Becoming a Financial Services Adviser

The following article outlines the job duties, training involved, salary expectations and future prospects of taking on a career as a Financial Services Adviser.

Preview:

Financial services advisers advise clients on a whole range of personal investments such as annuities, pension plans, savings, and life assurance. They may be employed by one organization, recommending only that organization's products, or they may be independent, recommending any company's products.

Obtaining the correct financial advice is very important for many people, whether they earn a high salary or have very little money to invest. In order to make the best possible use of the resources they have, people often seek independent, professional advice.

All types of individuals may require advice on savings, investments, insurance protection, and on how to raise the finance to buy property. Self-employed people, in particular, may require assistance with tax preparation, health insurance, and pension planning.

The Job:

It is possible to obtain financial advice from many different financial professionals, including accountants, insurance brokers, estate agents, pension fund managers, and managers of banks and building societies. They all have their own distinctive roles within the financial services world. Accountants, for example, give business advice and help clients to keep their finances in order.

Some specialize in tax preparation for the tax authorities of the countries in which they practice. Bank and building society managers encourage people to save money with them and then lend this money out in the form of secured loans-in the case of building society managers, this is usually as mortgage loans. Estate agents help people to sell property and are often instrumental in arranging mortgages for prospective purchasers.

Insurance brokers help people to arrange various types of financial protection, and pensions fund managers have the important role of ensuring that individual pension contributions are well invested.

All these people follow their own professional training programs. In addition, there is a separate job of the all-round financial services adviser, who advises clients on a whole range of personal investments (other than stocks and shares, which are the specialty of stockbrokers), such as annuities, pension plans, savings schemes, and life assurance.

Financial services advisers are of 2 types. Some are "tied" - that is, they work for one financial institution, such as a bank or an insurance company, and sell only the products (financial services such as an insurance or savings plan) of that institution. Others are independent. They search through all the products on the market from different companies, and make recommendations between them. They then receive commission from that institution.

Clients may choose to use either type of adviser, but advisers must make it clear whether or not they are tied just to one organization or are free to advise on a whole range of schemes from different institutions.

Financial services advisers spend some time with their clients, evaluating their needs. They may simply do what the client requests - that is, investigate appropriate health insurance schemes, life assurance, or mortgage arrangements - but since this is a job with a strong sales orientation, they usually go further. They often offer to undertake a full fact-finding survey, asking clients about their current financial situation and present provision.

In the course of doing this, they may find that clients have no adequate insurance arrangements for the care of dependants in the case of death or accident or that they have no savings or income replacement plan in case they should fall ill.

Financial services advisers are based in offices. They may work there all the time or visit clients in their homes. They may have to work in the evenings and at weekends when clients are most often available.

Training Involved:

Financial services advisers train in employment and are expected to gain relevant qualifications. Although unqualified staff maybe allowed to assist their colleagues, in many countries government regulations stipulate that they must pass a certain number of professional examinations before they may have any direct contact with clients.

In some countries, there are degree courses in financial services that give graduates exemption from some of the written examination papers.

Useful Qualifications to Have:

Useful subjects include: English mathematics, business studies, and accounts.

Salary Expectations:

The base salary range of a Financial Services Adviser ranges from $43,383 to $69,106 annually, while the median salary for most Financial Services Advisers is $56,500 annually. (US Base Pay)

Future Prospects:

Since this work involves advising people on how best to invest their free capital, job prospects are very dependent on the general state of the economy.

Experienced financial services advisers may become self-employed, or they may work for financial services partnerships or for financial institutions.

For further information, contact head offices of banks and credit companies, or a local institute of credit management.