Here are our five essential and practical tips to actively boost your wealth management career as a Financial Planner, and let your dedication and hard work bring you the long-term reward you deserve.
Check out these pointers on having a very successful career in Wealth Management…
Knowledge is the basis of what makes a great adviser, after all, how can you advise your clients without it? Plus, resilience and a pro-active, flexible mindset will help you handle challenging situations with ease.
Your Diploma in Regulated Financial Planning from the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) or your Diploma for Financial Advisers from The London Institute of Banking and Finance (LIBF) is a great start. There are so many more exams that you can take, to get to Chartered or later Fellow status. Your training will boost your credibility with clients, giving you a proven knowledge base. It will also open up a wider range of job opportunities by making you more attractive to employers – many jobs ask for specific qualifications.
As much as qualifications are important, equally important is staying up to date with financial markets, tax laws, regulations, investment products and generally having your fingers on the pulse of all things financial services. Your clients will want to know all about the latest products, and they expect up to date, well researched advice.
Regular and focused CPD (Continuing Professional Development) and attending industry events for knowledge and networking purposes will increase what you have to offer both clients and employers alike. You never know who you might meet – your next mentor…your next client? It’s also useful in building confidence so that you know, and the client feels, that the advice you are giving is right for your client.
Developing strong analytical skills, financial modelling, and data analysis abilities will stand you in good stead for providing excellent, comprehensive advice to your clients. With the recent surge in the use of FinTech, it makes sense to be using this as much as you can, learning where it can be invaluable to you and your client. It’s so useful for new client onboarding right through to analysing complex data and then providing your client with 24/7 access to their information. The benefits are almost limitless, so we would suggest that you take advantage of this.
Once you have the knowledge to impart to your clients, you need to ensure you have a client base to convey it to!
Listen! Actively listen! Show your clients that you take a keen interest in them as people. By really taking the time to listen to your client, getting to know them well and fully understanding their financial goals, risk tolerances and life circumstances you will be able to tailor your advice effectively. To do this, and do it well, empathy and well-developed active listening and interpersonal skills are a must. Take the time with the soft skills, this cannot be overstated – if a client feels that you care and support them, you will most probably have a client for life and they will refer other people to you too.
Once you know what they want and need, and you’ve worked out how to give it to them, the next hard part is making sure they understand the brilliance of your advice! You will meet people of all backgrounds and intelligence levels so matching your explanations to your audience is essential. For all though, make your explanations clear and concise and ensure they feel they can ask as many questions as they need.
You’ve connected with your client on an emotional level, and you’ve wowed them with your excellent bespoke advice – the next step is to develop this relationship, so it endures the test of time. The best client/adviser relationships are built on great, timely, consistent advice and trust, and to have faith in your advice (other than the fact they can see it makes them money), they need to trust you.
Key considerations are:
A satisfied client will sing your praises.
Referrals will build more referrals, and this will bring new clients your way.
You now have a great client base, with clients that may even have become friends, but there’s always the need to attract and develop future business.
Learning from experienced professionals through networking or mentorship, can be of huge benefit to your career and your well-being. By building a strong professional network around you, you gain not only support in terms of business and personal guidance, but it can grant you access to a range of prospective clients and employers.
Sharing knowledge and tackling challenges with your colleagues and peers, can ease daily stress, and it can also enhance your business acumen by listening and learning from how others deal with people or situations. The more people you know, the greater the pool of those who can help you fast-track your way to success.
If you develop, early on in your career, a growth mindset that continually proactively looks to identify opportunities for advancement and expansion, business development will become second nature to you and be part of your daily routine. This creates more time for nurturing your existing relationships and more time for researching effective risk management strategies to protect client assets.
The financial services world is continually changing, so be ready to pivot and adjust strategies as markets or regulations shift. Listen to both your clients and the information available around you, to provide up to date, relevant advice.
Embrace new technologies and tools to improve efficiency and personalise and enhance client experience. Nowadays, clients expect full and safe 24/7 access to their data, so stay ahead of them and ensure this is possible – you should be as adaptable as their changing needs require.
We spend such a considerable portion of our lives at work, so making sure we are happy in what we do, and accomplishing it to the very best of our ability make sense, does it not? Especially when you read this article:
“Happiness makes people more productive at work”, according to the latest research from the University of Warwick.
Economists carried out a number of experiments to test the idea that happy employees work harder. In the laboratory, they found happiness made people around 12% more productive. In real life as well, it’s pretty much common sense, if you feel happy, you’ll be more productive.
It’s safe to say, that wealth management is quite a competitive arena, and that’s why those who excel are usually results driven, but to be truly great as a Financial Planner, clients’ needs should be front and centre of everything that you do. So, to push yourself even further, to gain even better results, what’s to stop you creating your own targets outside of those given to you by your employer. Figure out more innovative ways to help your existing clients and also find new ones.
Create your own specific personal goals and objectives and push yourself to succeed. An extra bonus is that these are of your own making, so you are also the controller of your own pressure to attain them, so no additional stress (other than that caused by your competitiveness, obviously!).
You can track your progress, whether it’s your client retention rate, the number of clients you acquire, assets under management (AUM), or client satisfaction scores; celebrate your milestones and continuously refine your strategy for growth!
By focusing on a niche in the wealth management market, you can aim to be the very best in that area and stand out from the crowd by being the “go-to” authority. So, think about where your strengths lie and what areas you love to work in – is it retirement planning, or high net worth investing for example? A well-defined niche sets you apart and makes it easier to market your expertise and attract the right clients, plus you get to spend more time doing what you love!
It will come as no surprise that our biggest and best tip for living your best life in wealth management is to call the team here at Truestar Talent. We can help you in a whole host of ways, from the start to the finish of your financial services career. We actively support you from walking you through your very first interview, to helping you (post your redundancy) with how to interview after years in your role, to retiring IFAs considering selling your IFA business; we are with you every step of the way.
With over 35+ years in financial services and financial services recruitment, we have a whole host of ways to support you. We happen to be award winning, but these accolades are only there to underpin our ethics and experience in this field. We would strongly suggest having an exploratory conversation with any of our team, we are genuinely here to help you: Our Team
Remember – Rome wasn’t built in a day…
The most important thing to remember is that building a truly successful career in wealth management takes time. The hours you put in, either at the beginning of your career in building your base knowledge, or further down the line when you are developing professionally and looking after your established clients, are so worth it!
Stay consistent, and don’t get discouraged by any early setbacks. Invest in your professional reputation, and the results will follow over time. If you are dependably providing your clients with excellent advice and looking after them well, the reputation you spent hours forming, will bring you new clients through word of mouth alone. Remember, if you consistently do the right thing, great results will follow.
Success in wealth management is about combining your total dedication with technical expertise and a genuine passion for helping people achieve their financial goals. Stay ethical, client-focused, keep learning, and always aim for excellence! A successful career in wealth management will be sure to be something you will be personally proud of.
You can never have too much support, guidance, or help along the way. Have a look at some of our other articles. There’s also a handy link to some likely interview questions – be well prepared for your next interview, to enable you to realise your dream job. We can help you with that too.
Questions to Ask Before Starting a Wealth Management Career
Financial Planner or Wealth Manager? Finding the Perfect Job in Wealth Management
Video Call Interview Tips. Creating the Best Impression
Five Concerns we Hear From Wealth Planners Seeking their Next Career Move
No matter if you choose to be a Wealth Manager, or a Financial Planner in financial services, clients’ needs come first. If you are driven by the desire to support your clients with their wealth management needs, by truly getting to know them and listening to really understand their needs, then whichever role type you choose, you will do great things.
A great Financial Planner enables every client’s personal financial decision to feel like a step closer to their dreams. Being very ethical and honest is paramount when dealing with someone else’s money. A great Adviser that puts their client first, front and centre, always being cognisant of their clients’ needs
Research and Planning – you can never do too much of this. Be your best prepared version of yourself. Practice – the technical stuff and the interview itself. Don’t forget to relax and smile – take deep breaths to calm nerves before the video starts. Let your personality and your interest in the company and role shine through!
Just like any interview, face to face or on video, preparation is key as first impressions count. Showing how much you know about the company, could make the difference between getting that dream role, or it going to someone who did their homework, before the video interview
