External/Hybrid Wholesaler as a Career?

Hello WSO community,

I’ve been considering the possibility of pursuing the role of External Wholesaler or potentially Hybrid Wholesaler but wanted to gain some insight first. I have experience as a financial advisor and have my S7 and S66 and reside in NYC. Questions I’m hoping could be answered are:

1) I’ve read on other forums that External Wholesalers can make upwards of at least $250k/yr and averaging out at around $500k/yr. Are these figures still accurate today? How much of a base? ( I know the bulk would come from commissions but curious as to what a reasonable base salary might be)

2) In my search for job openings as an External Wholesaler I’ve only come across 1 or 2, most of the positions I see open are for Internal Wholesalers. Any idea as to why that might be? I’m also seeing some Hybrid Wholesaler roles, what would that entail(job responsibilities? Pay?) compared to an Internal or External?

3) I’m also noticing many of the companies I see with openings for Wholesalers of any kind are insurance companies(Prudential, Lincoln Financial Group, New York Life). Is that where the greater demand for wholesalers are? Any particular reason why? Is a career as an External Wholesaler (or Internal or Hybrid) just as lucrative at one of these companies as it would be at an asset management firm?

4) If a career as an External Wholesaler is as lucrative as I been made to understand it to be($250k/yr+) what are some of the firms you would recommend looking into for employment where’d it’d be possible to make that sort of income? Keeping in mind I'm in NYC I’ve looked at all the big names that came to mind first(J.P. Morgan, Fidelity, Charles Schwab, Morgan Stanley, BlackRock, Merrill Lynch, UBS, State Street, Vanguard, Franklin Templton) and none have any wholesaler roles open

Thanks in advance for any/all feedback