What does an investment counselor do?
Investment counselors can be called financial planners. They usually work in a financial institution to communicate with clients on how to invest in an investment. An investment counselor often assesses the client's financial situation to come up with a financial plan. Sometimes, they are also responsible for conducting training and workshops for both clients and bank employees.
Investment counselor responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real investment counselor resumes:
- Manage $3MM private investment portfolio consisting of mid-cap/large-cap equities.
- Adjust sector exposure to express personal macro views, selecting single stocks within sector base on fundamental analysis and technical indicators.
- Monitor preparation of asset/liability management report.
Investment counselor skills and personality traits
We calculated that 13% of Investment Counselors are proficient in Client Service, Capital Markets, and Client Relationships. They’re also known for soft skills such as Interpersonal skills, Sales skills, and Speaking skills.
We break down the percentage of Investment Counselors that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Client Service, 13%
Provide client services in analysis of portfolios, maximization of attaining client financial goals and servicing accounts.
- Capital Markets, 11%
Required actively educating and engaging clients on advanced capital markets, providing counseling, and driving client results through increased investments.
- Client Relationships, 10%
Defined and implemented educational seminars resulting in new client relationships.
- Securities, 10%
Licensed securities and insurance counselor advising individuals with their financial objectives.
- Wealth Management, 8%
Managed investment portfolios for clients; asset allocation, wealth management, tax advantaged investments, portfolio evaluations.
- Brokerage, 7%
Participated in comprehensive Citicorp brokerage training programs.
Most investment counselors use their skills in "client service," "capital markets," and "client relationships" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential investment counselor responsibilities here:
Interpersonal skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for an investment counselor to have is interpersonal skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "a major part of a personal financial advisor’s job is making clients feel comfortable." Investment counselors often use interpersonal skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "demonstrated strong interpersonal and questioning skills in working closely with clients in all facets of financial planning and portfolio management. "
Sales skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling investment counselor duties is sales skills. The role rewards competence in this skill because "to expand their base of clients, personal financial advisors must be convincing and persistent in selling their services." According to an investment counselor resume, here's how investment counselors can utilize sales skills in their job responsibilities: "represented a large brokerage firm for products and services through direct sales. "
Speaking skills. This is an important skill for investment counselors to perform their duties. For an example of how investment counselor responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "personal financial advisors interact with clients every day." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of an investment counselor: "presented investment solutions and provided advice. ".
Analytical skills. investment counselor responsibilities often require "analytical skills." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "in determining an investment portfolio for a client, personal financial advisors must be able to assess a range of information, including economic trends, regulatory changes, and the client’s comfort with risky decisions." This resume example shows what investment counselors do with analytical skills on a typical day: "conducted financial regression based on research with targeted verticals, wide range of financial data, and diverse stock exchange reports. "
Math skills. Another crucial skill for an investment counselor to carry out their responsibilities is "math skills." A big part of what investment counselors relies on this skill, since "personal financial advisors must be adept at working with numbers to determine the amount invested, how that amount has grown or decreased over time, and how a portfolio is distributed among different investments." How this skill relates to investment counselor duties can be seen in an example from an investment counselor resume snippet: "performed research on equity and fixed income products, using established trading strategies and qualitative/quantitative methods. "
The three companies that hire the most investment counselors are:
- Citi24 investment counselors jobs
- Fisher Investments11 investment counselors jobs
- HSBC Bank8 investment counselors jobs
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Investment counselor vs. Certified finance planner
Finance advising interns help with the marketing of finance packages offered by firms and banks. They assist in creating plans to increase clientele and work with clientele to succeed in their financial goals. They provide advice to clients, answer their queries, and assist them in fulfilling goals. They may also assist in creating seminars for financial consultants. Under the supervision of a finance director, interns gain experience and learn to apply their knowledge.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of an investment counselor are more likely to require skills like "capital markets," "wealth management," "brokerage," and "investment philosophy." On the other hand, a job as a certified finance planner requires skills like "investment management," "tax planning," "risk management," and "direct guests." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
On average, certified finance planners reach similar levels of education than investment counselors. Certified finance planners are 0.9% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.3% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Investment counselor vs. Finance advising internship
A financial planner is responsible for handling client accounts and providing financial advice to determine the best investment options according to the clients' interests and risk appetite. Financial planners record the clients' living expenses as a part of their portfolio, identifying their long-term goals and objectives, and giving tax advice. They also educate clients with investment options and opportunities to improve the clients' account performance and sell financial products. A financial planner must have excellent analytical and communication skills to conduct data and statistical analysis, especially in researching financial instruments in the market.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that investment counselor responsibilities requires skills like "capital markets," "client relationships," "securities," and "brokerage." But a finance advising internship might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "student athletes," "client data," "powerpoint," and "client relations."
Average education levels between the two professions vary. Finance advising interns tend to reach similar levels of education than investment counselors. In fact, they're 1.4% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.3% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Investment counselor vs. Finance planner
The primary job of finance professionals is to provide financial services using their knowledge of finance, tax laws, and accounting. These professionals typically help with corporate finance, personal finance, or both. Their duties include helping clients develop financial plans that will ensure their financial stability, developing the company's financial strategy, and forecasting corporate profits and losses. Additionally, finance professionals are responsible for negotiating credit lines, preparing financial statements, and working closely with outside auditors. To become successful in this role, you need to have strong customer service and analytical skills.
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from investment counselor resumes include skills like "client service," "capital markets," "securities," and "wealth management," whereas a finance planner is more likely to list skills in "financial aid," "financial services," "client facing," and "risk management. "
Finance planners make a very good living in the insurance industry with an average annual salary of $71,594. On the other hand, investment counselors are paid the highest salary in the finance industry, with average annual pay of $94,625.finance planners typically earn similar educational levels compared to investment counselors. Specifically, they're 0.8% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.2% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Investment counselor vs. Finance professional
Even though a few skill sets overlap between investment counselors and finance professionals, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, an investment counselor might have more use for skills like "client service," "capital markets," "wealth management," and "brokerage." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of finance professionals require skills like "excellent interpersonal," "strong work ethic," "finra," and "llc. "
The insurance industry tends to pay the highest salaries for finance professionals, with average annual pay of $57,846. Comparatively, the highest investment counselor annual salary comes from the finance industry.In general, finance professionals hold similar degree levels compared to investment counselors. Finance professionals are 0.7% less likely to earn their Master's Degree and 0.6% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of investment counselor
Updated January 8, 2025











