky to get out of the place in a year but from what I know they’re making it harder for you to leave there now... if you do eventually take this job, my advice is find ways to leave as soon as you can
Hey,
I hope you're well! Do you mind vaguely saying what field you went into? Also, what other exit opps have you seen? Thanks
Well... Let me just sum up some of the exit opportunities I see in the past couple of years:
1. Joining a broker/FA team: As a junior FA or a wealth strategist. I think this might be one of the better outcomes, as you either build or help build a book of business. It's really hard nowadays to build a UHNW book by your own especially at a young age so joining a team is more realistic. Getting a cut of the team's production is also pretty lucrative. This is also where I end up.
2. Discount brokers such as Fidelity or Schwab: A lot of people move to this space, typically servicing 150k - 1 or 2M range clients. You can still do pretty well, but the products and services you can offer are really limited at this point. Hard to break into HNW segment as well.
3. Other areas within UBS: Most often to other teams that support FA teams, such as investment proposals, advisory solutions, products...etc. I will consider this a step up from the WAC but a step down from a junior FA in a well established team in terms of pay and career development. FAs are still UBS wealth management's bread and butter, anything else is just there to support. I've only seen one dude move to IB though, but that is not a common thing here. The guy literally pass all 3 levels of CFA in 2 years and move to IB. I've known some folks went to asset management as well, but this is NOT common too.
4. Stay at the WAC: Some folks stayed at the WAC and become sales managers, ops managers, trainers.... well, I'll say this is not the most ideal outcome since you're a basically a glorified call center sales manager managing a bunch of college kids.
Hope this helps! But I have to say the most important thing is networking and stay socially active! Try to know other people in the firm as this is how most ppl got out of the WAC, including myself.
Thank you so much for taking the time to respond! If you're up to it, I just have three more questions:
1) With the broker/FA team route, what is the general career trajectory?
2) For you personally, what are your ideal career goals (in broad terms) and
3) how will your current position be of use in achieving said goals?
Thanks again!
Thank you, I appreciate the comment and honest feedback. That’s the same I’ve gotten from my mentor, who’s been at UBS for the same time.
I figure worst case, it’s a job and hopefully a stepping stone to something better.
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