Pros
You’ll get a decent salary for about 18 months.
Cons
The MFSA role is not great if you are trying to do real financial planning. For the amount of work it takes to build a business from scratch, the pay and grid are mediocre.
If you are willing to do the hard work of sourcing and finding clients, you are better off taking the independent route by opening your own practice or joining a small boutique RIA where your profit sharing will likely be much higher than what Merrill wants to give you.
They are also notoriously known for moving the goalposts. Recently they raised the threshold from $250K to $500K for assets that qualify for payout. That means you no longer get paid on inflows between $250K and $500K, which is crazy.
I see it as more of a stepping stone job. But if you are going to put in the effort to bring in assets and build relationships, you might as well work in the RIA or independent model where you keep more of the revenue you generate.
They are extremely focused on bringing in money. Yet when you ask to pursue designations like the CFP or CFA, they often push back. The MFSA position is really designed to bring in assets. And if you eventually fail to bring in the $25M needed to graduate from the ADP program, they will either move you into the academy, shift you into a CSA role, send you back to Merrill Edge, or ask you to leave.