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The differences between brokers and investment advisors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a broker has an average salary of $124,861, which is higher than the $105,377 average annual salary of an investment advisor.
The top three skills for a broker include brokerage, financial services and insurance products. The most important skills for an investment advisor are exceptional client, risk management, and client relationships.
| Broker | Investment Advisor | |
| Yearly salary | $124,861 | $105,377 |
| Hourly rate | $60.03 | $50.66 |
| Growth rate | 5% | 15% |
| Number of jobs | 2,770 | 63,438 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 66% | Bachelor's Degree, 76% |
| Average age | 49 | 45 |
| Years of experience | - | 4 |
Brokers can either be a firm or an individual acting as an intermediary between a securities exchange and an investor. They often provide services to individual investors and traders who cannot engage directly with security exchanges, which only accept orders from their members. They provide investors and traders with an investment plan, market intelligence, and research. They may cross-sell some financial services and products offered by their brokerage firms. They are also typically classified as discount or full-service brokers.
An investment advisor is responsible for managing the clients' financial portfolios, advising them of investment options according to their financial goals and objectives, and their ability to handle risks. Investment advisors should have excellent knowledge of the investment policies, providing the clients with the best financial strategies according to their interests. They also determine their expenses, income, and credit scores to identify a comprehensive financial plan. An investment advisor helps the clients with cash management techniques, as well as conducting data analysis on financial market projections.
Brokers and investment advisors have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Broker | Investment Advisor | |
| Average salary | $124,861 | $105,377 |
| Salary range | Between $68,000 And $227,000 | Between $60,000 And $184,000 |
| Highest paying City | New York, NY | New York, NY |
| Highest paying state | New York | New York |
| Best paying company | Child Guidance & Family Solutions | McKinsey & Company Inc |
| Best paying industry | Insurance | Telecommunication |
There are a few differences between a broker and an investment advisor in terms of educational background:
| Broker | Investment Advisor | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 66% | Bachelor's Degree, 76% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | University of Southern California | University of Minnesota - Twin Cities |
Here are the differences between brokers' and investment advisors' demographics:
| Broker | Investment Advisor | |
| Average age | 49 | 45 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 63.8% Female, 36.2% | Male, 72.3% Female, 27.7% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 5.3% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 13.2% Asian, 6.9% White, 70.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% | Black or African American, 5.6% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 9.4% Asian, 8.2% White, 72.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% |
| LGBT Percentage | 13% | 5% |