Financial Advisor-earning potential?

Hello there. Once a QFA qualification is achieved what are the options open to the holder? Sorry if it seems a bit of a silly question. I was wondering how best to take advantage of it? Should you get professional indemnity and advertise locally? Could you get involved with a firm as a freelance advisor? Banks/Credit unions? etc. What is the earning potential for both employee/self employed (an hourly rate?) Any suggestions would be welcome

Depends ,are you any good

Give us some advice and we'll let you know

it's all commission based - the more you work and more clients you get, the more you get paid.

Going solo has it's own issues particularly with new compliance legislation, consumer code, etc.

You'd be better off working with an established independent broker to start with

bobk, I thought the very idea of an independent financial advisor was that they are paid by the client a flat fee given that they receive no commission from any institution therefore making them independent?

Thanks for the suggestion capall but i would assume you wouldnt run a very good business giving financial advice for free all the time on a chat forum!!! Most people do not want to pay for financial advice and instead choose to go solo and buy property they have never seen in a country they have never been too or take out a policy that they dont understand or buy shares in a company they dont have a clue about ....I would prefer to avoid people who want to go down that route and work with a few people who wish to make sound financial decisions based on research and rational thought.

money man said:

Thanks for the suggestion capall but i would assume you wouldnt run a very good business giving financial advice for free all the time on a chat forum!!!

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Some people here run successful business and do exactly that some of the time.

money man said:

I would prefer to avoid people who want to go down that route and work with a few people who wish to make sound financial decisions based on research and rational thought.

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Are you saying that you would turn customers away because they don't meet your high standards

money man said:

Thanks for the suggestion capall but i would assume you wouldnt run a very good business giving financial advice for free all the time on a chat forum!!!

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Giving financial information away for free is one of the top marketing and pr tools used by successful companies.
Most papers run a Q&A section with guest FA.
All big financial companies, give away free guides and information booklets.

money man said:

bobk, I thought the very idea of an independent financial advisor was that they are paid by the client a flat fee given that they receive no commission from any institution therefore making them independent?

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Not so.

independent means that they are not tied to any particular institution

Most poeple don't pay for financial advice because they don't have to. You seem to be targeting people who might really need specialist advice. The difficulty that you might have with only a QFA is in the area of tax advice. Too many investment decisions impacted by their tax effects, If you are charging someone for financial advice you will need to be more than just fairly confident that you can stand over the advice.

As an advisor charging for your advice you will be expected to be able to advise your client on the tax impact of, say, overseas rental income. If you end up in an argument with your client's tax advisor or worse still the client expects you to deal with the Inspector of Taxes when their query relates to the advice you have given you may end up out of your dept, beyond the cover of your professional indemnity insuarance and probably looking at unbillable hours.

As an advisor who is paid by the financial institution then you can wash your hands of this hot potato and advise your client to get some tax advice.

Thanks command thats a very interesting and relevant post. Are there any specific qualifications/exams for tax consultants or is that a degree in its own right or accountancy based? If there was a diploma/cert in tax advice etc i would be interested in doing it as it would work well with the QFA as i see your point about the issues that may arise..maybe it would be good to link in with a tax advisor/firm?

Hi Moneyman

I am QFA and also TMITI (Technician member Irish Institute of Taxation)

The technician qualification is a one year course including weekend lectures in Dublin.

I confirm that the two qualifications are a good fit

Aphrodite, thats good to hear that they are a good fit. I wondered though are there many opportunities open to the holder of both qualifications..Are there firms seeking such people? Or would it be more suitable to an accountant or someone who wants to be self employed as a consultant. Im not sure that any of the banks would need such people or am i wrong in saying this? I would like to speak to someone who has been through the process. If anyone wouldnt mind me e-mailing them if they have i would appreciate it.

Banks/life assurance firms regulary recruit for 'Personal Financial Planners'-a good stepping stone to going out on your own.

You could also buy an existing book of business from a 'retiring' advisor and work on that.

Would it be possible to access previous papers for any of the technician exams to see how difficult they are. It is an expensive course to do. If you were employed by a bank you may not need the tax technician qualification. It would be more suited to someone with their own practice or a consultant.?