You could do a degree in a relevant subject like:
- financial services
- business management
- accountancy
Entry requirements
You'll usually need:
- 2 or 3 A levels
Financial adviser
Alternative titles for this job include Independent financial adviser
Financial advisers help people and organisations to choose investments, savings, pensions, mortgages and insurance products.
Average salary (a year)
£25,000 Starter
to£90,000 Experienced
Typical hours (a week)
35 to 40 a week
You could work
evenings / weekends attending events or appointments
How to become a Financial adviser
You can get into this job through:
- a university course
- an apprenticeship
- working towards this role
University
Apprenticeship
You could do a financial adviser higher apprenticeship or a financial services professional degree apprenticeship.
Entry requirements
You'll usually need:
- 4 or 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C) and college qualifications like A levels for a higher or a degree apprenticeship
More information
Work
You could start as a financial services administrator or customer services adviser in a bank and work your way up.
To do this, you'll need to study for a level 4 qualification in financial advice recognised by the Financial Conduct Authority. These include:
- Chartered Insurance Institute Level 4 Diploma in Regulated Financial Planning
- The London Institute of Banking & Finance Level 4 Diploma for Financial Advisers
- Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment Level 4 Investment Advice Diploma
More information
Registration
you'll need to be registered as an 'approved person' by the Financial Conduct Authority
Further information
You can find details about working in financial services through The London Institute of Banking & Finance.
What it takes
Skills and knowledge
You'll need:
- 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
- you will be expected to use a computer confidently as part of this job.
Restrictions and requirements
You'll need to:
What you'll do
Day-to-day tasks
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
Working environment
You could work in an office, from home, at a client's home or in a contact centre.
Career path and progression
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.
Training opportunities
Apprenticeships In England
Retail Banking Level 2 Apprenticeship
- Wage : £14,000.00 Annually
- Location: Southall UB1 3HA
Finance Advanced Apprenticeship
- Wage : £11,000.00 Annually
- Location: Sudbury CO10 2XQ
Courses In England
Finance: Certificate in Financial Services CeFS and Diploma in Financial Services DipFS
- Provider: Nene Park Academy
- Start date: 01 September 2019
- Location: Peterborough
Financial Services Diploma Level 3 A Level
- Provider: Seevic College
- Start date: 01 August 2019
- Location: BENFLEET