Woodbury Financial Services is a broker dealer registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission in 50 states and several U.S. territories. This company is a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and the Securities Investor Protection Corporation. Woodbury Financial is also an SEC registered investment adviser and state insurance agency. It provides financial services to the public, including the sale of securities and insurance products, through a network of independent registered representatives, who are generally licensed as insurance agents and may also be investment adviser representatives. Through registered representatives and investment advisory representatives, customers may purchase securities, insurance products, and financial planning services offered by many different companies, including affiliated and non-affiliated companies. Woodbury Financial is a separately incorporated subsidiary and affiliate of AIG Advisor Group, Inc., which in turn is a subsidiary and affiliate of SunAmerica Financial Group ("SunAmerica"), which is owned by American International Group, Inc. ("AIG") (Woodbury Financial, 2012). .
The department that is responsible for assisting new advisors is called Transition Department. The purpose of the Transition Department is to assist new financial professionals transitioning to Woodbury Financial by developing customized plan and timeline based on advisors need. This is accomplished through coordinating training and assimilation calls from the firm's experienced professionals from brokerage operations, field technology, compliance, and sales support. Once the advisors come on board, support continues for up to 90 days. During this time, the operations team under Transition Department is responsible for assisting advisors with transferring their accounts and processing all the required documents. .
Despite the tremendous support that the Transition department provides, transition period is overwhelmingly stressful for advisors.