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An expanding role for financial professionals. Are you up to the task?

Client demands for financial services at different life stages requires financial professionals to take on different roles. These roles require different skills and training; that can be acquired and fine-tuned through continuing education. The expanding role for financial professionals demands more effective management of industry mandated continuing education hours; designed to help financial professionals hone skills and acquire knowledge to meet client’s financial advice needs and expectations.

Successful financial professionals have responded to growing client demand for services by assuming a wider range of roles with clients. Most frequently, financial professionals describe their role as that of a financial planner (76%). In this, they are taking on a broader set of responsibilities, helping clients establish goals and integrating services such as tax planning, estate planning, philanthropic planning, and university funding planning.

A chart outlining roles financial professionals play to clients

Source: Natixis 2020 global survey of financial professionals.

Many are also finding success in helping to educate clients on markets and investments as a financial coach (50%). Others still are honing their offering around a specific set of needs and establishing themselves as experts on retirement income (39%). Others see themselves providing support for overly emotional clients as financial therapists (34%).

Be a better specialist or a better generalist. Your Choice.

Clients require the expertise of some or all of these roles as they navigate different life stages. Financial professionals perform some or many different functions for their clients and market themselves as such. By being efficient with continuing education plans, financial professionals can tackle more areas of expertise and strengthen their offerings with higher levels of proficiency in many of these roles.

Well thought out continuing education plans can drive successful business development marketing plans. Once in place, financial professionals can focus on building other layers of expertise to help with prospecting and serving to meet client demand for services.

Prospecting and marketing without an educational foundation are suboptimal in today’s competitive and compliance drive marketplace.  Avoid the risk of taking CE Credits that do not meet regulatory requirements and don’t provide the knowledge base and expertise needed for the prospecting power required to be competitive in the expanding role clients are demanding from financial professionals.

Written by: Colin Henry, B.A., CIM, President of CE Records Inc. CE Records is a software company that serves Canadian financial advisor’s needs to better manage CE credits. www.ce-records.com

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