What does an investment representative do?
Investment representatives, also known as financial advisers, usually work in a bank, investment company, credit institution, or other financial firm. They handle the marketing and promotion of financial services and give clients investment advice. They do this is the phone or through face-to-face transactions. This position requires someone to be customer-oriented, communicate effectively, and know how to handle a crisis.
Investment representative responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real investment representative resumes:
- Act as an investor center product coordinator; provide guidance on product and sales techniques for manage account solutions and annuities.
- Manage and strengthen customer relationships through cross-selling and up-selling to maximize retention and income generation by contacting existing and prospective customers.
- Re-Obtain previously hold FINRA licenses.
- Sell fix and variable annuities.
- License financial adviser & insurance producer register with both FINRA & the state of Massachusetts.
- Answer inquiries with regards to equities, options, mutual fund, fixed-income and unit investment trusts.
- Advise clients on market movements and general financial instruments ranging from equities, fix income, basic derivatives and cash equivalents.
- Maintain financial records and ensure compliance with federal securities laws and regulations and internal policies and guidelines.
- Complete all sales training, and obtain state and national securities certifications to become a license investment representative.
- Used SQL queries for backend testing.
- Calculate equity and portfolio valuation models such as DCF to forecast NPV of investment portfolios.
- Team member of the Bloomberg on-line trading program project.
- Maintain and update client files and paperwork as required by the NASD.
- Assume accountability in processing trades such as equity, derivatives, and debt as well as transfers.
- Perform company valuations utilizing comparable public company analysis, precedent transactions analysis, and DCF analysis.
Investment representative skills and personality traits
We calculated that 46% of Investment Representatives are proficient in Money Management, Mutual Funds, and Financial Services. They’re also known for soft skills such as Customer-service skills, Detail oriented, and Initiative.
We break down the percentage of Investment Representatives that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Money Management, 46%
Position mutual funds, fixed income products, and discretionary money management services to customers through a consultative selling strategy.
- Mutual Funds, 28%
Provided clarification on different mutual funds and their historical performances.
- Financial Services, 2%
Develop and execute the local market development plan including delivery of financial services education seminars.
- FINRA, 2%
Created a daily Sales report and managed daily sales activity of staff using my FINRA Series 8 Sales Supervisory license.
- Customer Relationships, 2%
Initiate customer relationships through prospecting, lead utilization, and local market and community involvement.
- Market Trends, 2%
Utilized data, market trends, and industry knowledge to develop and implement a personal business, and marketing plan.
Most investment representatives use their skills in "money management," "mutual funds," and "financial services" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential investment representative responsibilities here:
Customer-service skills. One of the key soft skills for an investment representative to have is customer-service skills. You can see how this relates to what investment representatives do because "securities, commodities, and financial services sales agents must be persuasive and make clients feel comfortable with the agent’s recommendations." Additionally, an investment representative resume shows how investment representatives use customer-service skills: "generated revenue for bank one by cultivating and managing customer relationships with targeted customer segments. "
Detail oriented. Another essential skill to perform investment representative duties is detail oriented. Investment representatives responsibilities require that "investment bankers must pay close attention to the details of initial public offerings and mergers and acquisitions because small changes can have large consequences." Investment representatives also use detail oriented in their role according to a real resume snippet: "provided customer-oriented sales and marketing for investment and insurance products to individual investors. "
Initiative. This is an important skill for investment representatives to perform their duties. For an example of how investment representative responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "securities, commodities, and financial services sales agents must create their own client base by making “cold” sales calls to people to whom they have not been referred and to people not expecting the call." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of an investment representative: "implemented investor center business plan initiatives focused on increasing direct and incremental sales. ".
The three companies that hire the most investment representatives are:
- Fidelity Investments40 investment representatives jobs
- SS&C Technologies4 investment representatives jobs
- New York Life Insurance2 investment representatives jobs
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Investment representative vs. Stock broker
Trade specialists are professionals who are responsible for handling the credit and financial activities of an organization while obtaining payments for its import or export operations. These specialists must advise the organization on matters of tariffs, markets, and federal and foreign regulations while keeping informed about the changes to laws and requirements that may impact operations. They must ensure that all filings, documents, and regulatory reporting are completed in a timely manner. Trade specialists must also negotiate and handle issues related to credit with international banks.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between investment representatives and stock broker. For instance, investment representative responsibilities require skills such as "money management," "strong time management," "mutual funds," and "fixed income products." Whereas a stock broker is skilled in "bonds," "stock market," "client relations," and "portfolio management." This is part of what separates the two careers.
Stock brokers really shine in the finance industry with an average salary of $69,142. Comparatively, investment representatives tend to make the most money in the finance industry with an average salary of $84,101.The education levels that stock brokers earn slightly differ from investment representatives. In particular, stock brokers are 1.8% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than an investment representative. Additionally, they're 0.4% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Investment representative vs. Trade specialist
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.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, investment representative responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "money management," "strong time management," "financial services," and "finra." Meanwhile, a trade specialist has duties that require skills in areas such as "customer service," "hvac," "plumbing," and "hand tools." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
On average, trade specialists earn a lower salary than investment representatives. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, trade specialists earn the most pay in the finance industry with an average salary of $46,311. Whereas investment representatives have higher pay in the finance industry, with an average salary of $84,101.In general, trade specialists achieve similar levels of education than investment representatives. They're 3.6% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.4% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for investment representatives in the next 3-5 years?
APS Professor of Economics at the University of Arizona, The University of Arizona
Investment representative vs. Finance advising internship
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, investment representatives are more likely to have skills like "money management," "strong time management," "mutual funds," and "fixed income products." But a finance advising internship is more likely to have skills like "student athletes," "client data," "powerpoint," and "morningstar."
Finance advising interns typically earn similar educational levels compared to investment representatives. Specifically, they're 0.9% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.3% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Investment representative vs. Registered sales assistant
Types of investment representative
Updated January 8, 2025











