When you need to hire a financial planner for your organization, the first step is to write a job description. While this may seem like a waste of time, it will save effort in the long run because you won’t have to waste time sorting through the resumes of applicants who don’t seem to understand what the job entails or do not have the right qualifications for the position. Taking the time now will pay off in the long run. If you are unsure about how to write a job description, the following is a financial planner job description sample.
Financial Planner Job Summary
As a financial planner, you will provide financial consulting services to assist clients with their financial objectives and goals. Based off of financial assets and goals, you will recommend an appropriate combination of investment and insurance services and products while complying with all state and federal regulations.
Financial Planner Job Duties and Responsibilities
- Develop a book of business by cold calling, contacting personal and professional contacts, and networking.
- Manage a book of business by performing regular reviews and using approved services and products.
- Grow book of business by identify value-added services and products, developing additional referral business, and acquiring client assets held by another organization.
- Build client relationships through calls and face-to-face meetings.
- Manage client relationships with the goal of being the first call made for all financial planning needs.
- Coordinate communications across applicable institutional segments and among client’s account team.
- Comply will all regulatory requirements.
- Keep job skills relevant by participating in professional organizations and taking continuing education classes and seminars.
- Some local travel may be required.
Job Qualifications and Skills
- Bachelor’s degree is strongly preferred
- Series 7, Series 66, and state life insurance licenses are preferred. Candidates who don’t have a current license may be eligible for sponsorship through the company in order to obtain them within 90 days of hire.
- Professional designation of CFP (Certified Financial Planner) preferred
- Strong sales background
- Great verbal and written communication skills
- Excellent interpersonal and relationship-building skills
- Financial background is preferred
- Competent computing skills including MS Office, CRM, and proprietary systems
- Basic and advanced math skills
- Ability to gain and maintain trust
Company Profile
ABC Financial Services, Inc. is a trusted company that has been around for 50 years and services clients in all 50 states. We hire professionals who want what is best for the clients and the organization. With a great benefit package and annual bonuses for a job well done, we hire and maintain top-notch employees. We offer continual learning opportunities that combine knowledge and fun, and we motivate employees to continue their studies to earn additional professional designations.
Job Description Best Practices
- While the above financial planner job description is a good example of how to attract high-quality applicants, there may be times when you need to design a job description from scratch. The following will help guide you write a top-notch job posting that attracts the best talent and weeds out the unqualified individuals.
- Be as specific as possible so that applicants know exactly what type of position they are applying for. This also helps to weed out those who are not interested in the daily tasks.
- Use bullet points to make certain sections easier to read. It is always best to use bullets in the responsibilities and qualifications sections, and you can use them in other sections in which they would improve the format.
- Encourage job seekers to apply for the position by including the name of the hiring manager and either mailing address or email of where they should send in their application and resume. Including this call to action can make a huge difference.
- It is best not to include information about salary and benefits unless your company allows it to be publicized.
- This is your chance to highlight the company’s personality. This may include highlighting special employee perks or including the company’s inspiring vision and mission. Doing so may just attract top talent from another organization because he or she is attracted to the culture of the organization.
Financial Planner Job Responsibilities
When you write your financial planner job description, you’ll likely spend the most time on developing the job responsibilities. In a job description, the responsibilities are the most important part that potential applicants commonly will read over carefully. Your job is to create a well-written list of duties that helps jobseekers understand your company’s expectations. These responsibilities should represent the most essential tasks of a financial planner.
It’s important to make your list of responsibilities as succinct as possible for the financial planner job description. Most job postings give at least six duties but avoid including more than eight. It’s a good idea to use bullet points for your list and to start each item with a clear action verb to help with readability. This way, you can attract someone who’s truly prepared for the demands of the job.
Here are some example financial planner job responsibilities:
- Discuss financial matters with clients in periodic meetings and update information about each client’s income, assets, property, retirement accounts and goals
- Suggest various financial plans, products and strategies to help clients achieve specific financial goals for their future
- Create investment and other financial reports by summarizing the quarterly or yearly performance of each product or account
- Follow all financial news, market fluctuations and other essential parts of the industry to help anticipate the trends in investing
Financial Planner Job Specifications
For an effective financial planner job description, you’ll also need a solid overview of the job’s skills and qualifications. In most job postings, this list isn’t very long; however, it may take a little more time to decide what the top candidates should possess to join your team. Essentially, you need to include the required skills and qualifications that are necessary for the job and additional preferred skills or qualifications that could be helpful to the applicant. The main purpose of this section is to help your company find the right person who will be the perfect fit for your open position.
If you and your team put a lot of time and effort into this section, you’ll have an easier job of sorting through the resumes. A clearer financial planner job description with a concise list of skills and qualifications could help reduce the number of unqualified applicants responding. If you’re having trouble coming up with details, review things such as education level, years of experience and certifications that are standard in the industry.
Here are some typical financial planner job specifications:
- Bachelor’s degree in finance, accounting, business, math or a related field
- Licensed as a Certified Financial Planner
- Three or more years of experience working with clients in financial advising
- Highly organized and motivated