Financial Advisor Job Description Information

A financial advisor is an individual or an entity who is entrusted with the task of providing advise or counsel in order to aid the process of investment and asset management. Previously, financial advisors only concerned themselves with investments. However, their roles have evolved with time and today, a financial advisor also deals with insurance products and undertakes retirement planning.

Advising clients on how to invest in real estate, budgeting their finances and preparing comprehensive plans for retirement have also become a part of their job. A financial advisor may also be called upon by a client, to prepare a detailed plan for funding the educational requirements of the client's ward. A financial advisor may also be employed by mutual funds to pool together the shareholders' wealth and invest in a group of assets, in accordance with the stated objectives.

Roles and Responsibilities of a Financial Advisor

Financial advisors have the responsibility of assessing the client's circumstances. The client's risk and return objectives need to be determined. The risk, that the client is willing to assume, should be in accordance with the desired level of return. The need for liquidity and the time horizon of the client should also be determined. A client, who has the need for liquidity, will obviously not be willing to invest a great deal of money in investments that will not provide quick return in the short-term.

The investor's time horizon is also very important since an investor with a short-term horizon will not prefer locking up cash in investments that are expected to mature in the long run. Investors may have more than one time horizon. For instance, an individual may require cash for buying a home and sponsoring children's education. Other than these expenses, the investor may not have any other significant financial commitments until retirement.

Hence, a financial advisor should plan keeping in mind the three-time horizons when the need for liquidity will take precedence over the desire for investment. As mentioned earlier, the risk and return should be directly proportional. An investment advisor should ensure that the client's willingness and the ability to assume risks complement each other. In case of any imbalance, the advisor should clearly illustrate the risks and the benefits of assuming the given level of risk.

In other words, the advisor should devise highly individualized strategies aimed at wealth creation and capital preservation.

The above financial advisor job description bears evidence to the fact that an advisor has enormous responsibilities towards delivering the best for his/her clients. A good financial advisor should have the following qualities and qualifications:

Confidence: A financial advisor is confident and trustworthy. You can trust their advises and recommendations. You rest assured that your money is in safe hands. If the financial advisor is a symbol of dependability and consistency and your instincts are strong about the same, you as a responsible client may proceed.

Logical Analysis: A thorough financial advisor is one, who has his strategies chalked out. Logical perception is what he possesses. He has the knowledge and the required ability to put the same to practice. It is with his expertise derived through experience that clients may follow his recommendations and strategies considering their financial data.

Power of communication: A financial advisor who has conducted the spadework and is confident about his planning, is good with words and communicating his pathways to achieve his clients financial goals. Helping the client understand and in the process, convince him to follow his recommended policies and suggestions, is essentially what the financial advisor is supposed to do. With impeccable communication skills, the financial expert, can make a mark for himself.

Reputation: Building rapport with the client, means structuring a steady, long-lasting relationship with him. It is not just your work that speaks, but your honesty, integrity, discipline and motivation to serve the clients interest, that you are recognized in a reputable manner.
Article Source: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/financial-advisor-job-description.html

Financial Advisor Salary Information

If you are looking to obtain the highest possible financial advisor salary, besides education and what achievements can be attained in that respect, the best possible method is to find as many job opportunities as possible by researching through many different employers. In combination with is, it is important that you know the income information and statistics regarding this profession so that you can utilize in finding the greatest and highest paying employers.

For instance, while you may apply to twenty different companies for various positions that are closely related, you may find yourself in a situation where you have already received one job offer but are still waiting for another ten companies to reply back from an interview for further notice. At first, it might seem like an amazing idea to take advantage of financial advisor jobs right away, but with extensive research, it may be found that they are actually offering much lower than you can earn even in the beginning stages of this profession.

As far as starting salaries go, anywhere from $30,000-40,000 dollars is a sufficient number. As the years increase, a financial advisor salary should follow accordingly. By the time you have reached ten to nineteen years of experience, you should be making at least $50,000 annually with the potential to be pulling in more than one hundred thousand dollars per year. If you are taking advantage of a specialization, those income numbers will most definitely vary between one another so that is also something to consider when researching more in depth.

In terms of education, a bachelor’s degree is generally expected from any employer especially considering how incredibly competitive this industry is. However, for those that either want to be a successful independent financial advisor or have a great chance at becoming employed with an extremely high quality employer it would be an excellent investment to obtain a master’s in business administration.

An individual must take the Series 7 exam offered by FINRA as well as continuously increasing their education to meet professional standards before they can complete their journey to becoming a financial advisor. Whereas major Wall Street firms used to help recent college graduates get ready for becoming employed and being successful right off the bat by providing them with outstanding training programs to push them along the way, that has since stopped because of companies trying to cut costs.

Nowadays, it is very difficult to get into this profession and start earning a financial advisor salary without any experience because employers can simply implement sneaky tactics to convince proven and experience financial advisors from other companies to transfer over to them with irresistible incentives. Altogether, while it definitely a mission in itself to go from earning nothing to bringing in the highest possibly salary in this profession, those that are dedicated, determined and willing to put in endless effort will without a doubt be able to have an incredibly satisfying financial advisor career.

Article Source: http://www.financialadvisorsalary.org/

How to Become a Financial Advisor

Financial advising is a rewarding career that has grown rapidly as baby boomers near retirement. According to Money magazine, financial adviser ranks #3 in its, “Best Jobs in America” report. With an average salary hovering above $120,000, there is no question why financial adviser is one of the best jobs in America.

Financial advisers provide advice relating to investment strategies, mutual funds, bonds, and stocks. Using this knowledge to provide retirement advice and estate planning is crucial to client success. Clients will often discuss the need to change investment strategies based on major events such as marriage, having kids, and retirement. A financial advisor’s recommendations will help make these transitions easier.

Look for financial companies offering complete training programs. It may help to have some previous experience working with clients because financial advising is all about developing relationships. But, you may be able to get your foot in the door if you show that you're motivated.

Look for financial companies that offer starting financial advisers help by supplementing fees and commissions with a higher starting salary. Usually, your fees and commissions will be low at first as you build your clientele. Over time, your fees and commissions will grow as your client list grows and the remaining salary will be a small portion of your income.

The grades needed to become a financial adviser are very high. Even after a university degree you still need to show that you have a 3.2 or higher. All companies tend to support their new employees in further training, a university degree alone does not provide this training whether it is in finance or accounting or math. Some degrees do offer exemptions towards the professional exams needed. After you complete your professional exams it will still be necessary to do exams every year to ensure that you are up-to-date with modern finances as they develop.

Look for jobs with banks when starting out. It is often easier to become a tied adviser to begin your financial career. This gives experience dealing with clients, and often many benefits (company car, health care, etc.), and a higher salary than some independent financial advisers. Banks generally will support you fully when you are doing your professional exams too, although during this time both your job and your exams are your main focus and the hours of work during this time will increase greatly.

Go out an get your Series 7 and 66 licenses. Generally an "RIA" Registered Investment Adviser can sponsor you to get your licenses. But you may be able to get state sponsorship as well.

Article Source: How to Become a Financial Advisor