Financial Advisor Description
A financial advisor is a professional who provide advice for
investments and financial planning services to individuals,
businesses or governments. Ideally, the financial advisor will
assist the client in sustaining the recommended balance of capital
gains and investment income with appropriate level of risk by
utilization of proper asset allocation. Real estate investment
trusts, options, stocks, mutual funds, bonds, futures, insurance
products and notes could all be used to the meet the needs of the
client. Most financial advisors receive a fee or commission for the
various services they provide as a broker. Recently fee based
planning service is becoming popular amidst the financial service
industry.
There are both bee based and fee-only advisors. The fee based
advisor collects commission and charges a fee. Fee only advisors
only collect a fee which avoids some concern of conflict of interest
as result of commissions or referral fees paid by other product or
service providers.
The main purpose of the financial advisor is to plan and arrange
with the client their financial affairs including:
� Meeting long term financial goals
� Retirement provisions for individuals
� Tax treatment of investments
� Asset allocation
� Overall investor situation including the need for estate plans for
individuals or various corporate needs for business clients
Financial advisors should understand the client’s financial
circumstances and their need for financial stability. It is the
responsibility of the financial advisor to minimize the client’s
risk and maximize their money.
Individual Retirement Planning
Individual retirement planning is one of the responsibilities of the
financial advisor when dealing with non-government or corporate
clients. The financial advisor should have a good knowledge of asset
allocation, forecasting, taxation, asset allocation, financial tools
and products to reach optimal goals for their client.
The financial advisor has to meet regulatory guidelines. The
financial adviser or stock broker should have the proper licenses to
provide consultation on investment in securities.