Pros
Flexible schedule: you own your time and are accountable to yourself and your business plan. Solid compensation structure: The compensation is set up in such a way that more is shared with the top advisors in a deferred compensation plan which is extremely competitive. When you factor in this compensation stream, the overall compensation far exceeds the industry standard. Of course, if you are not a top producer you might hold a grudge about this. Values based company: Does it's best to uphold a fiduciary standard. Definitely not perfect in this, but the company is striving to get better and better. This Includes having all plans reviewed by Home Office principles to try to keep recommendations following the companies values proposition
Cons
Advisors are independent contractors. The company offers a lot of training on financial planning and sales, but almost no training on running a business. Many advisors fail simply because they were not equipped to properly run a business. Little name recognition: company was stuck in the dark ages of just word of mouth for too long and has little presence in most modern marketing outlets. Company inbred for too long. By taking an isolationism view to outside hires the company fostered a way of thinking that was slow to change and did not take into account industry changes.
