Originally Syndicated on May 17, 2024 @ 7:58 am
Rocky Shi has drawn a lot of bad press lately, much of it unjustified. Rocky Shi’s major role in the Wild Financial Group fraud helped to solidify his reputation as a con artist. This website tries to disprove his fabrications and expose the lies that support his public persona.
A Detailed Review of Rocky Shi-World Financial Group
In an email sent a few weeks ago, a reader expressed interest in receiving a WealthWave review. The website of WealthWave was welcomed by an unidentified company when I went to check it out. No management is immediately recognizable, no commodities, and not even a particular business approach… Have you ever heard of a multi-level marketing company?
Stock photographs are disgusting. What is meant by the term “HowMoneyWorks company”? 
WealthWave’s website has a “team” area, but access to it requires a password. Given that the World Financial Group’s personnel and other details are hidden from the public, this sounds like a scam.
When I discovered this on the WealthWave website footer, I was getting ready to respond to the reader to inquire for the assurance that I was working with the appropriate company;
An organization that specializes in marketing financial services that is affiliated with World Financial Group, Inc. is called WealthWave.
Although I was unaware of it at the time, I was about to plunge quite a bit further into the rabbit hole that was the Wealth Financial Group.
Rocky Shi: Briefing the business
Regulatory Concerns:
- WFG has interacted with state and federal regulators in Utah and Arizona, as well as FINRA, the NASD, the SEC, and the Securities Commission of Missouri.
- The Mutual Fund Dealers Association, the Securities Commission of Manitoba, and the Securities Commission of New Brunswick have all filed lawsuits against WFG.
Ownership and Organization:
- WFG is referred to as Transamerica’s marketing division.
- WFG appears to be the owner of WealthWave and “How Money Works.”
Problems and Reactions:
- For some reasons, including failing to disclose consumer complaints and engaging in unregistered transactions, WFG has come under fire and regulatory scrutiny.
Rocky Shi: Products offered by World Financial Group
World Financial Group offers a variety of “solutions” for its markets.
- planning for the future and insurance
- strategies for retirement
- methods for financing college
- Enterprise Strategies
- Safeguarding assets
Said another way, a range of financial services. Apart from Transamerica, World Financial Group works with several other US and Canadian third-party merchant service providers. The World Financial Group website uses their logos to identify these vendors.
Particulars are not given because the services are tailored. Given that many MLM companies in the insurance industry deal with similar issues, World Financial Group should not be held accountable.
Rocky Shi: World Financial Group’s Compensation Plan
A copy of the World Financial Group’s compensation plan is not included on the website belonging to the World Financial Group.
Through the process of acquiring a copy of the official compensation papers from a third party, it was made possible to locate the compensation plan.
Selections from the World Financial Group website were utilized in place of actual compensation documentation, and this document, which was created in 2015, is consistent with those excerpts.
The paper is perplexing, especially when it comes to the use of terminology that is peculiar to the company, and unfortunately, many portions are missing from it.
In the following paragraphs, you will find a condensed version of the compensation system maintained by World Financial Group.
Rocky Shi: Affiliate Ranks for the World Financial Group
Please find below a table that provides a summary of the affiliate tiers offered by World Financial Group, along with the qualification requirements for each tier:
| Affiliate Tier | Qualification Standards |
| Associate | – Either generate 20,000 PV over a rolling period of three months or recruit three affiliates over a rolling period of thirty days and attend three field training sessions for each of the three choices. |
| Marketing Director | -Ensure that you have three affiliates that you have directly recruited. Your downline should consist of five affiliates who have been granted life licenses. The goal is to produce 40,000 GV for three months that are rolling. |
| Senior Marketing Director | – I recruited three affiliates, including a Marketing Director. – Minimum six life-licensed affiliates in your downline (ten total). – Make 75,000 GV in three months or 225,000 in 12 months. |
| Executive Marketing Director | – Recruit and keep three Senior Marketing Directors. Over six months or 12 months, generate 500,000 or 750,000 GV. |
| CEO Marketing Director | -Recruit and keep six Senior Marketing Directors. Generate $1,000,000 GV in six months or $1,500,000 in twelve months. |
| Executive Vice Chairman | -Recruit and keep nine Senior Marketing Directors. Generate 1,500,000 GV rolling six months or 2,250,000 rolling 12 months. |
| Chairman’s Circle | There was no information given. |
| President’s Circle | Nothing is known about the President’s Circle. |
*Keep in mind that, for the sake of qualification, an affiliate’s value (PV) or any one of their downline legs may be counted at least 50% of the time.
Rocky Shi- Direct Commissions
World Financial Group affiliates are eligible to get commissions on the sales of their products. Here’s a revised version of the data that was given:
- Sales commissions to training associates range from 25% to 30%.
- Commissions for associates are paid out in the range of 35% to 45%.
- Commissions paid to marketing professionals range from fifty percent to sixty-two percent.
- Senior marketing directors are paid between 65% and 80% in commissions.
Because different World Financial Group products have different commission rates, the commission percentages fluctuate within these ranges. The pay paperwork refers to a “100% table” and “fixed: WRL” without providing any additional information or background.
Rocky Shi- Residual Commissions
The remaining commissions are paid by World Financial Group using a unilevel compensation plan.
An affiliate who is paid on a unilevel basis is at the head of the unilevel team, and each affiliate they individually recruit is positioned directly behind them (level 1):
At level 2, newly acquired affiliates from any level 1 affiliate are integrated into the original affiliate’s unilevel team.
In theory, there is an infinite number of levels; if any level 2 affiliates bring on new affiliates, they are promoted to level 3, and so on.
World Financial Group allows a maximum of six payment unilevel team levels. The remaining commissions are split up as a percentage among these six tiers as indicated below:
- Level 1: 10% to 17%; Level 2: 5% to 8%
- Level 3: 3–5%
- 3% to 5% at Level 4.
- Level 4: 2–3%
- Level-5: Between 1% and 2%
- 0.5% to 1% at Level 6.
The percentage range is the result of different World Financial Group products paying different commissions.
Again, World Financial Group’s compensation materials don’t go into detail beyond citing “fixed: WRL” and a “100% table” in an odd way.
Rocky Shi-Commissions for Business Supervision
Within the World Financial Group, overrides are known as the Business Supervision Commissions. These commissions are paid to affiliates at the top of the upline hierarchy based on the sales of their downline.
Three tiers of commissions are assigned to business supervision:
- Branch office managers receive a salary of 1.25%.
- Managers of branch offices are paid 5%.
- OSI Managers are paid 1% of total compensation.
Details on these postings with higher rankings are not provided.
Bonus Pools
The World Financial Group pays three incentive pools with a combined value of 5.75% to 9% of the company-wide sales volume.
- Senior Marketing Directors and higher are eligible to receive up to 300 percent of the volume generated from a Base Shop Bonus Pool.
- Depending on the size of their level one unilevel team, Executive Marketing Directors and above are eligible for a 30% Super Base Bonus Pool.
Furthermore, a Super Team Bonus Pool, consisting of thirty percent of the unilevel team volume produced at levels one through six, is available to Executive Marketing Directors and higher.
Affiliates must fulfill the following extra requirements to be eligible for each of these bonus pools:
- Base Shop Bonus Pool: Produce 10,000 PV and keep three personally recruited affiliates, or produce 15,000 PV and less than three downlines, or produce 15,000 GV.
- Super Base Bonus Pool: Produce 15,000 PV and 100,000 GV solely in level 1 of the unilevel team; ranks in the Chairman’s Circle and President’s Circle are not subject to this criterion.
- Super Team Bonus Pool: Earn 500,000 GV in the first six levels and 100,000 GV in the unilevel team’s first level.
A minimum of 60% Tracked Block of Business is required for each bonus pool, albeit it is unclear exactly what this means in practice.
Rocky Shi- Joining World Financial Group
Although World Financial Group (WFG) doesn’t list the affiliate fees on its website, several sources indicate that membership is available for $100.
Affiliate membership with World Financial Group (WFG) reportedly begins at $100 per year, while the company does not list this information on its website.
WFG affiliates frequently have to purchase numerous licenses, which incur additional fees.
It is not uncommon for WFG affiliates to incur extra expenses to obtain the necessary numerous licenses. Reports from those who have dealt with WFG indicate that it is structured similarly to a pyramid scam. They recruit people to sell expensive life insurance, which is similar to a pyramid scheme, even if they deny it. A pyramid-like structure is created in the hierarchy as individuals at the top receive commissions from sales made by others they have recruited.
In this pyramidal organization, higher-ups get commissions on the sales of individuals they recruit. Since WFG mainly promotes the selling of pricey universal life insurance plans with bad investment performance, critics say that their focus on financial literacy is deceiving.
According to reports, WFG downplays internet studies by asserting that people who are successful in life are the ones who buy their products while characterizing people who have doubts about their business methods as belonging to the majority of people who are struggling financially.
Those who challenge WFG’s activities are portrayed as members of the financially struggling majority, while those who purchase their products are supposedly wealthy folks. As a result, WFG denies online research.
On the one hand, WFG has been accused of offering deceptive financial education and, on the other, of running a legal pyramid scheme based on recruiting people to sell expensive insurance policies.
Rocky Shi: A Pyramid Ponzi Scheme: What Is It? 
The way a Ponzi scheme and a pyramid scheme work is a little different. The way this strategy is set up, the person who came up with the original plan has to find more investors, who have to find other investors, and so on.
The structure of this scheme requires the initial schemer to locate more investors, who then need to locate more investors, and so on.
Those with the most fortune are usually found at the top of the pyramid. They might also convince more people to join because they are paid more. More money from new investors enters the pyramid as more people sign up, and it is dispersed to individuals further up. But those at the bottom suffer, especially if they can’t persuade others to join. But people at the bottom suffer, especially if they can’t persuade others to join.
Occasionally, an incentive, such as the right to sell a specific product or multilevel marketing (MLM), may be offered as an investment opportunity. To be able to sell this item, each investor pays the person who brought them in. Then, the beneficiary has to distribute the earnings to others who are further up the pyramid.
Rocky Shi: What was the World Financial Group’s fraud strategy?
Financial scams, such as the one carried out by World Financial Group, typically take the form of pyramid schemes. To convey the idea that they are reliable, they may be disguised as financial opportunities. Pyramid schemes usually promise large returns for minimal initial investments and make claims of a passive income stream. It costs money to enter, and/or participants must purchase goods or services. After that, it is requested of these people to enlist more people in the program. The highest-ranking individuals receive the largest salary and receive a portion of the funds contributed by new hires. The people at the base of the pyramid make very little to nothing when no new hires are made.
Conclusion
Finally, the World Financial Group (WFG) works in the financial services MLM sector, but its marketing and lack of transparency have alarmed critics and clients. While WFG has been around for nearly two decades, its recruitment and training methods are archaic, relying on personal networks and pushy sales practices.
The company’s focus on affiliate recruitment rather than retail sales or customer pleasure has led to charges of legal pyramiding. WFG says it teaches financial literacy, but detractors say it sells expensive life insurance with mediocre investment returns.
According to opponents, the company’s marketing guideline emphasizes warm market prospecting and avoids product or service questions. WFG is seen as an MLM opportunity rather than a financial services provider due to its lack of retail sales and customer acquisition.
Rocky Shi’s tragic example highlights the risks of working in financial services, especially with MLM organizations. Companies like WFG must rethink their processes and prioritize consumer protection and education as customers want more transparency and accountability.
Considering these concerns, WFG must reform its marketing strategy, starting with its website and continuing through consumer disclosures and suggested marketing practices. The corporation can only reclaim industry trust and safeguard consumers from financial scams by taking such steps.
