By:  D. Bruce Johnston, President, DBJ Associates

 

Recently I was asked by Ignites, a financial services industry leading publication to answer the following questions:

 

Are experienced wholesalers willing to accept hybrid roles when the salary is lower?  Do they accept the lower salary and offset it with the lifestyle change?

 

Experienced, external wholesalers will look for opportunities where they believe contributions will be recognized. These sales professionals want to be fairly compensated for those contributions. They also want assurances that career advancement will be predicated on executing against established goals.

 

Some experienced wholesalers may consider accepting hybrid roles at lower base salaries. But you can expect that they will only weigh such positions at firms that have the following:

 

·         A vision

·         Core values

·         Clearly articulated and measurable goals

·         A plan for achieving those goals

·         Leadership capable of executing on the plan

 

Overall, firms should be wary of any experienced wholesaler considering taking a base pay cut to accept a hybrid role as a means to improve one’s lifestyle. To do so will diminish the hybrid position. It sends the wrong message to the organization, and calls into question the intentions of the experienced wholesaler.

 

Hybrid roles, as any role in the organization, should be viewed as a key role providing valuable career training and professional growth. Fund companies are able to gauge a hybrid’s individual contributions by measuring those contributions against stated goals. In no way should this role be looked at as a place for career regression.

 

Also, remember that the term “experienced wholesaler” may have a broader definition than one thinks. Before the current market downturn, wholesaler expansion plans at most firms were fast and furious. In their haste to capitalize on good performance and healthy investor investment appetite, some firms promoted individuals to wholesaler positions that may have not been ready. This means some professionals who feel they are overqualified for hybrid position may be under a false impression that is neither helpful to them nor their firm/clients.

 

As always, I welcome your comments.