Job description

A Financial Advisor gives financial advice to clients on a variety of financial products such as mortgages, pensions and loans.

There are two types of Financial Advisor, tied and independent. A tied advisor gives advice relating to one (or more) organisation's product range whereas an Independent Financial Advisor (or IFA) can give advice on all products available in the market.

Some Financial Advisors specialise in one particular type of product such as pensions and will give advice on just pension-related products. Others provide advice on all financial products available to a client.

Duties include:

• Meeting clients and discussing their investment needs.
• Analysing a client's financial circumstances.
• Assessing which product would be most suitable to meet the client's needs.
• Advising clients on their best course of action.
• Sourcing the best deals possible from providers.
• Keeping informed on new products and legislation affecting the industry.
• Meeting sales targets.
• Completing annual reviews of clients' investments.

Qualifications

There are a number of different qualifications available to Financial Advisors, examples of which include the Certified Financial Planner (CFP) from the Institute of Financial Planning and the Advanced Financial Planning Certificate (AFPC) offered by the Chartered Insurance Institute.

Salary Snapshot

Recent salaries for roles advertised at time of writing (Nov 2009) include:

• £25-30,000 OTE for a Trainee Financial Advisor based in Kent.
• £37-100,000 OTE for an IFA based in Central London.
• £30-75,000 OTE for a Mortgage Advisor based in Manchester.
• £39-100,000 OTE for an IFA based in Leeds.

Are you a Financial Advisor? Would you like to contribute to our "Day in the Life of..." series? Email us at info@topfinancialjobs.co.uk for more details.