How To Interview A Financial Advisor

Questions You Should Ask Any Financial Advisor Youre Interviewing

Just as no two people are ever the same, neither is any financial situation. We all have different relationships with money, and your net worth isnt a direct indicator of your attitude about your financial life. So with all these different ways of dealing with money, it makes perfect sense that pretty much every financial advisor would be different, too.

As such, that can make the task of finding the right kind of financial advisor for you a pretty confusing one. How do you find the best one to suit your needs? And what if you dont necessarily even know what your needs really are?

Ive seen first hand how a healthy relationship between your money and your priorities can make an impact on your life. Finding the right financial professional to help you manage your money in a healthy and impactful way is crucial.

Because money isnt really the key to freedom. Building an awareness of your values and priorities and a willingness to use money as a tool to advance them thats what really opens the doors to a whole world of possibility.

Personal Financial Advisor Job Interview Questions & Answers

During a job interview, the hiring manager wants to discuss several things. Think of your:

Learn more about answering behavioral interview questions by using the STAR interview technique.

General Interview Questions For A Financial Advisor

In the beginning of an interview, potential employers often ask basic questions to determine your professionalism, values, work ethic and career goals. Here are 14 general interview questions a hiring manager may ask you during an interview for a financial advisor position:

• Why did you choose to work in finance?

• Why do you want to work for this company?

• What do you look for in a company?

• Describe your work ethic.

• What work environment is ideal for you?

• What type of clients do you work best with?

• How do you handle stressful situations?

• What are your career goals?

• What do you hope to gain from this position?

• What skills do you think you will bring to this position?

• What do you feel are your strengths and weaknesses?

• How do you prefer to communicate with your clients?

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What Are The Qualities That A Financial Advisor Need To Be Successful

Here, the interviewer wants to understand how informed and knowledgeable you are about this role. So, share all the prominent qualities one should have to become a successful financial advisor.

Sample Answer

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A person should have the ability to multitask to achieve success in this role. He/she should continuously study the market for providing financial advice to the respective company. A financial advisor knows where to invest and how to get the maximum return value. So, with his/her guidance, the company can maximize the profits from their financial investments.

What Is Your Philosophy On Investing

Its important to ensure you have the same investment philosophy as your financial advisor. The reason for this is you have to believe in what they are doing. If your view on investing is one based on a passive approach, you dont want an advisor that is going to be trading in and out of your account regularly.

Also, ask what asset allocation the advisor might recommend. Knowing how your investments will be allocated is an important question to ask a potential financial advisor that you might want to hire. It is important to know how they plan on investing your money. Will it be in stocks, bonds, mutual funds or a combination of investments? What type of investment mix will be used?

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Ask Him Or Her To Describe His Or Her Ideal Client

Any good financial advisor will have an area of expertise. You want someone who has expertise working with people like you. If youre about to retire, and they tell you they work with young families, maybe this isnt the person for you. Find a financial advisor whose ideal client sounds very similar to your situation concerning age, stage of life, and asset level.

Interview Question #: How Will You Measure And Evaluate My Investment Performance

You want a pro who sees the big picture, not just individual fund performance. A great financial advisor will evaluate your portfolio performance in light of your risk tolerance and long-term goals, as well as current trends in the stock market. Rate of return is important, but it isnt the only factor to consider.

Make sure the financial advisor you choose sees the value of a diverse portfolio and rebalance your funds when necessary. That way, when some funds are down, others can pick up the slack with above-average returns. A diversified portfolio will help you grow your investments steadily over time.

If any advisor wants to put all of your eggs in one basket by investing heavily in individual stocks or market ventures, thats a warning signal that theyre not the right pro for you.

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What Is Your Investment Philosophy And How Do You Manage Investments

While investments are just one piece of financial planning, its helpful to understand an advisors philosophy and approach before hiring them.

Does the advisor use low-cost index funds? Do they actively trade individual stocks? What about investing in gold, hedge funds, and other alternative investments?

Additional questions to consider asking:

• How do they incorporate investments held in a workplace retirement plan like a 401?
• How many positions do they include in each portfolio?
• Can they incorporate individual stock positions that you dont want to sell?
• What about tax-loss harvesting?

In addition to getting answers to these questions and more, you might ask for a sample portfolio so you can look under the hood and see things for yourself. While youre at it, check on those expense ratios!

What Is Your Work Experience And Background

It is important to know the background, education, andexperience your financial advisor brings with them to work with your money. Askquestions on where they may have gone to school and how long the person hasbeen a financial advisor.

The important thing to look for with experience is someonethat has been through the battles of market swings. A financial professionalthat has lived through a recession, a major market downturn and more than onechairman of the Federal Reserve can be a good sign.

The truth about the financial advisor industry is that 70%of the licensed professionals end up leaving the business within three years.There are a lot of young adults that enter the industry only to find it is noteasy. You dont want a financial advisor working for you that is here today andgone tomorrow. The more experience your potential financial advisor has thebetter.

At a minimum, it is a good idea to hire a financial advisorthat has at least 5 years of experience. 10 or more years is a plus. Yet, someonewith decades of experience you will want to take a closer look at. People thatsurvive for a large number of years in the financial advisor profession can beset in their ways. They dont always keep up with the newest technology ortrends.

Just because a financial advisor has a big title or a degreefrom a prestigious university it doesnt automatically make them a genius whenit comes to managing money.

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Questions To Ask A Financial Advisor

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Before you commit to a financial advisor, you want to make sure youre hiring the best person for you and your situation. Start by asking yourself a key question, then check out the 10 questions you should ask an advisor before hiring one.

As A Financial Advisor How Would You Cope With The Changing Economic Policies Without Putting The Company In Trouble

With this query the hiring authority tries to understand your ability to adapt to the changing economic conditions. So, identify the current economic condition and then evaluate it with the companys prospects.

Sample Answer

The onset of every new financial year comes with new challenges to cope with the changing government policies. Hence, I would research the current financial and economic conditions to foresee the coming waves of change. This way, I would adapt to any coming change in the economic policies without putting the future of my company at stake.

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Who Do You Specialize In Working With And How Many Clients Do You Have

Its important to ask a financial advisor what type of clients they specialize in working with.

After all, you wouldnt go to a personal injury attorney if you need help with a divorce.

Here are some examples of people advisors specialize in working with:

• Specific professions, such as doctors, teachers, or even speech-language pathologists.
• Employees of a major company, like Broadcom or Microsoft.
• Certain age groups, like millennials or baby boomers.

Its critical your financial advisor has the right expertise to help with your specific situation. Its also comforting to know theyve helped other clients with similar needs.

Speaking of other clients, asking a financial advisor how many clients they serve will help indicate two things:

The average experienced lead advisor has 96 clients, according to financial services guru Michael Kitces.

Think Of Your Typical Day As A Financial Advisor What Aspect Would You Prefer To Skip

The goal of this question is to find out whether a candidate is a good fit for your organization. For example, if a client would prefer to delegate client research, they might not be the best applicant for your organization that values extensive client research. What to look for in an answer:

• Honesty
• Supporting details

Example:

“Performing administrative tasks is one aspect I think any financial advisor would want to delegate. Coming up with financial plans and interacting with clients is more exciting to me. However, I understand that, as a financial advisor, I have to update client records, process trade tickets, and carry out other administrative tasks, and I’m happy to still do my part.”

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Additional Financial Advisor Interview Questions

• How do you plan on making the necessary contacts every day to be successful?

• If I gave you a million dollars, how would you invest it?

• What are your preferred wealth-management strategies?

• What is the biggest financial decision you ever had to make?

• What would your client business model look like?

• Do you specialize in a specific stock option?

What Type Of Advisor Fits Your Needs

Picking the right type of advisor is probably the most challenging part, according to Chapman. It mainly comes down to what you want help with and how much support you need.

You can hire an advisor for a single task or for ongoing assistance. Advisors can help you with a wide range of financial planning, insurance and investment needs, including specific goals and challenges. Maybe youve experienced a significant life change or transitionfor example, youre about to retire, or youre going through a divorceor you want to know what you could be doing to improve your financial position, says Chapman.

Think about how much of the work youd like to handle yourself:

Option 1: The advisor helps with creating a plan, and then you stay in the drivers seat and execute it. Not everyone wants to do thatyoull need the know-how, time and maybe even confidence, depending on whats involved.

Option 2: You decide youd rather not execute the whole plan yourself, and your financial advisor helps with that as well.

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What Do You Love About Your Job

You want a financial advisor who is passionate about what they do, not someone who dreads going to work every day. Not only will this question help you get to know a real financial advisor, but it should also clearly reveal their why. Do they have a sincere desire to help people? Do they care about the whole financial picture: paying off debt, having emergency savings, mitigating risk, estate planning and insurance review, making sure tax-efficient issues are covered, and building wealth for the long term? Whats their story of how they got into the business? Going back to the idea of trust, a relationship with a financial advisor is more than just talking about math. Its getting to the heart of emotions, hopes, and dreams.

Youll see what a financial advisor is all about by their response to this question. Youll also know very quickly if theyre just punching a clock. Dont settle for just anyone. You should be inspired and motivated to work with a financial advisor just like they should feel that way about you.

You should only look to hire a financial advisor that is excited to to empower his or her clients with clarity and confidence around their financial lives. A passionate financial advisor will want to inspire you to become fully engaged in your financial affairs, naturally leading to feelings of power and strength over other parts of your lives and optimism about your future.

Go Beyond Question Lists Using Interview Simulators

With interview simulators, you can take realistic mock interviews on your own, from anywhere.

My Interview Practice offers a simulator that generates unique questions each time you practice, so youll never see whats coming. There are questions for over 120 job titles, and each question is curated by actual industry professionals. You can take as many interviews as you need to, in order to build confidence.

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I Dont Know Anything About Binary Options Explain To Me What They Are And Why I Should Invest In Them

The ability to explain a complex concept with simple words is crucial for a financial advisor. Most of the time, you will meet people that have no idea of what youre talking about.

If they end up trusting you, they might decide to accept your suggestions without fully understanding the potential benefits and risks. This would be a major mistake! Because if the investment doesnt go as planned, they will blame you for a decision that they should have taken, and you will certainly lose a client.

When answering this question, focus on the most important aspects of the financial product that youre offering and make sure you highlight both the benefits and the risks.

What Resources Will I Have When Working With You

Depending on the financial advisor, they may work independently or as part of an investment organization. This may be important to your values as an investor, especially as your financial needs become more complex over time.

You may want to see what resources your financial advisor has that could help you feel more confident, informed and in control of your financial picture. Will you have access to online tools to monitor your portfolio? Does your financial advisor have technology to meet with you if you can’t meet in person? Does your financial advisor have access to up-to-date market news and financial education resources they can share with you?

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Creating Your Personal Financial Goals

Your goals can be broad, such as wanting to be able to travel upon retirement, or they can bespecific, such as wanting to buy a new car within the next few years. Below are some things toconsider before you meet with a financial professional. Write down your goals and bring themwith you to the interview.

What specific things do I wish to save for? Examples: buying a new car, a down payment on a home, vacation, sending your kids to college, paying off credit card debt, planning for retirement. How much progress have I made toward obtaining each of these goals to date? Include how much you have saved, where your money is located and how much money you owe. How soon do I wish to accomplish these goals? Break each goal into short-term , medium-term or long-term

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As A Financial Advisor You Will Be Required To Deal With Lots Of Numerical Data And Mathematical Calculations Which Can Be Hectic At Times How Do You Manage Your Stress Levels

Stress is a common issue that most corporate employees face while executing their duties. While being stressed or burned out, they are usually unable to perform their duties in a time-bound manner, and ultimately give a sub-standard performance. Thus, an interviewer is always interested in knowing the various strategies and techniques using which you are able to manage your stress levels.