How To Interview Financial Advisor

Use Math Riddles To Prepare For Mathematical Questions

Many hiring managers in the finance industry use mathematical questions in interviews to gain an understanding of your financial knowledge and test your ability to problem-solve. To improve your performance during a financial advisor interview, practice answering mathematical problems at home. Write out each step of your decision-making process while answering the question. You can use the written information as a reference during your interview.

Here are some examples of mathematical riddles:

• If you set a clock to 5: 30 p.m., what angle measurement is between the hour and minute hands?
• What is the sum of numbers 1 to 100?
• If you roll a pair of dice, what is the probability you will roll an 8?
• What is the next number in the following sequence: 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13?

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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.

Have You Ever Been Disciplined For Unethical Or Unlawful Conduct

Don’t be afraid to ask this question outright. Then follow up with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority , which maintains a disciplinary history of most financial planners and advisers. Most advisors are honest and ethical, but more than a few have been involved in arbitration cases, especially in dynamic economies. Better to know now.

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How Liquid Should Your Client’s Portfolio Be

When we refer to the liquidity of a client’s portfolio, all we mean is the quickness in which it can be turned into cash.

How liquid a client’s portfolio should be will be contingent on how high their net worth is and what future cash outlays they may need to make. For example, for someone with a $300,000 net worth who needs to be ready to come up with a significant downpayment in the future, then the client’s portfolio should be in cash, highly liquid products.

For others, they may be able to have a significant part of their portfolio locked into higher return, less liquid products. Some of these less liquid products would include hedge fund and private equity investments for the ultra high net worth individuals. But for those at the lower end of the net worth spectrum, there are still illiquid investments that can be made that offer higher return profiles.

The primary example that most financial advisors will put some clients into are structured products that lock up capital for a year or two and provide returns based off of certain conditions holding over that year or two time period.

What Is Your Background

An excellent way to start any conversation is by asking someone to tell you about themselves. When youre speaking to your advisor, its good to know them on a personal basis. However, youre really looking for information on their background as an advisor.

Ask them some follow-up questions like:

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Are You A Confidant

A trustee is a person who is legally required to make decisions in the best interests of his clients. Not all financial advisors are fiduciaries. Ideally, yours will be.

Non-fiduciary consultants can recommend investments and products that simply appropriate

The difference between an investment in your best interest and a suitable investment can add up to a significant amount of money over time.

Typically, eligible investments have higher costs or can pay advisors commissions to sell them. In these cases, the advisor may get more, but you may end up getting less money.

More details:What is a fiduciary rule and why you should care

What Experience Education And Credentials Do You Have

Its important to understand the financial advisors knowledge base to help you with your specific financial situations. What is the advisors educational background? Does the advisor have a degree in a related area and does he or she keep current in the field through continuing education? How long has this person been providing financial advice to clients? Ask about their professional designations and training in the industry. No designation will guarantee that an advisor will give you the best possible advice, but asking these questions will give you a sense of the advisors commitment to their profession.

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Question #: How Often Do You Communicate With Your Clients

This question can you give you a glimpse into a typical client experience with an advisor. By finding out how often an advisor is in touch with his or her clients, you can get a sense of whether there will be an open line of communication or simply quarterly updates.

Some advisors may prefer frequent face-to-face meetings, while others may primarily work over the phone or via email. Some may be open to phone calls whenever a question arises, while others may prefer to stick to scheduled communications. Its up to you which communication style better suits your needs.

What Questions Should I Ask That I Haven’t Asked Already

Sometimes the best approach to fact-finding is to ask what the advisor thinks you need to know. Asking the prospective advisor to put questions in your mouth, then answer them, is another great way to find out about that individual’s approach to customer service. Probably the least satisfying answer to this question is I can’t think of a thing: you’ve asked all the right questions.

Reach us at 800-505-5515, or .

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How Much Should You Save By Age 60

For most people, age 60 is where the rubber meets the road. Retirement is just a few short years away. This is the time to funnel as much extra income as you can toward your retirement accounts, before your income-earning years come to a close.

If you need an extra reason to save, consider the rising cost of healthcare. According to a recent report released by Fidelity and reported by AARP, the average retiree can expect to spend around $240,000 for healthcare-related costs. This number doesnt include the cost of long-term care or the costs associated with early retirement, for those who need to close the gap between when they leave their job and age 65, when Medicare kicks in.

If youre struggling to find ways to boost your savings, Emily Guy Birken, author of The 5 Years Before You Retire: Retirement Planning When You Need It the Most, suggests, Now is the time to downsize. Not only can you beef up your retirement savings with any money you are able to generate from the sale of your home , but moving to a smaller space while you are still working can help ease the psychological transition to retirement.

Questions To Ask When Choosing A Financial Advisor

When people think of their money and how it is managed, they often zoom in on one metric how well their investments performed compared to the broader market.

But a new survey reveals that another big factor determines whether someone is satisfied with his or her investment firm: the financial advisor.

The study finds that there are two elements beyond investment performance separating firms with high satisfaction from those with low satisfaction: the person that investors credit for their investment performance and the relationship investors have with their advisor, said Craig Martin, director of investment services at J.D. Power & Associates, which conducted the study.

When it comes to our money, how well our investments do is out of our control as they say, past performance is not an indicator of future results. But, who we choose to manage our money is.

For that reason, youll want to search and vet all candidates carefully. Heres how to find an advisor who is a good fit for your money needs.

How to Find the Right Candidates

When you have your initial interview, here are the questions you want to ask:

1. How do you charge for your services, and how much?

2. What licenses, credentials or other certifications do you have?

3. What services do you/does your firm provide?

4. What types of clients do you specialize in?

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Technical And Trick Questions

The question, How do you achieve your goals? might sound like a character assessment, but it is a technical question. Not everyone can set and achieve goals, but a competent financial advisor must. Get ready to describe your method succinctly and clearly. Another group of hidden technical questions involves how you build relationships with clients of different experience levels. Prepare to discuss how you respond to tricky situations, including confrontational or escalated clients.

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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Investing Philosophy Is Important

No matter what, you want a financial advisor who can clearly explain their investing philosophy. Make sure they have a long-term investing strategy that is right for you and is willing to take your opinion into account.

Another great question to ask when an advisor recommends a particular fund is: Do you personally invest in this fund yourself? If an advisor is confident enough in a fund to invest his or her own money, that can give you some confidence.

Ask About Retirement Planning Projections

A retirement planning projection helps you see how much money you will have available to spend each year, from now through life expectancy. The projection is based on assumptions about the rate of return at which your assets grow, the pace of inflation, and your spending habits.

You want someone who uses a conservative set of assumptions after all, youd rather end up with more than what is projected, not less. A conservative set of assumptions would be growing financial assets at 5 – 6% a year, using an inflation rate of 3% , and, if real estate assets are to be sold later, using only a 2% annual growth rate for them.

I have seen financial plans run using 12% rates of return on savings and investments while assuming a 2% inflation rate. While this set of assumptions makes the future look rosy, its make-believe. You need realistic projections to make appropriate decisions.

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Are You Comfortable Reaching Out To Clients In Person And Over The Phone

Financial advisors must know how to interact and hold productive conversations with clients. By asking this question, you can learn more about a candidate’s communication skills and related qualities. What to look for in an answer:

• Experience interacting with clients
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills
• Excitement about reaching out to clients

Example:

“Contacting clients is a task I am always happy to carry out. Before I became a financial advisor, I was a marketing representative. My experience helped me develop excellent communication and interpersonal skills. I believe I am ready to use those skills as a financial advisor in your organization.”

Tell Me What You Know About

Some interviewers are going to test your specific knowledge about financial planning. They want candidates who require minimal remedial training and hand-holding. Therefore, it is important to study the ins and outs of the field and be prepared for any technical questions the interviewer might throw your way.

Worst-case scenario, the interviewer asks about a term with which you are unfamiliar. Do not panic. Also, do not try to sidestep the question. Oftentimes, people worm their way out of a question they cannot or do not wish to answer by mentally replacing it with the question they wish they had gotten, and answering that one instead.

While this tactic seems to work for politicians in televised debates, it is a bad idea during a job interview. Not only does it tell the interviewer you lack the answer, but it also makes you look oily and insincere. Be straightforward. Admit you are unfamiliar with the term and confidently state you are a work in progress, always learning and growing in the profession. At that point, demonstrate your value by offering a unique piece of information you do know.

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How To Choose A Financial Advisor

When evaluating a potential financial expert, you need to be prepared to ask some questions that will help you make an informed decision and choose the right advisor.

Here are a few questions that can help you choose the best financial advisor for you:

What can you tell me about your experience as an investment professional? How long have you done this type of work? What type of clients are you looking for? How will I have access to you for questions? How often will I be able to communicate with you? How often do you communicate with your clients?

There are a few larger questions you are going to want to ask that weve detailed below that will help you find the right financial consultant.

Make Adjustments As Necessary

If the advisor doesnt live up to your standards, dont immediately ditch them if it isnt a serious issue. Communicate with your advisor and see if the situation can be fixed as long as the problem isnt severe, such as missing funds or flat-out lying to you.

The advisor may not address your issues in a way you find acceptable. In that case, its time to find a new advisor and move your money.

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Why Do You Want To Work For Our Bank

Try to praise them for something. Perhaps their attitude to customers, the protection and guarantees they offer to clients, the wide portfolio of investment options, top-notch training program for new hires, or anything else.

Researching about the company you should find something positive about the way they do their job, something worthy of praise.

In fact most reviews and ratings you will find will be negative. But this is because a few satisfied clients would come back to leave a positive review, while nearly everyone dissatisfied would leave a negative one Do not get discouraged by the reviews you find onlinethey never tell the entire truth, doesnt matter whether positive or negative prevail.

Financial Advisor Interview Questions

These questions include a combination of behavioral interview questions, questions about your knowledge of regulatory issues, and job-specific questions designed to determine your ability, qualifications, skills, and potential for success.

Some questions are designed to fathom what kind of person you are, such as Why do you want to be a financial advisor? and Are you connected to the community? Your prospective employer wants to make sure that you are a good match for the company culture.

A related group of questions will address your character and your approach to your career, such as Describe a time when you had to help someone make a difficult decision, and What are your career goals? Where do you want to be in five or 10 years?

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Tell Me About A Time When

• Tell me about a time when you dealt with a difficult person.
• Tell me about a time when you overcame adversity.
• Tell me about a time when you made a mistake and how you handled it.
• Tell me about a time when your boss made an unpopular decision and how you responded.

• Situation: describe the situation in which the event took place.
• Task: describe the task you were asked to complete or the problem you had to solve.
• Action: explain what actions you took to complete the task or solve the problem.
• Results: explain the results of your actions.

Are You Associated With Any Broker

The answer you are looking for here is no.

This goes back to our point on incentives. Weve found that the incentives of independent advisors, who have no association with large broker houses or parent companies, are more aligned with the interests of their clients.

Here at Oxford, we work only for you. We are 100% employee owned, and registered with the SEC. No brokerage firm, no middleman.

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