Pros
Generous initial base pay, benefits included personal life insurance, and state-of-art facilities. Networking opportunities within firm departments, other banks, insurance companies, mutual fund companies, third-party market researchers, and insitutional asset managers.
Cons
Stalemate office environment. Senior management depreciates lower level employees. Highly political. Very little structure led to lots of wasted time, boredom, and late night cold calling. The pay grid discourages mid-senior level advisors transfer AUM to new hires because MS pays new hires a higher grid rate. It's part of the program. In your first year, you get paid a higher rate than your third year. That's right. You initially make more in base pay + rate of commission, compared to, say fifth year. It's a downward pay rate slope. Because it's understood that you should have a larger AUM as time goes on. It's designed to pay upfront in first year, then decreases significantly. By the end of the third year, you're expected to live off AUM entirely. But the capital raising goals don't stop after you graduate the program. And they will cut your pay grid to about 35% after you hit a certain AUM.