A financial advisor is someone who helps people choose the right financial product and services including savings, pensions, investments and can also include mortgages and insurances.
As a financial adviser you must have excellent communication skills and be capable of explaining complex financial information clearly and simply to people who do not have much financial knowledge.
You could become a financial adviser from working in a banking environment and being promoted into a financial advisor role or you could apply direct being it your first role. You may have an accounting background but there are no specific financial advisor qualifications.
A big part of the job is dealing with clients and providing good quality customer service so many companies will be looking for excellent people skills combined with good communication skills so a good solid background as an organised person who has a track record of customer service is just as likely to get into the financial advisor role.
The role of a financial adviser would include:
- Meeting clients
- Discussing new products and services to the clients
- Researching the best financial products
- Meeting performance and sales targets
- Producing financial reports
- Dealing with client enquiries
- Keeping on top of a clients investments
- Being up to date with new products and law changes.
The world of finance is a very fast paced environment with changing products and rates and you need to be thorough to keep on top of the role.