Need Advice About Going Independent

[CuriousCaptive]

I work as a captive agent, although I'm not truly captive... I am technically independent, but I have a career contract with a major carrier. I am allowed to sell other companies through a recognized brokerage, but it is strongly discouraged unless the client is just rate shopping.

I'm a believer in buy term and invest the rest (Not always, but for most people), and my weekly meetings that I'm not required, but again, strongly encouraged to attend consist of sales tactics that I don't believe in.

My commission is 50% on most products, with eligible bonuses. In the next few months, my production has to be really high to compete with independent commissions.

I'm also Funds licensed and I would like to know how competitive my commission is. I get 50% of what my brokerage gets for placing business to Broker/Dealers.

I loved my management team at first, but now the guy who leads most of the training reminds me of a used car salesman trying to trick you into buying extended warranties.

The only real thing I'm scared about is leaving access to the office. Will information retrieval from underwriters be more difficult? Does it cost to obtain literature from carriers?

I guess my main questions are...

-What are the steps in going true independent? I would imagine I need to repurchase E&O. What is a good GA to work with that I can transfer my funds license over to?

-What kind of commissions can I expect as an independent? With my current "other" brokerage, it's about 85% usually.

-As a broker, is it more difficult to work with underwriters/customer service of random companies that you're not affiliated with?

-How will I obtain access to literature or marketing materials for certain companies' products?

-Any other general advice? I'd like to rent a small office downtown and cater to seniors for FE, Med Supps, and retirement income.

Thanks guys. I know I'm new here, so cut me some slack on if this has been posted a thousand times. I thought my personal information might make the responses differ.

 

[nycagent]

The rate you get on securities businesses is totally dependent on your production. If you have minimal commissions (<$100k), 50% is a reasonable number. I went from NML to independent, and finding a b-d to place my securities business through was the most challenging part.

There are a bunch of good GAs (IMOs, whatever) out there - I prefer someone local, but others don't mind someone out of the area.

For office space, consider one of the shared-space places, like a Regus or any of the local variants (which will be cheaper). It is a professional environment, you'll meet other small business people, and you don't lock yourself into a long term lease - do a search for "shared office space (city)"
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Yes, customer service (or broker service) is more difficult in the independent challenge, but a good GA should help bridge the gap for you.