Once bitten, twice shy - and the public has learnt not to rely upon personal instincts and conjectures in investment. So, at the moment, financial advisor jobs show a high growth rate, and as projected by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the profession is expected to grow at a rate of 30% through 2018. As far as job security is concerned, financial advisor careers provide a reasonably lucrative outlook both at present and in the near future.
About 29 percent people in financial advisor careers are self-employed, and thus this profession offers a greater chance of independent operations than in other professions. There were about 208, 400 people in financial advisor jobs in May 2008 and the median salary was $69,050.
Financial advisor jobs are lucrative, but require complete dedication
Have no illusion, financial advisor jobs are truly taxing on those in financial advisor careers and staying awake at nights worrying over problems is the rule rather than the exception.
Just last Thursday, October 28, 2010, the question ''What worries the best financial advisors?'' was raised at Charles Schwab's Impact 2010 conference. The general answer was that clients did not want a repetition of the miscalculations of the recession, and it was difficult to deliver in ''a prolonged period of low returns on investments.'' Tim Kochis, Chairman of the Board at Aspirant said that people in financial advisor jobs today have to spend great efforts just to ensure a 4% return for their clients.
Another problem of people in financial advisor careers, according to Keith McWilliams, CEO of Mt. Eden Investment Advisors, was that most clients do not properly understand market practices such as high frequency trading and dark pools. To others, the rise of the social media on the internet was both a boon and a bane to those in financial advisor jobs as opinions in social media have the power to alter the market.
Mistakes made by people in financial advisor jobs
Post recession, people in financial advisor careers have to be more dedicated and involved in their professions. As recent data (TD Ameritrade Institutional Allocation to Cash and Fixed Income) clearly shows that over the last three stressful economic years, most people in financial advisor jobs have reacted poorly to market changes rather than properly assessing future trends and taking assertive action. The radical data from the TD Ameritrade Institutional Allocation to Cash and Fixed Income published at the National FPA Conference show the following errors committed by their people in financial advisor jobs:
- On 10/9/07, after five years of strong markets with US stocks doubling and international stocks having tripled, people in financial advisor jobs had only 26 percent of their clients' assets in cash and fixed income
- On 3/9/09 when the market was at its bottom and began to move upwards, advisors doubled the allocation of conservative assets at 51 percent thus restricting both the economy and returns
- In 2010, when the financial markets have mostly recovered, financial advisors have reduced conservative assets to 40%
The conclusion by the researchers of the data in the above paragraph was that people in financial advisor careers were humans and it is inevitable that they will possess the human characteristic of performance chasing. Other studies in the field show that people in financial advisor jobs tend to chase performance at about the same level of direct consumer investment. It is the tendency to chase performance that makes sticking to an asset allocation difficult, and consequently gives rise to most of the mistakes made by people in financial advisor jobs.
