Pros
Great "Old School" Pension Plan if you can become a top producer and very high payout (residuals, renewals, persistency) for Senior Advisors. Very good financial planning software (Living Balance Sheet, LBS) that is Guardian's proprietary eMoney software -- it is based on the LEAP System and its objective is to sell Whole Life Insurance. Nice people to work with - Guardian hires good people (I just wish it treated them better). Very good Insurance products, but they are expensive. High renewals and residuals. Very good Whole Life, Term, Disability Insurance and 401k products; No UL, IUL or VUL products. Physicians and other White Collar professionals get a discount.
Cons
Upon hire, Guardian will insist that you pay your own Registrations and Licensing fees ($1000-2000) AND they will NOT offer a draw nor base! Even if you have people ready to go, it will take at least 90 days to receive money! Guardian offers No help to get the business started nor maintained. Guardian will not offer old accounts to service and Guardian spends no money on marketing, so the phone will not be ringing with prospective clients -- this is 100% on the Rep. and if you leave, Guardian (and the Manager) keeps the Clients! There will be no draw -- Guardian wants you to close six cases with at least $6000 before they MAY offer you a Financial Representative ( FR) contract -- then you will be on a $2000/month draw, plus commission! So essentially, they are contributing No money to help you get started and if you do bring in some deals, they will take a % and then pay you a draw with the revenues that you generated! The draw will be reevaluated every three months and if you do not "justify" it, it will be stopped any you will also be asked to pay for your Errors and Omissions Insurance! The commission for a Financial Representative on: Term Insurance is 40% + 10%(Yr. 1) Whole Life is 55% + 25%(Yr.1); 20%(Yr.2); 15%(Yr.3); 10%(Yr.4); 5%(Yr5), 0(Yr6). Residuals, Renewals and Persistency (bonus for the policy not lapsing) are extra and cumulate over time (you continue to be compensated each year that the Client maintains the policy). Guardian's Financial Planning software, Living Balance Sheet (LBS) is not free and you have to pay for it PER MONTH -- $100(Yr.1); $200(Yr.2); $300(Yr.3 and beyond). LinkedIn is not free and you have to pay for it ($80/month for Sales Navigator with approx. 25 In Mails/month). You also have to pay for Errors and Omissions Insurance, Office Space, Technology Fees, etc (which combined is at least $1000/month); an office will cost significantly more than a cubicle and is additional). The Firm will provide you with ZERO LEADS, but will KEEP YOUR CLIENTS (your book of clients is NOT portable) if you leave the firm. Your Manager will insist on a 50% split of your commission for deals that you bring in and let them help you with (which is mandated); some Managers will want more than 50% -- they use a MDRT (Million Dollar Round Table) agreement that basically says that the more work they do, they more money they get (you only get about 20% for obtaining the Client); The problem that I have with this, is that a new person needs to be taught the business but the Firm is deep in the new Rep's pocket at the very time that they need financial support (the beginning). The Manager is making a $36,000 salary plus an override of 40% on the deal, BEFORE DEMANDING SOME OF THE REPS COMMISSION! STOP BEING GREEDY AND HELP THEM GET STARTED. Limited Investment options (Mutual Funds, Variable Annuities) and you cannot solicit Equity, ETF, Options, Preferred, Bond traded; No Margin accts.; No discretionary accts. Mutual Fund and Variable Annuity products are mediocre and expensive.