Yeah, I've worked in financial services for a long time. I started out in consumer lending - mainly mortgages, subprime in particular. Also worked in retail banking, and day traded my own $ for a couple of years and got out just before things really got bad in '08.
I worked in retail brokerage as a broker for a major firm for a couple, then started my own little independent shop with a small number of accredited investors (mainly family $) - far less administrative BS to deal with this way, and it's generally a more efficient way to make a buck.
It's usually easier to deal with a limited number of people who each have lots of money than to have to chase and deal with a large number of investors with generally smaller amounts of $, whose $ has to be handled in certain ways that may not actually be best for them, but that tend to minimize fees or otherwise fit into what ideas internal or external regulators have as to what is "best for the client" who is not an accredited investor.
I don't believe that the best investment for someone is necessarily the cheapest investment, and I certainly don't buy into the idea that all investments that have a certain label put on them such as "mutual fund" or "growth", "value", "buy", "sell", etc are equal. I have always put a great deal of thought into the actual investment process, and I was surprised at how little time, effort, and thought many high-producing, seasoned brokers at retail firms put into their clients' investments.
And all of the regulations and rules at major broker dealers, registration headaches, etc these days don't make things any easier. You get into the business to make money and help others make money, and they put so many rules, regs, and restrictions on you that it's harder and harder to find business and do business.
I also like having the freedom and flexibility to not have to always be bullish and always have to be near 100% long to keep making money. It's good to be able to sit in large cash positions, go short, use options, etc when you feel it warranted without dealing with "compliance" issues or pressure from some stuffed shirt to keep client $ fully invested in mutual funds or whatever.
