The Unforgettable Day in the Life of a Financial Adviser

A day in the life of a financial adviser often means juggling multiple responsibilities.

There are many advantages to working as a financial adviser. In our blog post, How to be a Financial Adviser or CFP, we outlined the skills required to be successful in this important and challenging field. Similar to many careers, there are numerous skills you need to have in order to do the job well. While this may result in work days with varied work, the job is never boring! Join us as we explore the average day in the life of a financial adviser. Daylight has emerged and you can’t wait to get your workday started! After getting to work, your morning routine consists of some of the following tasks:

Assisting current clients.

One of the first tasks in the day in the life of a financial adviser is responding to questions and communications from existing customers. Some of these activities include responding to emails or phone calls or perhaps scheduling a conference call or in-person meeting. A typical customer meeting usually will involve checking in on a client to ensure that he or she is comfortable with how his or her investments are performing. Other times, business meetings may involve discussions concerning updates in the financial market or an annual portfolio review. While most of these meetings will be fairly casual in nature, it is essential that the financial adviser remains up-to-date on changes in your customers’ lifestyles, employment, marital statuses, and financial goals.

Scheduling a business lunch.

The next activity in a day in the life of a financial adviser is to ponder ways that you can generate and nurture relationships with referral partners or centers of influence. Centers of influence are other professionals, which could possibly be accountants, CPAs or lawyers. They may refer clients to a financial adviser with the expectation that he or she will, in turn, do the same for them. For those individuals willing to partner, a business lunch is a great way to stay in touch and keep those relationships strong.

Prospecting for new customers.

In our blog post, The 5 Best Kept Secrets of Financial Adviser Lead Generation, we discussed the importance of generating leads for your financial business. There are many ways to discover potential customers that you may not have already considered, including volunteering in your local community. For companies that have a tight advertising budget, getting involved with a non-profit or community-related event that gets you in front of the public is a great investment of your time and money. However, the reason for volunteering should primarily be about the cause or organization that you are supporting, not in generating sales leads. A good financial adviser will try to find a cause that he or she truly cares about. This will increase brand awareness so when people need a financial adviser, they will come to you first.

After you have that business lunch with an important client, centers of influence, or colleague, your afternoon will involve a variety of administrative tasks before the end of your workday. These include:

Reading to stay informed.

Financial advisers need to be informed of the latest news and trends impacting the financial markets. To assist in that task, we’ve compiled The Top 5 Financial Advisor Magazines to Read Right Now. But reading timely news articles and headlines should be accompanied by furthering your education or certification. Consider possibly becoming a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) or receiving your Masters of Business Administration (MBA) to make yourself more appealing to potential customers. It is also important that you are aware of any continuing education (CE) credits that you are required to complete each year. Try to complete them in a timely manner by attending in-person events, online events, or industry-related event where you receive CE credits.

Speaking and researching financial services.

Working as a financial adviser requires, in part, that you remain up-to-date on the recommendations made to customers. Before you make recommendations however, you may need to research ways that your customers can reduce their taxes under the current tax laws. A financial adviser will also speak with portfolio managers and review trends in financial markets and the economy that could potentially influence the recommendations that he or she provides to clients. Making research a top priority will assist you in providing the most educated recommendations to your clients.

If you work as a financial adviser, we would love to hear from you! What does a day in the life of a financial adviser look like to you? What tasks and responsibilities do you feel are the most important, or the best use of your time, and why? Please post your comments below.