The financial advisor job description has changed a lot over the years. In the past, the job entailed taking care of investments for clients in the stock market. A financial advisor not only advised on what to buy or sell but also took care of the actual transaction. Today, the job is a whole lot more than that.
Clients
The financial advisor job description has a long list of duties that the advisor must perform for clients. These clients can be individuals, couples, families or even companies. The companies can range in size from a small business with a handful of employees to large corporations that employ thousands and may even be international.
Responsibilities
The responsibility of a financial advisor will vary depending on which type of client they are serving– consumers or companies. Financial advisors for individuals, couples or families are often referred to as a personal financial advisor. The responsibilities may include:
Retirement planning: Helping the client plan for a retirement that will take care of all their financial needs. This includes being able to pay for cars, mortgages, taxes and any other expenses that may arise.- Spending tracking and analysis: Financial advisors will analyze your current salary against what you spend to see areas where money can be potentially saved or even expenses that can be outright eliminated.
- Investment opportunities: Based on spending analysis, planners can advise on investments that are affordable for where the client is financially.
- Financial transactions: Once a client agrees to an investment plan, a financial planner will actually make the appropriate transactions, which requires special certifications.
- Personal skills: No matter if the client is an individual or corporation, advisers must have personal skills to handle all kinds of personalities.
- Market analysis: A good financial planner will always be in the know about current stock market trends. This helps them give better, more sound advice to clients.
- Flexibility: A good analyst will always be able to meet a customer’s needs, even if they are growing or are outside of the usual scope of a financial advisor job description.
Education
With all of these responsibilities, it is easy to see that there will be a lot of necessary education. It starts with a bachelor’s degree, usually in some kind of financial discipline. Examples include economics, finance, business administration, general business, accounting, math or statistics.
Though a bachelor’s degree is one of the minimum qualifications for the financial advisor job description, education higher than that is more than acceptable. A master’s degree or multiple bachelor’s in different disciplines are good and may raise entry pay or chances for advancement later.
Certifications
Graduating and getting a degree is just the start of your advisor certification. There is generally some certifications you must also earn in order to perform some of the duties included in your financial advisor job description.
FINRA (Financial Industry Regulatory Authority) has a series of tests that financial professionals must sit for in order to be certified. In the case of financial advisor jobs, the test is called the Series 7 exam. In order to take a Series 7 exam, you must be sponsored by a FINRA member firm, which in this case would be an employer. It is similar to how young law school graduates are hired by a firm before they take the bar exam. In this case, the bar exam is the Series 7 exam.
Once these certifications are gained, you are a certified financial advisor, although certain employers may ask that you seek other certifications to work for them. For example, let’s say you work for Wells Fargo as a financial advisor. You have your degree and Series 7 exam certification, but the bank may ask you to get additional certifications to fit more senior positions or to build customer trust that their advisors have multiple certifications.
Generally speaking, FINRA exams are something that must be studied for on personal time, although some companies may have counselors or study help that can be used to help increase chances of passing the exams. Failure to pass the Series 7 exam could result in termination from employment. The reason is that financial planners who are not yet certified are hired on a contigency basis. Without certification, they can’t perform the job they were hired for and therefore are at risk for being let go.
Career Path
After being a financial advisor, there is chance for advancement. Many financial planners go on to be supervisors of other financial advisors, team leaders, even bank executives and branch managers.
Financial advisors who wish to advance should seek out additional certifications through FINRA. The more financial certifications you have, the better the chance for advancement. This is similar to extracurricular activities that look good on your college admission applications. Acquiring advanced certifications looks great on your resume and gives the appearance of wanting career advancement which could help you get promoted.
Exams commonly taken for the additional certification by financial advisors include Series 6, Series 63, Series 65 and Series 66.
Salary Expectations
According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, financial advisor salary ranges depend on the company. However, an average starting salary is usually in the vicinity of $40,000. This can be slightly lower or higher depending on the amount of experience, education and the employer’s own scale. The salary can go as high as $131,000 with experience.