The financial consultant can work for a consultancy company (by law he must be a sole agent, because the principal is jointly and severally liable for his work) or independently. The “independent” financial advisor is in any case duly registered with the Ocf professional register and is authorized to carry out investment advice.

However, it should be noted that the independent financial consultant never comes into direct contact with the savings to be managed: for the execution of the recommended operations, he leaves the clients with the task of giving instructions to the qualified parties (for example, banks).

What can the independent financial advisor do?
The independent financial advisor has the task of meeting the investment objectives set by the clients (respecting, for example, the risk profile) and, more concretely, that of knowing how to choose on the basis of those objectives among the numerous financial instruments available on the market, as well as being able to diversify them by type or product case.

What can’t the independent financial advisor do?
The independent financial consultant, in addition to not being able to manage savings directly, cannot even receive special assignments or powers of attorney for the direct execution of operations, nor can he delegate to dispose of the sums or assets of the customers. The independent financial consultant is, in fact, called fee-only: this means that he is remunerated in a fee (the fee) only by his client.

Brokers and promoters
If we talk about financial advisors, we must also make a distinction with other professionals in the financial sector: intermediaries and brokers. The brokers are essentially insurance figures: that is, they work just as insurers. They operate without being sole agents. Their peculiarity is to be able to offer their customers the solution that best meets the needs of the insured on the market. Years ago there was the figure of financial promoters , which today has been replaced by
financial advisor. The promoters were intermediaries who had the faculty – unlike the bank – to offer “off-site” investment products and services, that is, not at the offices of the company they represented.

In this article we try to clarify this figure, the requirements that he must have, the advantages for the client who turns to him and everything that, as a client, can be asked of this professional who plays a fundamental role in managing the own heritage. In fact, it is important to choose the right consultant to be sure of having an experienced professional at your disposal and able to guide us in understanding the financial markets and the ever-changing dynamics of the economic-financial scenario.

What does a financial advisor do?
The financial advisor helps their clients make investment decisions by offering personalized advice that aims to help them achieve their goals by creating a financial plan. He can work as an independent professional or within a financial consultancy firm.

The role of the register of financial advisors

The financial consultant, to be defined as such, must be enrolled in the relevant professional register after passing an evaluation exam, which is accessed only by those who have certain qualifications and qualifications. The supervisory body and maintenance of the single register of financial advisors – in short “Ocf” – is the body envisaged by art. 31, paragraph 4, of the legislative decree 24 February 1998, n. 58 (TUF) organized in the form of a non-profit association, with legal personality under private law and constituted by the professional associations representing members as established by art. 145 of the intermediaries regulation, which currently are.