What Should You Look For In a Financial Advisor
When
we talk about money management, taking professional help is useful in achieving
your financial goals. Understanding the details of your corporate investment
and other ventures is important to start strong and sustain the success with
over the time. Financial advisors not only help you guide into the right track
but it's also very important from the trust and comfort perspective. It should
be someone who you can feel comfortable for the important investments.
Most
of the people stick with the first choice of referral from colleague or
friends. Always remember that what may work for one person may not really work
for another one. There are various factors responsible such as experience,
personality, fee structure and effectiveness of an advisor which may not work
the same for a different client. While selecting the financial advisor for your
startup, you need to be sure that the advisor is well versed and updated about
the different business services such as unsecured business, corporate credit
and no doc line of credit. In this article, we will highlight few things
that need to be kept in mind while looking for a professional financial
advisor.
1. Proficiency and Honesty
Honesty
and transparency are the most important factors in an advisor-client
relationship. Before your initial meeting, draft a list of different questions
that really matter most to your business today and for the future. This is a
possible opportunity for you to see how compatible is your communication level
with your advisor based on interaction and responses you get. Some of the most
common questions to ask are regarding educational qualification, experience as
an advisor and about the area of expertise. You can also inquire about the
current client base and ask them to make you talk to them about their services.
2.
Proper credentials
There
are more than 100 different types of certifications and titles that any
financial advisor can claim. From CFAs to CFPs, it's necessary to know the
difference in each product to narrow down the list of some of the most suitable
advisors. You can also look out for the credentials of financial advisor
provided by Financial Industry Regulatory Authority that operates honestly and
fairly.
3.
Clean Payment Structure
If
you are not sure about the financial advisor's fee structure, make sure you ask
questions. Some of the advisors can charge the consulting fee for a small
interview while others could include account registration, planning fee etc.
You should always feel free to request the list of different charges that might
incur to avoid any discrepancies and surprises. Besides the fees, the main
point to clarify is that how will be advisor paid. There are two ways of
compensating advisors: commission basis or fee-only. The commission based
financial advisor are paid through commissions while the fee-only gets
compensated with a flat fee or hourly rate set by the financial institution.
The financial advisor should be given the detailed structure of their fee on
the proactive basis to clear all the doubts. The payment part should be clearly
discussed beforehand if the prospective client also wishes to know.
4.
Firm Handshake
Selecting
the right financial advisor takes a certain level of confidence and
comfortability. The more the efforts in selecting the right candidates, the
better would be the odds to find success and a right candidate. Once you find
the best advisor for your business needs, you need a firm handshake to seal the
final deal.
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