World Financial Group Overview

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World Financial Group Overview

If you’re searching into the World Financial Group home business opportunity, don’t join… at least, not before reading through this overview. In this short article overview, I will concentrate on World Financial Group background, the various services they market, their compensation plan and, whether or not WFG is a fraud.

World Financial Group, is based out of Georgia and was started in 1991 by Hubert Humphrey. Before starting WMA, Humphrey was the #1 Producer for A.L. Williams, now known as Primerica. When Art Williams sold the company to Sandy Weill, Humphrey decided to venture out on his own and start his own financial services direct sales company.

Currently, Hubert Humphrey is no longer associated with World Financial Group, which is now owned by AEGON, one of the world’s largest life insurance and pension groups. WFG markets various financial services, including life insurance coverage, investments and mortgage products though the multilevel marketing business model. Some of World Financial Group strategic partners include some big names in the financial services arena: Western Reserve Life, Pacific Life, Allianz, Transamerica, Nationwide, John Hancock, Hartford Life and Investment Advisors International.

At this moment, the company has a sales force of 85,000 life insurance licensed representatives, and is doing business in the United States and Canada. It’s said that the company recruits close to 10,000 new associates every single month, which is pretty amazing for a financial services-based direct sales company.

To sign up the company, there is a start-up price of $100 ($125 in Canada) plus any qualification costs that the state in which you live charges. More or less, it will probably total anywhere between $500-$1,000 for all your licenses, and about 20-40 hours of certification time. Unlike other multi-level marketing businesses that enable you in making money the minute you join, WFG demands it’s reps to get licensed before they can get paid. And, while this might look like a negative point to some individuals, keep in mind that because you’re dealing with financial products, you must be certified. The great news is that you can make some pretty nice commissions, to the tune of $500-$1,000 for one sale, as soon as your able to write business.

Another aspect of World Financial Group’s pay plan is that even though there is a qualification process you and your team have to go through, you only need a few active producers to create big money. In fact, upon reviewing the compensation plan, it pretty impressive that you only need about 15-25 active producers to produce $150,000-$250,000 a year. Now, clearly you will need to recruit much more than 25 people to get 25 producers, especially since only a few will actually get licensed, and of those who actually get licensed, only a few will produce. Even still… building 25 producers, who sell Two or three products monthly, is a lot more do-able than building a team of 15,000 to 20,000 reps.

There are a ton of incentives in the compensation plan including various trips, a Mercedes Benz, a Role, Rings you get for going over $100,000 a year in income and a variety of bonuses you can earn.

With that said, you do have to be aware of all the fees you can incur for building your WFG business. Besides the licensing costs I mentioned earlier, there are costs to do other lines of business, especially if that line of business requires a state license. There’s also E&O Insurance (Malpractice insurance for financial representatives) that will amount to close to $100 per month. You may also get state fees to do business in other states. If you’re serious about building a financial services organization with WFG, then don’t get too caught up with these fees. After all, if you were to begin a traditional financial services firm, you would easily pay much, much more than this.

In summary, WFG is a legit business. It is absolutely not a rip-off. If you put in the effort and time, you can build a strong business that can potentially pay you multiple 6-figures a year. With that said, simply joining WFG does not mean you are guaranteed success.

At the end of the day, your ability to succeed will depend on whether or not you can brand yourself and generate an never-ending flow of leads. It is important, if you are serious, that you receive the coaching you need to help you sponsor 10-20 new people a month into your team.

Without knowing how to produce leads, even though WFG is a great opportunity. However you will be leaving a lot of money on the table if you don’t have an automatic system to generate leads for your WFG Business.

Learn more on how to generate more leads for your WFG Business Here.

Learn more on how to generate more leads for your WFG Business Here.

You Can Find The Original Post On How To Sponsor More World Financial Group Reps And Acquire More Customers Here

Regaining Financial Stability through Negotiated Debt Consolidation Loans

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Australia was one of the few countries around the world that emerged relatively unscathed from the financial crisis that gripped most of Europe, United States of America, and Asia. However, there were many businesses and individuals who had to take the unwelcome step of having to declare bankruptcy, a move that is literally the last resort for many people.

Financial Meltdown

With money flowing freely and credit cards being issued with the minimum of due diligence, the spending spree was quite large; however, when the economy slowed down and shifted focus, the creditors started pressurising their clients for repayments. For individuals and businesses that had problems repaying the accumulated debts, the only option left to them was to find debt solutions in Australia which would be acceptable to the creditors. This type of situation is tailor-made for the services of a debt mediator who can then provide the individual and the creditors with a mutually agreeable debt solution. The role of a debt mediator is to completely research the financial standing of the debtor, before they can even begin the process of consolidating all the debts. This type of solution through debt consolidation has proved to be one of the best solutions that are acceptable to both parties.

Expert Debt Mediators

One of the most common methods used to find debt solutions in Australia to repay creditors is to take a debt consolidation loan; this is a single personal loan provided by financial institutions, which can clear all or part of their outstanding debts. This solves any incipient problems of a creditor trying to pressurise the debtor to file for bankruptcy. One of the advantages of this kind of debt solution is that the debtor does not have to keep track of different debt repayments, because all the debts will be consolidated into one debt. With the consolidation loan, the part or full repayment can be done, but any future repayment is done with one payment on a monthly basis, freeing the debtor from having to keep track of various repayment issues.

Clean Credit Score

Defaulting on debt repayments, which is normally considered after a 60-day delay, is usually recorded in an individual’s credit history. This record might seriously impair the debtor’s ability to obtain any future credit, which would hurt them quite badly; the entry in the credit report is usually kept for a period of 5 years or longer. However, using the debt solution provided by your debt mediators through a consolidation loan would help to solve this problem and avoid a poor rating or credit score in Australia. This consolidation loan works on the principle of reducing or cancelling all or part of your debts, and consolidating the remaining repayments with a monthly single payment, which would be easier to manage for the debtor. By consolidating the debts, the debtor is able to easily manage their remaining debts or liabilities in an efficient and effective way without having to worry about when the next repayment is due.

Author’s Bio:

Author has many years of experience in content writing. He is the most celebrated and acclaimed author in financial sector. Now he is providing information on debt solutions Australia and credit score Australia.

How To Prepare For The Investment Banking Interview

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It seems that the investment banking industry has narrowly escaped Armaggedon and the survivors are waiving the bonus flags again. Intern classes are getting bigger and Business Week reported that Goldman Sachs has reclaimed the top spot as the most popular employer among elite MBA students again. If you are a career switcher and one among many MBA applicants dreaming of joining Goldman Sachs or another bulge bracket investment bank for the summer internship, this article is for you. Below we provide an overview of an investment banking interview and explain why its important to prepare in advance. This is especially true if you are a career switcher.

There are several types of questions which you are likely to be asked in your interview. They include career questions, educational questions, competency questions, fit questions, technical questions and industry questions.

While its difficult to predict which questions exactly you will be asked, there are four questions which will appear in any investment banking interview:
– The WMTYR (Walk me through your resume)
– The 3 Why’s (Why investment banking? Why our bank? Why (should we hire) you?

The answer to the first and the second questions may be quite similar to those you provided in your MBA admission interviews. Answer to the third question is a little bit more complicated and will require specific preparation.

The usual reason for interest in any specific investment bank include: (a) a strong platform, which means strong coverage teams, diverse offering of advisory and financial products, many interesting deals and opportunities to learn (b) a strong presence in specific markets or industries (c) and the most important, tons of wonderful and smart people with whom you talked with during your recruiting process and whom you really made a connection with. Networking is a critical component for your interview preparation but we will discuss this area in one of our
future postings.

Why (should we hire) you? To answer this question you need to reiterate your main strengths, interest in a specific bank and a great fit you feel for the bank you are interviewing with.
You should prepare for this question especially well as a banks approach to this question will usually be that a person who cannot sell himself cannot sell the banks products and banking is definitely a sales job.

Good to know Other challenging fit questions examining your understanding of the
investment banking can be:
– What does an investment banker actually do?
– What is the role of an associate in the investment banking?
The answer to the first question will usually go in the following way:
An investment bank serves as intermediaries between their clients
who need capital in the form of debt and equity
It provides strategic advisory services by structuring transactions
that meet clients needs and objectives
Overall, Investment bank works with companies on the transactions
that will enhance their value. This may include accessing capital
markets to find growth or expand operations, as well as investing in another
company through merger or acquisition. Banks are not only the
matchmaker between parties involved in a transaction, but also the primary
architects of the deal.

A typical answer to the question about the role of an associate will
go like this :
Analyzing industry and company data related to the transaction
Building excel models to valuate companies
Joining strategic meetings
Performing due diligence meetings with the clients
Creating, editing client presentations
Monitoring, paying close attention to documentation associated with
the deal (prospectus, internal memos)
Managing relationship with an analyst
The most important attributes that an associate should have are:
quantitative skills, the ability to learn quickly, discipline, a strong work ethic, the ability to
work in teams, detail orientation and dependability.

While answering competency and behavioral questions you should be structured and succinct. Banks like well organized and structured thinking and will quickly dismiss candidates who ramble or cannot distinguish important points from the less important ones. We recommend creating 3 bullet points for each of your answers and putting them on the paper in advance. Practice your answers with friends and be sure that your story is consistent and flows well before the interview.

The technical part

The technical part of the interview will test your familiarity with the accounting and financial terms. This will definitely require thorough preparation even if you study at one of the top MBA programs . First of all you will need to be familiar with the financial statements and their analysis. The profit and loss statement, the balance sheet and cash flow statements are all fair game in the interview.
Secondly, you will need to have a basic understanding of the company’s valuation methods. You should be very familiar with terms such as cost of capital, cash flow discounting, multiples, accretion and dilution, LBO, CAPM, WACC and Beta.

You also may be asked how M&A and IPOs work and even be given a case study on a business situation. It is strongly recommended that you start b-school having at least a basic understanding of accounting and finance.

Here are some books that can help you.
VAULT Guide to Finance Interviews by D. Bhatawedekhar, Dan Jacobson,
and the Vault Staff
Vault Career Guide to Investment Banking by Tom Lott, Derek Loosvelt
and the Staff of Vault
Heard on the Street by Timothy Falcon Crack.
Valuation: Measuring and Managing the Value of Companies by Tom
Copeland, et al, John Wiley & Sons Inc
Valuation: Measuring and Managing the Value of Companies
by McKinsey and Company
Financial Modeling, 3rd Edition (Hardcover), Simon Benninga

In the industry part of the interview the interviewers will test your understanding of the industry and your professional interests.
You will be asked about financial news and trends, current articles related to investment banking, discussions of the economic environment and economic trends, trends in M&A and definitely about specific deals.

To be prepared for this part of the interview its advisable to start reading financial and economic newspapers and journals. The Wall Street Journal, FT and Economist are good sources to gain relevant knowledge.

A couple of additional hints:
– Know recent interesting deals executed by banks with which you are interviewing.
– Talk about deals with passion the interviewers will test not only your level of knowledge but also your passion for IB
– And finally, always read the news in the morning before your interview

Some additional books to better understand investment banking before your interview include:
The Business of Investment Banking: A Comprehensive Overview , by K.
Thomas Liaw
Blue Blood and Mutiny: The Fight for the Soul of Morgan Stanley , by
Patricia Beard
The Last Tycoons: The Secret History of Lazard Frres & Co. , by
William Cohan
The Accidental Investment Banker: Inside the Decade that Transformed
Wall Street , By Jonathan Knee
More entertaining books include:
Barbarians at the Gate , By Bryan Burrough and John Helyar.
Bombardiers , By Po Bronson
Monkey Business: Swinging through the Wall Street Jungle, By John
Rolfe and Peter Troob.
Liars Poker: Rising Through the Wreckage on Wall Street , By Michael
Lewis, Norton Books.

Good luck with your interview!

Financial Advice Why Paying For it Saves You Money

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For many years, independent financial advisors in the UK have operated on a sales-driven commission model. This has meant that instead of being paid directly by those who came to them for impartial financial advice, they received a commission from the providers of the financial products as a marketing cost, with the advice function being a secondary consequence of the transaction.

While this offered short-term benefits for the cash-strapped consumer looking for financial advice, it brought a host of problems. The most obvious was that financial advisors were incentivised to recommend products that paid them attractive commission not necessarily those that were right for their clients.

This problem reached its peak with the pensions mis-selling scandal, which saw thousands of people move out of occupational pensions schemes when they would have been better advised to stay put. Although it first came to light many years ago, pensions mis-selling was still a problem as recently as 2008, when unscrupulous financial advisors were found to be encouraging investors to switch their pensions at a total cost of 43m per year.

As things stand, advisors can take commission when they sell products such as pensions or unit trusts, as well as a trail or recurring commission for every year the consumer holds the product. According to the FSA, these commissions amounted to an average of 5.6% of the sum invested. So while financial advice might be free at the point of sale, it certainly does have an impact on the performance of an investment and, more importantly, it is clear that the advice given to the consumer can never be truly impartial.

However, there is a different way, as Neil Shillito, Director of leading financial advisors SG Wealth Management, explains. Stephen Girling (my fellow director) and I wrote our business plan in 2000, and we felt that the best way to run a higher-end financial advice business was on the basis of what is now known as Customer Agreed Remuneration, he says. Put simply, what advice and service can I expect to be given, over how long and at what cost? People in the industry looked at us as though we were mad. But we were ten years ahead of the thinking at that time. Slowly, the Regulator and the industry have accepted the changes.

The firm has a completely transparent model, where clients are simply charged a percentage of their investment in return for first class advice and service, irrespective of and unrelated to investment products. It took time for the firms offering to catch on, but it soon proved popular. It was very tough in the early years, recalls Shillito. We didnt have enough clients to generate referrals, so we worked hard to build up our presence in the local community and demonstrate that our business proposition added real value to the right kind of client. Despite the horrendous market downturn in 2001/2003 as a result of the bursting of the “tech bubble”, we became profitable in our fourth year, and have become increasingly profitable ever since. Even the recessionary period of 2007/2009 has failed to make a dent in the robustness of our financial stability.

It seems the rest of the financial advice industry is now coming round to SGWMs way of thinking: from 2012, UK financial advisors will be forced to charge the consumer directly for their services. Is SGWM concerned about the influx of new competitors? No, not really, Neil replies. We have a ten-year head start in terms of what the FSAs RDR [Retail Distribution Review] will bring in 2012. Firms that are changing slowly or reluctantly are going to find it hard to adjust, while were already accustomed to delivering our financial advice this way. If anything, it will be good for us, because it will raise awareness and acceptance of the direct-charging model.

Effective Business Card Design For Financial Advisors

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Financial Advisors have a certain image that they need to portray, and that really comes across in the business cards that they hand out. Financial advisors need to show their conservativeness, formality, and stability, along with the reputation of the company they represent.

The business card design is so important in this field because you are dealing with money, and people are very concerned about where their money will go and what kind of profit they can make with it. This is a huge business, and there are thousand of financial advisors to choose from, so the first impression can be a huge factor in whether they choose you. The design should be both bold, and traditional. You want to show them that you can invest their money wisely while taking a little risk to ensure more profit. There shouldnt be any bright colors or pictures, just confident lettering and possibly a small clip art design. A financial advisor wants his or her business card to say they do the job with self-belief and reliability.

If you do have a picture, it should be of the company logo. The brand name of the company is what many people look for when choosing a financial advisor. The larger the company the more trust consumers tend to have. Color business cards are the way to show off your style and innovation without deterring from your position of investing their money. The colors should be strong but not bright. A deep blue, or forest green shows status and importance without seeming arrogant or trendy. When investing money consumers arent looking for new trends over the long run, they are looking for permanence.

When putting information on your business card design take into account what type of financial advising you offer, and whom you are giving the card to. For the most part financial advisors are looking for more people to invest with them. Include the words of the company logo, and the company name and address. Dont put information that you dont need. Although it should be full, you dont want the business card to be overwhelming. Fonts are also important on a financial advisors business card. Again, they should show reserve in your business, but they should portray the type of investing that you do.

More important in the financial world then even the business card design, is the way you hand out your business card. In this day and age people tend to give out business cards like a deck of cards, by flipping them across tables. The correct etiquette is to hand them out before business meetings. Hand the person the card with the readable side up, with a thumb on the upper corner so that they can immediately read the card. When receiving the card, have the respect to read it in front of them, so that not only can you see what it says, but also you can put the card with the face. This may be your only chance to earn their business, so make your business card count.