Most Important Skills for a Wealth Advisor at Buena Vista Financial Planning
For a wealth advisor, the most crucial skill is a genuine love for people and a commitment to helping them, ensuring "you wanna help". Beyond that, strong organizational skills and authentic communication are vital for building trust and fostering client relationships, as client retention often hinges on advisors following through on commitments rather than investment performance.
Communication, Organization, Client Relations, Authenticity, Financial Planning
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
AK Mashhoon
Founder / Wealth Advisor
Buena Vista Financial Planning
Cuesta College and Cal Poly, SLO
N/A
Business Management & Admin
Finance (Banking, Fintech, Investing)
Finance
Worked 20+ Hours in School, Transfer Student, Student Athlete, First Generation College Student
Video Highlights
1. Love of people and desire to help
2. Exceptional organizational skills and the ability to manage client expectations
3. Excellent communication and authentic connection skills
Transcript
What skills are most important for a job like yours?
I'd say the most important skill is that you've got to really love people. When you see somebody has emailed or called you, you've got to have a positive reaction to that and want to help.
You also have to be really organized. You're booking meetings, setting expectations, and telling people you're going to do something. There's a lot of research in our industry regarding the reasons why clients leave advisors.
It's not typically investment performance. More often, the reason is "my advisor didn't do what they said they were going to do." So, I think those are some of the basic things. Being a good communicator is important.
I don't know if this is necessarily a skill, but being authentic is important. Just being a really good connector with people is a really big deal.
Ultimately, especially with access to investment products increasing over the decades, our job is arguably more of a want than a need for clients. Clients don't need to work with us; they've got to want to. You've got to put together these skills so that they want to.