Financial Advisor Jobs

By: EconomyWatch   Date: 30 September 2009

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The growth in financial advisor jobs is expected to be strong, with this occupation projected as being among the ten fastest growing careers. Despite healthy job growth prospects, competition in this field will continue to be stiff, especially for new entrants. While some financial advisors specialize in serving individual clients, others focus on business clients.

Financial Advisor Jobs: Employment Criteria

For financial advisor jobs, a bachelor's degree is needed. Although there is no prerequisite, a coursework in finance, accounting or economics would be helpful for an aspiring financial advisor. Companies also give preference to candidates with an MBA degree in finance. You must also have strong quantitative and analytic skills to be successful in financial advisor job:

Financial Advisor Jobs: Prospects

In 2006, personal financial advisors held 176,000 jobs in the US, according to a survey conducted by the Occupational Employment Statistics (OES). More than half of the advisors worked in the finance and insurance industries, including banks, financial investment firms, securities and commodity brokers and insurance carriers. Roughly 30% of the surveyed personal financial advisors were self employed and had small investment advisory firms.

Jobs for personal financial advisors are projected to grow by 41% until 2016, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) National Employment Matrix. This rate is much higher than the average for all occupations. The reasons for the enormous growth prospects are:

  • Millions of workers are expected to retire by 2019.
  • Rise in personal investments due to baby boomers reaching peak years of retirement savings.
  • Rise in the number of individuals managing their own retirement plans, with several companies replacing traditional pension plans with retirement savings programs.

Financial Advisor Jobs: Earnings

According to the College for Financial Planning's Survey of Trends in Financial Planning for 2009, the average earnings of financial advisors rose to $215,345 in 2009 from $195,394 in 2008. Although average earnings were lower in 2009 than in 2006 and 2007, they were impressive given the sluggish economic environment.

Personal financial advisors working for financial services firms are usually paid a salary plus a bonus. Meanwhile, advisors who are either self employed or are working for financial investment and planning firms charge hourly fees or opt for fees in stock and insurance purchases.


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