Every career has distinct skill sets and requirements that differentiate it from others. When these are upheld, you’ll definitely stand out and be exceptional in that field. Financial representatives sell business financial products and services to interested clients. Although they receive commission aside from their salary, they must meet certain criteria to excel at their game. If you are just about to start your career as a financial representative, you can apply for an internship. The salary of a financial representative intern with Northwest Mutual, Fidelity, or any other company will not be as much as that of an experienced financial representative, but it’s a platform to build your career. Here’s everything you need to know about starting a career as a financial representative.
Who is a Financial Representative?
If you want to buy an insurance policy or invest in mutual funds, chances are you’ll meet financial representatives. A financial representative sells the product or service of the respective company they represent to clients. The products range from mutual funds, bonds, insurance coverage, etc. They reach out to clients and, depending on their individual financial objectives, come up with options that satisfy clients’ needs.
What do Financial Representatives do?
If you have a product and want to increase sales, one of the tactics you’ll adopt is getting salespeople or marketers. Sometimes, you’ll give them a target and cap it with a commission that is different from the agreed salary. These guys will do everything possible to meet the target by employing various tactics because they know what’s at stake. That’s exactly what financial representatives do in profound ways.
A financial representative, as the name implies, represents a financial institution. It can be a bank or other financial body. Their duty is basically to gain new clients and offer services to existing clients.
Duties Include
Financial representatives get clients through networking, lead follow-ups, referrals, advertising, cold-calling, and so on. In addition to getting new clients and recording sales, their duties include the following;
- Understand each financial product and service.
- Follow up with new clients to be sure they are satisfied with their service.
- Understand clients’ portfolios
- Offer advice on the modification of portfolios
- Setting up a meeting with clients to discuss portfolios and financial goals
- Offer financial advice on products like stocks, bonds, mutual funds, or other securities.
- Highlighting the risk as well as the opportunities involved in each financial product and service.
- Build and sustain relationships with clients.
- Monitor market trends, identify and pursue potential customer leads, and meet sales goals.
- Discuss customers’ financial concerns, questions, and needs.
Financial Representatives Skills
To be an excellent financial representative, you must possess the following skills;
- Possess strong organizational and problem-solving skills.
- Exceptional customer service skills
- Persuasive selling skills
- Interpersonal skills
- Strong analytical skills
- Time management
- Good communication skills. Financial representatives are excellent spokespersons.
- Computer skills. Proficient in all Microsoft office package
Financial Representatives Requirements
While it’s true that a financial representative must possess a degree in finance or a related discipline, there are other requirements you probably didn’t know about that are also relevant. Anyone who wishes to become a financial representative must meet the following requirements.
- Acquire a FINRA Series 6 license and a Series 7 license.
- Hold a bachelor’s degree in finance, economics, accounting, or a related discipline.
- Proficient with mathematics
- Adequate understanding of the product
- Must understand financial legislation.
- Proficiency in all Microsoft Office applications.
How to Become a Financial Representative
If want to pursue a career as a financial representative, here are simple steps that’ll help you.
#1. Get a bachelor’s degree
Although the minimum requirement is a high school diploma, having a bachelor’s degree in finance or any related discipline will increase your chances of realizing your dream.
#2. Apply for Internships
One of the best ways to kick start a career is to apply for an internship. Applying for an internship at a financial institution such as Northwest Mutual Funds, Fidelity Investments, Ameritrade, and so on will help you learn the basics of selling financial products. What’s more, you’ll also gain the experience needed to push your career forward.
#3. Get Your Series 6 & 7 License
Financial representatives can deal with all kinds of financial products and services if they have series 6 and 7. Although you can start with a series license, having both will enable you to work without limits.
#4. Build your career with more certification
If you want to be among the very few financial representatives earning more than others, you must possess relevant certification. Take extra courses that are related to the field, apply to join registered bodies, write exams if there’s a need for one, and get more certification.
#5. Apply for available financial representative jobs
Most companies that publicize vacancies need people who already have experience. You need to apply for an internship and get more certifications. However, you can check out various online sites for job offers, draw up a compelling CV and apply for the job.
Financial Representative Salary: How Much Do They Earn?
The average salary of a financial representative in the United States is $76,330. This excludes the commission that representatives receive for the sales of products and services. The commission can be as high as $10,000 per annum. You can increase your earnings by being part of bigger companies in the industry. But then, you can acquire advanced degree programs while improving your records.
Financial Representative Fidelity Salary
Originally founded as Fidelity Management & Research, or FMR, Fidelity Investments Inc. is an international financial services business in America that runs a broad family of mutual funds and offers fund distribution and financial advice. Their services include retirement services, index funds, wealth management, securities execution and clearing, asset custody, and life insurance. Fidelity investment company was established in 1964 and had an expert financial representative who sells their products and services with a good salary.
Depending on the department you are in, duties can range from responding to client questions in a professional manner, delivering solid financial advice to clients, and cross-selling our products and services. It also includes, when possible, attending various training programs as necessary. These are all obligations of the financial services representative. Finally, you’ll have to follow up with customers to verify they are happy with the items or services they purchased.
What is the Salary of a Financial Representative at Fidelity Investments?
According to Indeed, the annual salary of a Fidelity Investments Financial Representative in the United States is around $48,284.
Northwest Mutual Financial Representative
Northwestern Mutual is an organization that deals with all manner of investments, such as mutual funds, insurance, and so on. When it comes to productivity, this investment company ensures it’s at its peak. Northwest Mutual values technology and provides everything needed to train each of its financial representatives. It’s perhaps the reason why each of these guys in turn tries to do everything within their power to record excellent sales at the end of each season. Northwest Mutual trains every financial representative to develop long-term connections with its customers and assist them in achieving their financial objectives.
Northwest Mutual Products and Services
The following are some of the products and services that a Northwest Mutual financial representative offers to clients;
- Wealth and asset income protection,
- Education planning,
- Retirement planning,
- Investment advisory services,
- Financial planning trust
- Private client services
- Estate planning,
- Business planning.
- Life insurance,
- Permanent life insurance,
- Disability income insurance,
- Long-term care insurance,
- Annuities,
- Investment
Financial Representatives Vs Financial Advisors
Is a financial representative the same as a financial advisor? Not really. There’s a slight difference between these two terms. However, both serve similar purposes. Most often, financial advisors start their career journey as financial representatives and then switch to the latter.
Who is a Financial Advisor?
Financial advisors are finance professionals that render financial advice to clients. Their services include investment management, managing trading, and portfolio rebalancing on your behalf. In simple terms, a financial advisor is a professional who helps you to achieve your financial goals.
To carry out their services, they need to fully understand a client’s financial activities, such as how much they make, how much they spend or save, and what their investment goal is. They then use this information to help the client build their portfolios.
In addition, every financial advisor’s main focus isn’t on making sales but on helping clients achieve their goals. A financial representative, on the other hand, is obsessed with sales in order to make commissions. To become a financial advisor, you’ll need up to 6-7 certifications.
Who can help me budget my money?
Work with a financial counselor, coach, or even a financial therapist if you need assistance with budgeting fundamentals or have a spending issue. Consider working with a financial advisor if you want to invest for the long term or if you need assistance with objectives like home ownership, retirement, or education savings.
What is the 70 rule in budgeting?
You divide your monthly take-home pay into thirds: 70%, 20%, and 10%. You divide the amounts in this way: 70% is for monthly expenses (anything you spend money on). Unless you have urgent debt, 20% goes toward savings.
What is the 10-20 rule in finance?
The 10/20 rule is a budgeting method that can be used by just about anyone, even if it’s only a general guideline rather than a binding decree. The goal is to keep your overall debt to no more than 20% of your annual income and your monthly payments to no more than 10% of your net monthly income.
What is the 80/20 rule in finance?
The 80-20 rule states that only 20% of cases result in 80% of outcomes. The 80-20 rule gives priority to the 20 percent of factors that will lead to the best outcomes. Finding an organization’s best assets and utilizing them effectively to generate the most value is one of the 80-20 rule’s tenets.
What is the 80/20 rule for retirement?
Since financial advisors frequently advise setting aside at least 10 to 15% of your income for retirement, the majority of the money should ideally go to retirement assets. The remaining 80% is spent on desires and requirements, such as food, rent, and entertainment. However, it is entirely up to you how to use that cash.
Conclusion
The beautiful thing about being a financial representative is that you can easily switch your career to being a product manager, financial analyst, or advisor. There are many more, aside from these. However, you have to concentrate on building your career first and then see what comes after that. Aside from being able to switch your career, building expertise will also place you at the top. This simply means you’ll be able to increase how much you make initially. You can also add a side hustle to it to make more money.
Financial Representative FAQs
How do financial representatives get clients?
Through networking, lead follow-ups, referrals, advertising, cold-calling, and so on.
What are the highest paying jobs at Fidelity?
The highest-paid job or position at Fidelity is that of the director.
How long is Fidelity training?
Fidelity Financial representatives are trained for about 4-5 months.
