- 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
- analytical thinking skills
- to be able to use a computer and the main software packages competently
Your day-to-day tasks will include:
- talking to clients about their finances and plans
- researching financial products and explaining them simply and clearly
- negotiating with providers of financial products
- producing financial reports
- updating clients about their investments
- meeting performance and sales targets
- keeping up to date with new products and law changes
You could work in an office, from home, at a client's home or in a contact centre.
If you work for a large financial organisation, you could specialise in one area of work like retirement planning. You could also move into management, recruiting and training new staff.
With further specialised professional qualifications, you could become a director or partner in your firm.
Another option is to move into compliance work, making sure your company is following industry guidelines.
You can find more on working in financial services through The London Institute of Banking & Finance.
