After reading the several articles regarding this company, I feel compelled to put in my 2 cents. Being a previously successful associate of WMA, WMA Securities, WFG or whatever their name is now, I still have reservations about this company. Though I tried to track them down and see what they are up to, I am not able to find too much info on them except a lot of negative publicity. When I was a member of their organization, they boasted the launching of their website displaying all of their CEO's.
First, how many CEO's can a company have? Second, the website which WAS www.wmas.com is longer around. What happened? Perhaps the many lawsuits or SEC investigations inspired the founder, Hubert Humphrey to change his company's name.
My past with the company goes like this: I was originally brought into the Daly City office in California where 95% of the members were Filipinos. Now, I do not have any problems with any ethnic groups, but everyone was speaking tagalog. The ones that recruited me and I have not a clue what they were talking about. At the same time, I noticed the treatment was definitely favored towards "their kind" and we were ignored and considered "outsiders" Many times, we all felt like they made fun of us with the strange looks, a few words exchanged and laughter. I have been in management positions before and ran a crew of salespeople, and I know this Daly City office have not a clue how to make their guests feel welcomed. But I was not there to make friends, but to make money.
Now after attending many of their meetings, I went through the whole process of signing up, making my payments, buying my own insurance policy (which was required) and obtained my licenses. I was "sold on the dream" which is something they preach alot.
However, the office CEO, Chito Rojas was a charismatic character. Every meeting, he would show up with a different car and encourage the members to show them off to new recruits. I also heard him say the term, fake it til you make it, which I found disturbing because after all, this is supposed to be a legit financial company that "helps" people with their financial future. At least that's what they said in front of new recruits.
Still, I persisted, recruited many and built a small team. I sold contracts, recruited, attended meetings and their conventions, and even meeting the true vice president and founder of the company. I got paid for my efforts. SOmetimes, those were good checks, sometimes they were gas money, depending on sales and recruits.
After many meetings and meeting after the meeting which often lasted til after 1am, I oticed that the company and nearby satellite offices were recruiting kids, mostly asian boys and girls straight out of high school. Many wore baggy jeans and spiked hairstyles. On a couple of instances, I was in an office closing a large deal and recruiting when a few of the kids ran by and used some street slang w / profanity. Everything solid I just told my clients turned out to be a fat lie within 3 seconds. My mind became clear after that day. This company has no intention of halping people, but to recruit heavily, make them buy insurance policies called VUL's and make money off of that. The more I thought about it, the more I needed to escape.
I attended a few more meetings and made the final decision when I witnessed a manager and some of her young associates flat out break the law and would certainly warrant an SEC investigation if they were to find out. Well, that was not the first time. Chito, the Daly City's CEO dated a woman named MArlynn. One day, the SEC walked in, seized all of her files and took her away. Later, I learned that she is now banned from doing any kind of business in the financial or real estate field forever. That may be a rumor, but I have not seen her again.
In closing, if you are thinking of joining, read everything carefully, ask yourself if you see any red flags, what does your instinct tell you? Better yet, stay away. If you're already in it and wish to defend WMA, ask yourself, how much are you actually making? Is it really worth it what they put you through? If you are a master at spotting lies and sad stories, you'll notice that a lot of the leaders lied their way to the top. Meaning they tell inspirational stories about their humble beginnings and how much they are worth today. Be careful!
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