Financial Analysts and Personal Financial Advisor Careers

Job Summary:
Financial Analysts research and analyze financial markets and provide investment advice to institutional and retail investors. They are professionally qualified and analyze markets, trends, prices, economy, political situations and make investment decisions based on their analysis. Financial analysts can be sub-divided into macro analysts and micro analysts. They work for research houses, asset management companies, banks and insurance companies. They must know the pulse of the markets day in and day out and the job is very demanding and investment advice is time specific. They are well versed with computer systems and statistics. Their function is very critical as investors buy, sell or hold based on the analyst?s view.

Personal Financial Advisors are professionally qualified investment and tax consultants. They are in direct contact with high net worth clients and offer investment advice, tax planning, estate planning etc. They have excellent communication, influencing and interpersonal skills and high integrity. They actively buy and sell stocks, mutual funds, and insurance on behalf of their clients. They are in a fiduciary position and most of their new client acquisitions come through referral from existing clients.

Qualification:
A bachelor's degree in Finance, Certified Financial Analyst (CFA). They can also obtain the Certified Financial Planner (CFP) or Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC) credential.

Salary Range:
Ranges from $35,000 to $120,000 for Financial Analysts. Ranges from $40,000 to $150,000 for Personal Financial Advisors.

Salary structure is more of variable pay depending on performance, fixed component being low. A good analyst/planner can expect to earn substantial bonuses.

Prospects:
The future is very bright for Personal Financial Advisors as more and more people want to avail financial advice to better manage their surplus finances. The demand for Financial Analysts is cyclical depending on the prevailing economic situation.