What types of jobs can you do?
1. Client-facing activities
The direct delivery of personal financial planning services to a client, and building and maintaining client relationships are considered face-to-face roles.
Examples of client-facing activities include:
- recommending a full range of solutions (banking, credit, investment and wealth protection) to clients that takes into consideration their current situation, risk profile, time horizon and other personal factors, as well as the latest developments in the markets, economy and the investment industry
- identifying and engaging with potential clients to advise them about the benefits of customized wealth management and investment planning to meet their needs
- completing applications and closing sales as part of client interaction
- acting as a mentor for less experienced staff on the use of financial calculators, complex credit and managed portfolio solutions
- providing investment advice to existing and prospective clients over the telephone and in meetings in adherence to compliance and regulatory requirements
2. Financial planning support activities
Research and analysis, administrative and client support, and in-house training are activities that directly support a financial planner who is providing personal financial planning services to a client.
Examples of direct support activities include:
- conducting research and providing findings on a variety of issues, such as tax planning, asset allocation, cross-border asset management
- providing client service support including preparing meeting agendas, providing follow-up services in areas of cash management, tax and estate issues, and responding to client requests
- assisting with financial planning analysis, and producing comprehensive financial plans under supervision
- creating and updating user guides, job aids and other resources, assisting in ensuring that financial advice and planning tools, reports, questionnaires and marketing materials are updated on a regular basis, and developing new documents as required
- being accountable for the accuracy, relevance and appropriateness of in-house training content developed and delivered
- providing facilitation, classroom instruction, conference calls and web-based learning consistent with the objectives of the business
3. Supervisory activities
The management and/or coaching of financial planners who deliver financial planning services to clients are considered supervisory roles.
Examples of supervisory activities include:
- managing a team of financial advisors to ensure goals are met, including providing performance appraisals and constructive feedback
- assisting in the training of staff and/or business partners to help them better understand the organization’s offerings and services
- ensuring that the members of a team or a department follow the organization’s compliance and regulatory requirements and processes
- remaining current with business development, training trends and organizational shifts, and sharing this knowledge with colleagues and management
- increasing staff effectiveness by recognizing opportunities for development, and recommending new systems, processes, and structures
4. Academic activities
Teaching postsecondary level personal financial planning courses that include the application of knowledge, skills and abilities described in the FP Canada Standards Council Competency Profiles qualifies as a teaching role, and may qualify for a maximum of two years of financial planning work experience.
Examples of teaching activities include:
- teaching courses (for example, financial management, risk management, tax planning) at a postsecondary institution
- defining, evaluating and validating learning outcomes for courses and programs
- creating an environment for learning that accommodates students’ diverse cultural and educational backgrounds and individual learning styles, while applying best practices in pedagogy
- developing multi-media instructional materials and a combination of on-site and virtual delivery strategies
