American General Finance Reviews

Former Employee – worked at American General Finance

Pros – Pay is okay when you consider how easy this job is (mostly). A solid 40 hours a week, monday through friday is good, although later hours on tuesdays was annoying. Benefits are decent. You learn about (but don't master) a lot of the various aspects of the lending industry.

Cons – Collecting on folks that don't have any money or recourse is hard. Doing it several times a day is harder. Selling loans to people at 30% APR sucks too. I've seen some shady things go on at this company, and they weren't hard to spot, but as long as the numbers looked good, management would look the other way. If you honestly care about people, and want to help them, this isn't the job for you. I'm not saying nothing I did while I worked there was helpful to people. But I know that for every person I helped, another 20 were getting hosed by high rates, bad terms, and in the case of many of our used car referral dealers, bad merchandise. In most branches, if you want to excel, you need to put your conscience on hold.

It was a grind, and it wore me down to the point that my wife wanted me to quit, even though I didn't have another job lined up, and I was the only one of us working. My district manager was an automoton who was addicted to the company punch, wouldn't give you a straight answer, and would do anything to avoid rocking the boat. This company is NOT profitable right now, don't let anybody fool you. They are borrowing money at a high rate, and therefore need to lend it out to their customers at an astronomical rate in order to break even (which isn't happening).

Up until a few months ago, we were expected to close 2+ real estate loans a month, but rates and ltv's were RIDICULOUS. While the rest of the mortgage industry was offering under 5%, the best rate AGF would do is about 8% (that's for people with PERFECT credit). This went on for about a year. Seriously. That's how long it took before they realized that what they were asking for was unreasonable. Before I left, I was told that anybody who missed 3 or more days due to illness over the course of the YEAR had to write a note explaining the reason. Unreasonable... that's a great word to use when describing this company.

The worst part for me though, was that I just felt like I was going through the motions. I was not appreciated, I was not rewarded for going beyond my regular duties, and I was powerless to change anything (it's a big company). They recognize numbers only. That means the people who are your superiors were the ones that were shady enough to make bad loans 5-10 years ago, and who were promoted before all their bad real estate deals fell apart. Up the chain of command, every single person was well known -- not for their hard work or intelligence, but for making shady deals, selling insurance without full disclosure, etc. THAT is was the company will reward. Not competance, not inginuity, not even dedication.

Advice to Senior Management – My advice to the management of AGFS: Retire.
Seriously though, what this company needs to see is that you can't reward employees based solely on loan production and insurance sales. The top producer in our branch when I left was also the person responsible for closing about 50% of our collection accounts. So, the entire branch spent several hours every morning trying to collect on those bad loans, when they could have been trying to drum up more good, sustainable business. That's at least 1 hour each day for EACH employee that's thrown out the window. As a manager, does that seem smart? The good loans, the ones that you WANT, will get done regardless of whether the FR doing them is shady or not. Find a way to make employees accountable for their bad loans, then you'll see who your smartest, hardest working employees are. Promote THEM. Put THEM in charge. You'll change your whole company around (if it isn't already too late).

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at American General Finance

Pros – Excellent benefits package and good 401k match (if you were grandfathered in from the old plan, circa 2001).

Cons – Work culture could easily be compared to the retail clothing industry; burn out. High pressure sales goals coupled with excessively overpriced financial products is a recipe for client failure. There are minimal fiduciary guidelines set to follow when working with clients so the majority of the products sold are clearly in the best interest of AGF. Success depends on your relationship management skills, likability factor, and ability to coerce upper management into thinking you really care about your position.

Advice to Senior Management – Park the corporate jets.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at American General Finance

Pros – well, the pay is decent

Cons – Everything is run by fear and intimidation whether you are dealing with a customer or if a manager is speaking with you. It's very depressing to call the same 100 people everyday

Advice to Senior Management – They seem to have no regard for anyone other than themselves.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at American General Finance

Pros – Good pay, opportunity for commision. It seems to be a pretty friendly environment although it probably depends on who your manager is.

Cons – calling collections, small offices, pressure from management to get a loan in each day. They are a subsidiary of AIG so the future is unclear. The offices are small so each person pretty much does everything. For real estate loans you go to the property to take pictures before ordering an appraisal, you take the whole application and do all of the closing and you collect when they are delinquent. Time management is key and it can be very stressful.

Advice to Senior Management – sometimes it is not the employees fault they didnt get a loan that day

Current Employee – been working at American General Finance

Pros – Good place to start out and learn about how business works. You have a lot of opportunities to interact and do business w/ a very wide array of people and business. You gain a lot of knowledge of credit markets and on how to judge risk. There are also some really good people to work with at this company .

Cons – The expectations of management can sometimes be less than fair. Everything is expected to be perfect at all times and this is regardless of any particular situation. Loan goals can be set higher than what is possible in some circumstances.

Advice to Senior Management – no advice.

Current Employee – been working at American General Finance

Pros – You can be hired knowing nothing about lending. They train you.

Cons – Collecting from our past due customers. Not only calling, but actually collecting at their homes.

Advice to Senior Management – Management is actually okay. If your personalities go with one another (since your branch is usually 3 - 5 people), communication is easy and you have them there to guide you as you need assistance or training.

Former Employee – worked at American General Finance

Pros – The only benefit of working at this place is to gain some knowledge of personal financial responsibility

Cons – Too many...too much pressure to "sell loans", the whole company is terribly unethical in their lending practices, collecting from people (calling and actually going to their house) is awful. Very little room for advancement in company. There is no way to become a branch manager unless one quits or is fired.

Incredibly unethical hiring practices. They will lie to you right out in order to get you "on board". I was told I'd be making more than the the 32k I started with . In addition, when I quit, I was told I'd be paid for vacation days I didn't take...never happened.

 This place will suck your soul.

Advice to Senior Management – How much advice will unethical scum take?

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at American General Finance

Pros – American General Finance offers great pay with great benefits and training. American General Finance offers tuition reimbursement, good vacation time, and great insurance benefits at a discounted price for employees and their families.

Cons – Management is self-serving, oftentimes backstabbing, and plays favorites. You might perform well but still have a hard time moving up in the company if your branch or district manager doesn't like you. This company is also just a loan factory. This company is only concerned with making money and doesn't take care of its employees or customers. They offer products and services but with the express purpose of making money.

Advice to Senior Management – Be careful how much power you give to branch and district managers without putting any checks in place. Your lack of involvement breads an environment in which employees are mistreated and managers do no work and make a lot of money.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at American General Finance full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – My Co workers we're awesome made some life long friends.

Cons – Sell sell sell they only care about
 goals

Advice to Senior Management – Focus less on loan goals and more on branch goals so it's more of a team environment than a cut throat work environment.

Former Employee – worked at American General Finance

Pros – if you succeed you can get a branch in 18 months

Cons – pay is below average and very conservative sr management

Advice to Senior Management – better advancement opportunity by creating more specific job titles