Last Year I meet with a young man who was a financial advisor. I was impressed by how he presented himself but also how he described his process of working with his clients. It was not materially different from others I have worked with, but a certain earnestness was there. He seemed to want to actually help people at all income levels.
Not that the others don’t, but most are looking to work with wealthy clients exclusively and he was willing to work with clients who had more modest means.
But, he has since let the business; the costs of being an advisor are huge. There are additional monthly fees added if your production levels are below set standards of say $100,000. So your fees from the Broker/Dealer may be $10,000 annually mostly payable up front, after you get licensed.
Which again is why most advisors need to work only with the wealthy; assets under management help to reduce costs and fees. Which is why some advisors prefer to not work with those with less than $100,000 in investable assets. The time-cost ratio comes into play.
So the system is slanted against young advisors, unless they are captive (capable of selling only house products) or brought in my a mentor have difficulty in surviving.
Which in turn makes it difficult for my clients who are looking for financial advisors who is a peer.