Pros
Great company to associate yourself with as you learn the financial services business. Their training and support is far from perfect but is still likely the best for those who are starting out. - You are truly self-employed and ultimately not accountable to anyone but yourself and your clientele. - Work-Life balance. You're free to work how you want, when you want, where you want. - Income potential is excellent (but inconsistent). - If you're successful, you will eventually have a decent base of trailing commissions that provide a steady income. - You're free to focus your business on whatever market or demographic you like. - Quality financial products available to suit almost any need. - Support for continuing education and certifications. - Your success and income can be improved simply by working harder and increasing your activity.
Cons
This company is in transition as the financial services industry evolves and they really seem to be lacking leadership with no clear vision of where they are going and how to get there. - Freedom 55 Financial brand is awful. It's misunderstood and poorly marketed. - Freedom 55 and the entire group of GWL companies are horribly outdated in technology and they consistently fail to deliver on their promises. - The self-employed, independent financial practice model is dying. This is a business of professional, commissioned sales. - You are responsible for building your own clientele. Do not expect any quality leads whatsoever. The only option is to build your practice yourself or purchase other books of business. - Your job is a constant grind of prospecting. - Work-life balance is a pro and a con. When you're your own businessperson, there is never really a time when you're not working. - While the income potential is technically limitless, commissions can be very inconsistent and out of your control. (Think of declined policies, clients who change their mind, written business that doesn't close, etc.) - Your income relies on high activity in dealing with people. Those people will regularly miss appointments, avoid your calls and messages, not follow through with your recommendations. Sometimes they will simply waste your time in order to place the business with someone else. - Unless you quickly earn a lot of money and can afford to pay for their Sales Support assistance, you are quite literally doing every function of running your business. You will be marketing, advertising, networking, booking meetings, running meetings, building financial plans, completing ever-increasing amounts of paperwork, following up on the paperwork and with the clients, servicing and reviewing the plans you implement. If you do pay for sales support, don't expect it to relieve much of your duties. - Regulatory requirements are constantly becoming more burdensome. - If you do enter the Sales Support program, it's expensive and ineffective. While the Associates are good people and try to help, the program itself is not truly set up in the best interests of the Advisors. Most Advisors I know do not feel it offers much value to their business. - The company will treat you as self-employed or as an employee to suit their needs at any particular moment. It's a mixed signal depending on the situation. - There is no upward mobility whatsoever. You are an independent businessperson and your focus needs to be on either building a large clientele of your own or learning aspects of the business that will allow you to eventually use your skills somewhere else. If Freedom 55 Financial does not change the way they support and compensate Advisors, you will almost certainly want to take your successful practice to an MGA where you have greater flexibility, similar or better levels of support and much higher compensation. In short, running your own financial practice through Freedom 55 Financial is inefficient and extremely labour intensive. If you decide to become an Advisor, my advice is to build great relationships with successful, senior Advisors with the intenton of eventually working as part of an incorporated team in the future. Buy books of business and work them for opportunities then sell the remainder. Work your butt off and find any way you can to get in front of people to discuss what you do. Don't waste your time trying to find business on social media and the internet. You'll find your best clients through face-to-face activity and referrals. Learn how to get referrals from your existing clients and network. Set goals and hold your Director accountable to help you put plans in place to work towards them. Goal-setting and a planning are critical to your success.