Pros
It was a job, I got paid 120k-130k usd but in my opinion, it wasn’t a great job. I regret working there.
Cons
I was a top performer in my role, and ultimately left because I was deeply unhappy there. In my personal experience, Fisher was not a good fit for someone passionate about comprehensive financial planning or becoming a highly technical, planning-focused advisor. To the best of my recollection, my role provided limited ability to develop detailed tax strategy, review tax returns, or provide highly specific planning recommendations directly to clients. Compared to independent planning-focused RIAs, I felt the role was significantly more constrained. I worked long hours (often 50–60 per week), earned roughly $120k–$130k annually, and found the environment highly stressful relative to the compensation and expectations. While others may have had a different experience, I felt the firm’s primary focus was investment management, sales, and client retention rather than deeply customized financial planning. From my perspective, many investment counselors appeared relatively inexperienced in advanced planning topics such as Medicare, Social Security, marginal tax brackets, and RMD planning. I often felt there were missed opportunities for deeper planning conversations with clients, particularly because many clients had never previously worked with a dedicated planning professional. Compared to planning-focused RIAs, I felt constrained in how recommendations could be communicated, and the planning process was less comprehensive than what I personally value as an advisor. Compensation also felt low relative to workload and industry alternatives. Within a few years after leaving, I more than doubled my compensation while moving into a role that aligned more closely with the kind of advisor I wanted to become. The culture also wasn’t a fit for me personally. I experienced it as highly performance-driven and heavily managed, which created a stressful environment and, at times, limited collaboration across teams. Even when performing well, I often felt feedback focused more on deficiencies than strengths. That said, some people may value the structure, training, stability, and investment platform Fisher provides. If your goal is to manage an existing client book within a large organization without needing to build your own practice, it may be a reasonable fit. But if your goal is to become a deeply planning-focused advisor with broad flexibility around tax, retirement, estate, and holistic financial planning, I personally believe there are other firms that offer stronger long-term opportunities, greater autonomy, broader planning capabilities, and better work-life balance.