Becoming a finance consultant can be a lucrative career, but it’s also one that requires a lot of hard work and dedication. To become a successful finance consultant, you’ll need to first determine which type of consulting work is right for you. Do you want to work with small businesses or large corporations? Do you want to specialize in strategy consulting or operations consulting? Once you’ve decided on the type of consulting you want to do, it’s time to start building your skills as a financial advisor. Here are some tips for how to do just that:

1) Get an MBA from a top business school: A Master’s degree in Business Administration (MBA) is one of the best ways for aspiring consultants to refine their skills and knowledge about financial management. It will also give them the opportunity to network with other professionals in their field.

2) Build up your experience through internships: Internships are an excellent way for new graduates to gain valuable experience and connect with industry professionals before entering into full-time employment at a company or company division that interests them most. Take advantage of every opportunity that comes along!

3) Build up your network: Networking is one of the most important things when it comes

How To Become Finance Consultant

Various governing and licensing entities offer a range of programs for becoming a fully functional and competent financial advisor or financial consultant. Unlike other professions that have governing boards and standards, the financial advisory profession has no clear professional education or certifying standards. Even so, you need specialized knowledge to deliver value to your clients, and you need to be licensed to conduct transactions related to certain financial products.

You don’t need a college degree, a special certification, or even a high-school diploma to qualify as a financial advisor. To achieve success as a financial advisor, however, you need to know what you’re doing, and having the education and credentials helps differentiate you from those less qualified.

If you’re already a certified public accountant (CPA) or loan officer or you’ve worked in finances and you have plenty of life experience, you have a good start. However, you should get some additional, formal training under your belt and earn one or more financial advisor certifications.

A number of independent education institutions offer advanced and specialized financial advisor training. The few highlighted in this section don’t constitute an exhaustive list, but they offer the more recognized, marketed, and substantive education and certification programs specifically for financial advisors.

Work at a role in the field that would expose you to the world of financial advisory work before enrolling in a program to ensure that you want to be a financial advisor and you intend to stick with it. In many of these programs, you have to work in the field for several years before you can receive the designation. In addition, most programs require at least 30 hours of continuing education (CE) every two years. In other words, getting certified is a huge commitment, so you want to be relatively sure you’re going to stick with it.Knowledge and certifications are fundamental, but getting licensed by the proper regulatory authorities is essential if you want to transact in mutual funds, stocks, bonds, or insurance products.

The American College of Financial Services

The American College of Financial Services (ACFS) offers many professional designations and degree programs. The more popular programs include the Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC) and Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU). For a full list, visit ACFS’s website and click Designations & Degrees.

Established in 1927, ACFS is one of the older organizations in the field and has supported more than 200,000 people in their financial careers. The college’s website proudly highlights that the college’s “sales training can boost production by up to 40 percent” and that recipients of their “financial planning designations increase their sales by as much as 51 percent.”

This focus is on financial benefits as a missed opportunity to stress the importance of education in delivering value to clients. Regardless, this institution does a solid job developing an advisor’s expertise in various financial products and processes.

CFA Institute

The CFA Institute is considered the gold standard in developing professionals focused on investment management, especially portfolio managers and research analysts. The CFA Institute offers three programs:

• Chartered Financial Advisor (CFA): This program is for “portfolio and wealth managers, investment and research analysts, professionals involved in the investment decision-making process, and finance students who want to work in the investment management profession.” To earn the CFA designation, you must pass three exams, have four years of relevant experience, and join the CFA Institute as a regular member. This is on average a four-year program.

The program’s focus is deeply enriching, addressing all aspects of asset management. Special emphasis focuses on ethics and conduct and every conceivable analysis to be performed on any asset (particularly risk and valuation analysis).

• Certified in Investment Performance Management (CIPM): This program is for “portfolio managers, investment consultants, financial advisors, sales and client service professionals, and other investment professionals involved in selecting portfolio managers, evaluating portfolio performance, or communicating with clients.” To earn the CIPM designation, you must pass two exams, have two years’ experience in investment-performance activities or four years’ experience in investment decision-making, and become a CFA Institute regular member or join the CIPM Association. The program takes a minimum of one year to complete.
• Investment Foundations: This program is for “anyone who works with or supports investment decision-makers in the investment management profession.” To earn the Investment Foundations certificate, you must pass one exam that takes up to six months’ preparation.

CFA Institute prominently displays its core message of delivering “professional excellence for the ultimate benefit of society.” The institute’s extensive global standards and mission to build market integrity “by improving investor protections and investor outcomes,” aren’t only admirable, but a consistent fixture in CFA Institute membership discussions. The academic rigor of its programs and its global network of more than 120,000 professionals make this organization highly respected among the most sophisticated financial advisors.

CFP Board

The Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards (CFP) is widely regarded as setting the gold standard in the financial planning profession. CFP designees must complete a comprehensive program and commit to completing ongoing continuing education. The core subjects this credential covers include all the main financial planning areas: as investment, insurance, tax, retirement, and estate planning, along with professional conduct and regulation. These are the initial certification requirements.