The worthless broker ( WB ) is generally a Doctor, Lawyer, Developer, Accountant, or other businessman between 40 and 80 who has formerly been successful in some business enterprise and is now engaged in Private Placement/MTN program brokerage. Often the WB has suffered the loss for one reason or another, of his "nest egg". He drifts into program brokerage because it has a substantial return and it is a business that can restore his "nest egg". It is the one "business" that will get him back to where he was before he lost it all. Most often it is operated out of the WB's home although a few have offices. Typically the WB gets caught up in the hope of the large potential returns from the "business". Often but not always, he is financially hanging by a thread. He has borrowed from every one he knows, his family won't lend him another cent and yet he somehow hangs on. The WB may well have been chasing these elusive deals for ten or even fifteen years and still hasn't closed one. His telephone computer and fax are his life line. The phone company is always about to shut off his phone for non payment.
He is on the phone from sun up to midnight every day calling London, Germany, Switzerland, Singapore and many other countries. His yearly phone bills are in the many thousands. He has gone through a long learning period. Daily he chases MTN's and High Yield Program investment deals. The WB in some cases has lost his wife, his home and nearly everything dear to him, always believing this is the one that will finally close and he will pay everyone back and be vindicated. His
years of deprivation will finally be over. He will have paid his dues. Dues is indeed is all the WB's pay. Years of phone calls, faxes and meetings. His investment is in the mans thousands and it is the brave money, the risk money. He must always be next to the phone, he can't get away from the phone. The learning curve is indeed painful and treacherous. His sacrifices are often beyond what most could ever endure. Phonies, liars, crooks, con-men and on out weigh the honest 100 to 1. The years the WB spends wading through all the odds and the constant disappointment in people and deals is beyond most people's comprehension.
The WB's stock in trade is somewhat like that of a lawyer, in that it is not only what and who he knows, but most of all what he has learned and at his sole risk and expense. The cost for what and who he knows is far greater than Law School however. It may have cost him nearly everything. Why do they do it, these Worthless Brokers? It takes them years to learn the real nuances of the "business", the real from the imaginary, the good from the bad. Due diligence on program after program, ever searching for one or two he can really recommend. You would think they would just go get a real job. Much like a lawyer who is trying a class action or personal injury suit. It takes years to settle but somehow they have faith that in the end they will win. And finally, they realize they are in so deep the only way out is to win. It is like having a ''Tiger by the tail". Now after all these years of pain, loss and deprivation the WB finally gets a real client into a real program. He puts the two together and the deal works! Praise God! Now comes the unkindness cut of all. The client who never believed it these programs to begin with and has been earning all of four or five percent a year, his friendly bank says, "why am I paying this Worthless Broker" all this money for just an introduction, a couple phone calls I could have made myself ? The client now convinced that these programs are for real, not because what the WB has been telling him all along, but because the WB has now put the client in touch with the Trading Bank, real collateral provider, or Contract Provider (Trader) and the client now sees it is for real.
Next the clients bank who is secretly in this business sees the client ask for a "Proof of Funds" . Realizing what the client is up to and the deposit may soon be gone, the friendly banker who has been paying all of four or five percent a year tries to convince the client to do the deal with the bank! Sometimes, even after the client has signed a fee agreement and closed a deal in a bank in London, or Switzerland, he is privately intimidated by the bank, under the guise of secrecy and convinced not to pay the WB at all and just say "the deal didn't close". Unfortunately, instead of being grateful some Trade Agents/Clients, not all, have short memories and after the fact are incensed that this WB really didn't do anything that demands that kind of money, so maybe he'll throw him a bone. Like the "Star over night " scenario, no one remembers the fifteen years of sweat and grief it took to become a "Star over night". The Client and/or Trader/Program Manager/Facility, Agent has know idea what it cost in years and dues for the WB to be able to make that introduction that brings the client to the Trader/Agent and makes them both that outrageous profit. All the WB did was make it possible for the client to make outrageous millions but now the WB is certainly not entitled to that outrageous fee. The fact has now escaped the client and often the Trader/Agent of how important and valuable the WB was at the beginning as well as during the period from start to final take over by the Agent. The WB's request for full disclosure of fees is often met with silence as if he is not entitled to know what his deal paid. And often the WB hears "that isn't what I agreed to", or "you misunderstood, or "there have been changes since we started" and such other excuses.
It isn't what the WB has done in just this deal that entitles him. It is the endless sacrifices over many years, the ten thousand calls at the WB's expense, and what he has learned and who he knows that has enabled the WB to introduce the Client and Trader/Agent to each other that justifies him. The WB's Client is the one with the money and the WB can take him to any one of many potential Trade Offices, and the one the WB selects to take his Client to, often pushes the WB to the side and the WB is then treated as useless. He was important when he introduced the Client, but how quick he is ignored. The WB's fee becomes not a matter of agreement, but dictated by the trade office. He is told "take or leave it". Therefore the fee agreement should always be in writing up front, because trust in this business is seldom advisable.
Then comes the unkindness cut of all, the client or other WB's and sometimes the Trader/Agent who by definition is also a Broker says, " what did that guy do to rate that kind of money anyway, all he did was make a couple phone calls, he's nothing but a Worthless Broker ".
He is on the phone from sun up to midnight every day calling London, Germany, Switzerland, Singapore and many other countries. His yearly phone bills are in the many thousands. He has gone through a long learning period. Daily he chases MTN's and High Yield Program investment deals. The WB in some cases has lost his wife, his home and nearly everything dear to him, always believing this is the one that will finally close and he will pay everyone back and be vindicated. His
years of deprivation will finally be over. He will have paid his dues. Dues is indeed is all the WB's pay. Years of phone calls, faxes and meetings. His investment is in the mans thousands and it is the brave money, the risk money. He must always be next to the phone, he can't get away from the phone. The learning curve is indeed painful and treacherous. His sacrifices are often beyond what most could ever endure. Phonies, liars, crooks, con-men and on out weigh the honest 100 to 1. The years the WB spends wading through all the odds and the constant disappointment in people and deals is beyond most people's comprehension.
The WB's stock in trade is somewhat like that of a lawyer, in that it is not only what and who he knows, but most of all what he has learned and at his sole risk and expense. The cost for what and who he knows is far greater than Law School however. It may have cost him nearly everything. Why do they do it, these Worthless Brokers? It takes them years to learn the real nuances of the "business", the real from the imaginary, the good from the bad. Due diligence on program after program, ever searching for one or two he can really recommend. You would think they would just go get a real job. Much like a lawyer who is trying a class action or personal injury suit. It takes years to settle but somehow they have faith that in the end they will win. And finally, they realize they are in so deep the only way out is to win. It is like having a ''Tiger by the tail". Now after all these years of pain, loss and deprivation the WB finally gets a real client into a real program. He puts the two together and the deal works! Praise God! Now comes the unkindness cut of all. The client who never believed it these programs to begin with and has been earning all of four or five percent a year, his friendly bank says, "why am I paying this Worthless Broker" all this money for just an introduction, a couple phone calls I could have made myself ? The client now convinced that these programs are for real, not because what the WB has been telling him all along, but because the WB has now put the client in touch with the Trading Bank, real collateral provider, or Contract Provider (Trader) and the client now sees it is for real.
Next the clients bank who is secretly in this business sees the client ask for a "Proof of Funds" . Realizing what the client is up to and the deposit may soon be gone, the friendly banker who has been paying all of four or five percent a year tries to convince the client to do the deal with the bank! Sometimes, even after the client has signed a fee agreement and closed a deal in a bank in London, or Switzerland, he is privately intimidated by the bank, under the guise of secrecy and convinced not to pay the WB at all and just say "the deal didn't close". Unfortunately, instead of being grateful some Trade Agents/Clients, not all, have short memories and after the fact are incensed that this WB really didn't do anything that demands that kind of money, so maybe he'll throw him a bone. Like the "Star over night " scenario, no one remembers the fifteen years of sweat and grief it took to become a "Star over night". The Client and/or Trader/Program Manager/Facility, Agent has know idea what it cost in years and dues for the WB to be able to make that introduction that brings the client to the Trader/Agent and makes them both that outrageous profit. All the WB did was make it possible for the client to make outrageous millions but now the WB is certainly not entitled to that outrageous fee. The fact has now escaped the client and often the Trader/Agent of how important and valuable the WB was at the beginning as well as during the period from start to final take over by the Agent. The WB's request for full disclosure of fees is often met with silence as if he is not entitled to know what his deal paid. And often the WB hears "that isn't what I agreed to", or "you misunderstood, or "there have been changes since we started" and such other excuses.
It isn't what the WB has done in just this deal that entitles him. It is the endless sacrifices over many years, the ten thousand calls at the WB's expense, and what he has learned and who he knows that has enabled the WB to introduce the Client and Trader/Agent to each other that justifies him. The WB's Client is the one with the money and the WB can take him to any one of many potential Trade Offices, and the one the WB selects to take his Client to, often pushes the WB to the side and the WB is then treated as useless. He was important when he introduced the Client, but how quick he is ignored. The WB's fee becomes not a matter of agreement, but dictated by the trade office. He is told "take or leave it". Therefore the fee agreement should always be in writing up front, because trust in this business is seldom advisable.
Then comes the unkindness cut of all, the client or other WB's and sometimes the Trader/Agent who by definition is also a Broker says, " what did that guy do to rate that kind of money anyway, all he did was make a couple phone calls, he's nothing but a Worthless Broker ".