Financial adviser

Financial advisers help people and organisations choose investments, savings, pensions, mortgages and insurance products.

Also known as: Independent financial adviser, financial planner, wealth manager

• Starter salary£27,000 a year
• Experienced£67,000 a year
• Typical hours35 to 40 a week

What you'll do

As a financial adviser, you could:

• talk to clients about their finances and plans
• research financial products and explain them simply and clearly
• negotiate with providers of financial products
• produce financial reports
• update clients about their pensions and investments
• meet performance and sales targets
• keep up to date with new products and law changes

Working environment

You could work in an office, from home, at a client's home or in a contact centre.

Skills and knowledge you'll need

You'll need:

• customer service skills for finding out customer needs
• knowledge of economics and accounting for understanding financial markets and products
• maths knowledge for creating financial plans
• the ability to sell products and services
• excellent verbal communication skills
• active listening skills
• business management skills for negotiating product rates
• to be thorough and pay attention to detail
• to be able to use a computer and the main software packages competently

How to become a financial adviser

You can get into this job through:

• a university course
• an apprenticeship
• working towards this role

University

This role is open to graduates of most subjects.

Particularly relevant subjects include:

• financial services
• business management
• accountancy

Once you finish your course, you could apply to join a finance company or a bank as a graduate trainee adviser.

Entry requirements

You'll usually need:

• 2 to 3 A levels, or equivalent, for a degree

Apprenticeship

You could apply to do an apprenticeship, with a financial organisation, such as:

• Financial Adviser Level 4 Higher Apprenticeship
• Paraplanner and Financial Planner Level 4 Higher Apprenticeship
• Financial Services Professional Level 6 Degree Apprenticeship

Entry requirements

You'll usually need:

• 4 or 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C) and A levels, or equivalent, for a higher or degree apprenticeship

Work

You could start as a financial services administrator, pensions administrator or customer services adviser and work your way up.

To do this, you'll need to study for a level 4 qualification in financial advice recognised by the Financial Conduct Authority .

These include:

• Diploma in Regulated Financial Planning from the Chartered Insurance Institute
• Diploma for Financial Advisers from Walbrook Institute London
• Investment Advice Diploma from the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment

If you work in pensions, you could do qualifications offered by the Pensions Management Institute , while you move into an adviser role.

Restrictions and requirements

You'll need to:

• pass enhanced background checks

Career path and progression

With experience, you could:

• specialise in one area of work, like pensions
• become a manager to recruit and train new staff
• become a director or partner of your company
• move into compliance, making sure companies follow guidelines and laws

Registration

• you'll need to register as an 'approved person' by the Financial Conduct Authority

Guides for this industry

• Accountancy & Finance: pay, interviews and getting started →

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