Major Tasks of a Financial Adviser

I will concentrate on just five key areas of my work tasks that I deem extrememly important to generate the results that I want. If I could ensure that these areas are done well, I know that I won’t have any problems being a succesful financial adviser.

1) Education, Training and Meetings
It is important for me to keep up to date with the current issues, changes in the insurance and investment world. Every year, new products and new funds are being introduced. How do I keep up with the on-going acquisition of knowledge to ensure that I provide the best service to my clients?

I believe that I need to step up on my knowledge acquisition through reading and attending regular training sessions. What do I need to read – investment-related magazines, insurance products and its features, market outlook. But the most important thing is to find a way to organise the information that I have obtained. At this particular point in time, it is best for me to jot them down on loose leaf pages and categorise them in a file. When in doubt, I just need to refer to this file.

2) Calling
Calling is one of the most important tasks that need to be in every financial adviser’s daily calendar. I have difficulties organising my leads in a systematic manner. There is a need for me to take down remarks for each call made. Thus, I have great difficulty since I often make my calls outside the office.

Firstly, I need to specify the list to call each day. Secondly, I need to make remarks so that I could remember what the call was about and how my prospect reacts to the conversation. Thirdly, I need to specify whether there is a need to call that prospect again and when will that be. I think a simple spreadsheet would ensure all this information is inserted satisfyingly.

3) Appointments
Another big part of the job of a financial adviser is meeting people. There is a need to meet as many people as possible if I want to survive in this industry. There are two types of people, namely those you want to introduce yourself and your job and those you have nailed a specific financial objective to deliver.

For the first group of people, it is just casual talk over coffee, pass my namecard and introduce generally what I do. If there is a particular financial need to address, there is one thing that needs to be done prior to the appointment. And that is the preparation. It could entail preparing benefit illustrations, presentations and brochures. I need to be fully prepared for this and it comes with knowledge and experience.

4) Paperwork and Follow-up
Paperwork is unavoidable. E-mail is one of the major means of communication between the management, partners, clients and me. It is important that it is used in the most efficient manner. I delete e-mails I don’t want to read. I categorise emails into different folders to make it easier to locate them when needed.

Apart from that, there is also a need for me to update clients on their investment portfolio or news with regards to their insurance policies. Also, monthly newsletters to prospects need to be sent out. I need to make sure that all these activities are scheduled in my calendar to ensure that my paperwork gets done.

Submitting clients’ proposal and following up on their insurance and investment policies is very important. You have to keep yourself attuned to the information that you receive from the different partners and identify the next steps in ensuring that my clients get top-notch service from me.

5) Client Servicing
It is important that clients are serviced regularly, at least once a year. If I have investment clients, they may need a much more regular update on their investment portfolio and review. I need to also remember to send out cards on special occasions such as birthdays and seasonal holidays.

All these tasks has to be inserted in a calendar to ensure that all your clients are not forgotten and you will be remembered as a reliable and trustworthy financial adviser.