What is the difference between an account manager and a broker?

In many people's minds, an account manager is a stockbroker who buys and sells stocks for clients. Such a concept has its correct side, but it is not comprehensive. An account manager is indeed what we usually call a stockbroker, but in different securities companies, even though they may all be called account managers, the content of their services and the form of their work may be very different. Types of Account Managers In some securities companies, there is no account manager, there are "customer representatives", "brokers", or "investment advisers" and so on. However, these are just differences in name, and they may be doing the exact same job. In terms of the way they work and the services they provide, account managers can be categorized into three types: sales, service and generalist. Sales Account Managers: Responsible for client development, not client service. They are usually paid bonuses based on the volume of client transactions or funds. Service Account Managers: Responsible for providing service to clients, but not for client development. Usually receives a fixed salary. Full-service account manager: Not only develops clients themselves, but is also responsible for servicing those clients. Usually the main source of income is a share of commission income from clients. From the perspective of career choice, each of these types of account managers has its own advantages and disadvantages. Sales account managers require relatively little specialized knowledge, but may earn a fairly high income due to the possibility of bonus commission. However, the disadvantages are the lack of contact with customers, the lack of control over customers, and the difficulty in developing their own customers. If they are unable to develop new clients, their income may be relatively low. Service Account Managers are the opposite. They don't need to put in the effort to develop clients and their income is more stable. However, because they lack the ability to develop new clients, they have limited autonomy and income potential. Comprehensive Account Managers are able to not only develop new clients, but also capture clients through their services, which maximizes their value and career opportunities. However, having these abilities may require hard learning and practice. Development of Account Managers Since our securities market started from the counter of the sales department, the introduction of the concept of account managers is only a matter of the last few years. However, looking at the development of the world securities market, it can be said that the securities market emerged with the emergence of the account manager. At that time, account managers were known as brokers and they were really well-rounded account managers. These brokers were basically self-employed businessmen who acted as intermediaries between securities issuers and investors, and between investors and investors. They must be able to identify investors who are willing to buy and sell securities through them, provide them with information on buying and selling securities, and carry out the operations of buying and selling securities for them. With the development of the securities market, securities brokerage firms have gradually emerged, with a series of staff to perform the work originally done by the broker alone. One group of people specializes in dealing with investors, developing new clients and accepting clients' orders; another group of people specializes in executing these orders through stock exchanges or other securities brokerage firms; another group of people specializes in dealing with the companies that issue the securities; and some others may be engaged in other auxiliary work. In these brokerage firms, although the provision of information to clients and the buying and selling of securities is accomplished by many people in the firm*** working together, the person responsible for dealing with the client plays a vital role. This is because all of the services of a securities brokerage firm are provided to clients through these people, and securities firms rely on these people to develop new clients. The brokers that clients refer to as brokers are those who deal directly with clients, and these brokers are still full-fledged account managers. This is because they not only develop new clients, but also provide services to the clients they develop. With the further development of the securities market and the emergence of new business models for securities firms, some firms no longer have the traditional full-fledged type of brokers. Instead of providing comprehensive, one-on-one service to clients, these firms offer only a trading track and some other limited services at low prices to attract clients. These firms may also no longer rely on brokers to develop new clients, but rather use mass media advertising to attract clients themselves. Of course, these firms will still have personnel who deal with clients, such as service personnel who take inquiries from clients or sales personnel who develop clients. Despite the fact that the services provided by these people and the way they work are very different from those of traditional brokers, clients still habitually refer to them as stockbrokers. Therefore, what we now call brokers can be categorized as comprehensive, sales and service types. At the same time, while the vast majority of investors are still accustomed to using the name "broker", more and more securities firms are referring to their employees as "account managers" or some other name. This is mainly due to the fact that the newer names, such as account manager, more accurately reflect the nature of the job as communicating with and serving clients, as opposed to broker. The most promising career options for the securities industry development of the inevitable trend with the opening of the securities market, the implementation of the floating commission system, the intensification of competition among brokerage firms, the securities industry's profit margins will become smaller and smaller. For the sake of their own survival and development, securities firms are bound to take measures to compress staff costs and improve their income-generating capacity. In fact, many firms have already implemented pay cuts and layoffs, and I believe many practitioners have already experienced this. Moreover, with the existing technical means, there is still a lot of room for compression of many jobs in securities firms, including computers, accounting, counters, and even managers of business departments. But on the other hand, the current domestic securities companies really have the ability to develop the market, can increase income for the company's staff, in fact, is very short of. The demand of securities companies for account managers who can both develop new clients and provide services to these clients is very great. In most foreign securities firms, the largest number of people are account managers. Therefore, for many employees in today's securities firms, they will either have to change their jobs to become account managers in the future, or they will have no choice but to leave the securities industry. High income is undeniable, now many domestic securities companies, the implementation of the account manager system is still the placement of redundant personnel helpless choice. This makes some employees working as account managers have a feeling of inferiority. In fact, in the mature securities market, the account manager is always the main force of the securities company, but also one of the highest income occupation in the whole society. It is in the current domestic market that the income of successful account managers is also very substantial. For securities companies, the most fundamental competitiveness lies in people. To win clients and expand the market, it ultimately depends on the work of people. If you can bring new customers to the company, and can seize customers, the company is certainly willing to spend money on you. In the foreign securities company's all cost composition, pay to the staff of the wages, bonuses, is always the most important part. At present, the domestic securities companies, the rebate ratio of many large customers to reach more than 60%. If you can attract enough customers, a large part of these commissions can become your income. In terms of future prospects, the financial services industry can be said to be one of the industries with the greatest potential for development in China. Over the next five to ten years, China's personal investment and financial advisory industry could reach a market size of billions of dollars per year. This is a very large market by any standard. What's more, this market is still in its infancy, and not many account managers are really focusing on the development of this market. For those account managers who get involved in this market in time, the lead will be significant. We all remember when the insurance brokerage industry was in its infancy, don't we? The earliest people in the industry were already earning very good money. When we conduct account manager training, we often ask our trainees this question: If you had money, what would you like to do most? A considerable part of the people answered that they want to start their own company and be their own boss. In fact, being a boss does not necessarily make money. But many people would rather make less money to be their own boss, because it can not have to look at other people's eyes to act, can have the greatest independence. As an account manager, you can say that you own your own business and be your own boss. For account managers, the level of their income does not depend on the level of the position, whether to get the boss to try, but depends entirely on the value of the customers they have. Therefore, having customers, or the ability to get customers, is to have the most valuable assets, have their own capital, and do not need to look at the boss's eyes. On the contrary, it may be the boss who has to look at you and serve you well, because otherwise, you may be taking clients to your competitors. Unlike some other high-paying but highly specialized professions, account managers don't have special requirements for personal competence, and almost everyone can do well. This is not to say that it is easy to be an account manager, it is just that the difficulties of an account manager have nothing to do with innate conditions such as intelligence and personality, and nothing to do with acquired factors such as education and social relations, but rather it is reflected in the fact that it requires the account manager to have the spirit of persistence and perseverance. Therefore, if an account manager is not good at his job, more than 99% of the time, it is not because he is not capable, but because he does not really want to do a good job. In our experience, people with high IQ and high education tend to be bad account managers. This is not to say that a good brain or a lot of learning will harm an account manager. It's just that people with these qualifications tend to want to do work that is more demanding and challenging, rather than some simple repetitive labor. And for account managers, a significant portion of their work is some seemingly simple, repetitive tasks. Of course, this is not to say that all people should go into account management. For many people, they should not be account managers because they can realize their own value and satisfy their life's pursuit by engaging in other jobs. However, for those who want to earn a higher income, gain more freedom in their lives, and are willing to work hard and socialize with others, the career of an account manager offers an unprecedented development path.