Financial Advisor Resume Example

Firms hiring a financial advisor read the resume for licenses, assets under management and client retention, in that order. If any of the three is missing, the reader assumes it is weak.

The Sample resume below is for an advisor with six years of practice, who began as a client service associate before building his own book at an independent wealth firm. His bullets give the size of the book, how it grew and why clients stayed: planning work, not only investment returns. He also shows the compliance record and the credentials that let him do the work, because a firm cannot put an unlicensed or flagged advisor in front of clients.

Keep performance claims careful. Regulators restrict how advisors describe returns, and a hiring firm will notice promises that its compliance team could never approve. Describe growth, retention and the planning you delivered instead. For the analytical side of the field, the financial analyst example is the closer match, and the Finance and accounting hub lists the other roles.

Updated . The person and employers in this Sample resume are fictional.

Financial Advisor sample resume

Gregory Lindahl

Financial Advisor, CFP®

Burlington, VTgregory.lindahl@example.com(802) 555-0126

Summary

Financial advisor and CFP® professional with six years of practice serving households with $250,000 to $3 million in investable assets. Grew a book from $38 million to $112 million in assets under management, mostly through client referrals. Leads with written financial plans covering retirement income, tax and estate questions, with a clean compliance record.

Experience

Financial Advisor, Larkspur Lane Wealth Advisors

– Present

Burlington, VT

  • Manage 140 client households with $112 million in assets under management, up from $38 million inherited in 2021.
  • Kept annual client retention above 97% for four consecutive years through twice-yearly plan reviews.
  • Built written retirement income plans for 60 households approaching retirement, coordinating with their accountants on Roth conversions.
  • Brought in $41 million of new assets in 2024 and 2025, two thirds of it from referrals by existing clients and estate attorneys.
Client Service Associate, then Associate Advisor, Hemlock Ridge Investment Services

–

Manchester, NH

  • Supported three senior advisors serving 400 households, handling account openings, transfers and required minimum distributions.
  • Earned the Series 7 and 66 licenses in the first year and took over review meetings for 80 smaller households.
  • Rebuilt the team's client meeting checklist, cutting paperwork errors caught by compliance to near zero.

Education

B.S. in Finance

Upper Valley State University, Lebanon, NH

Skills

  • Comprehensive financial planning
  • Retirement income planning
  • Portfolio construction
  • Tax-aware investing
  • Estate planning coordination
  • eMoney
  • Morningstar
  • Salesforce Financial Services Cloud
  • Client acquisition
  • Compliance and suitability

Certifications

  • CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™, CFP Board,
  • Series 7 and Series 66, FINRA / NASAA,

Start yours from this example

Bring your own resume or start blank, then tailor it to each posting in about two minutes.

Use this example

Templates for the financial advisor resume

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How the resume changes with experience

The same financial advisor resume, written at three levels: a summary and three bullets for each.

Entry level

Zero to two years, or a first role in the title

Licensed associate advisor with two years of client service experience, now building a first book under a senior advisor.

  • Passed the Series 7 and 66 exams within the first year while supporting a team of three advisors.
  • Prepare plan review materials and meeting notes for about 150 client households.
  • Opened 25 new accounts from referrals in a first year of prospecting.

Mid level

Three to seven years, owns a process or a workload

Financial advisor with five years of practice and a growing book, focused on retirement planning for pre-retirees.

  • Serve 110 households with $80 million under management.
  • Deliver a written financial plan to every new client within the first 60 days.
  • Keep a clean regulatory record with no complaints or disclosures.

Senior

Eight years or more, leads people, budgets or programs

Senior wealth advisor and team lead with fourteen years of practice, managing a team and a book of high-net-worth families.

  • Lead a four-person advisory team serving $450 million in client assets.
  • Built a business-owner practice around succession and exit planning.
  • Mentor associate advisors through licensing and their first client meetings.

Skills to put on the financial advisor resume

Hard skills

Licenses and designations
Series 7, 65 or 66 and the CFP® mark decide which roles you can hold, so list them near the top.
Assets under management and growth
Firms size your potential by your book, and growth over time shows you can bring in new clients.
Financial planning
Planning work is what keeps clients, and firms increasingly hire for it over pure investment selection.
Planning and portfolio software
Naming eMoney, MoneyGuide or Morningstar shows you can work in the firm's tools from day one.
Client acquisition
Referrals, centers of influence and seminars are how advisors grow, and firms ask how your clients found you.
Compliance and suitability
A clean record and good documentation protect the firm, and managers check your regulatory history.

Soft skills

Trust building
Clients hand over life savings, and retention numbers show whether they trusted you over the years.
Plain-language explanation
Advisors who explain tax and risk simply keep clients through market declines.
Discipline
Regular reviews and follow-ups separate advisors whose books grow from those whose books drift.

Mistakes that cost financial advisor interviews

  1. Promising investment returns

    Claims such as beat the market every year raise compliance concerns immediately. Describe assets, growth, retention and planning work instead.

  2. Leaving out assets under management

    A hiring manager will ask anyway. Give the current figure and where it started, and say whether you built it or inherited it.

  3. Burying licenses

    Put licenses and designations in their own section high on the page. Include ones in progress with an expected date.

  4. Describing products instead of clients

    Sold annuities and mutual funds describes a shelf. Describe the households you serve and the problems your plans solved for them.

Questions about the financial advisor resume

Should a financial advisor list assets under management on a resume?

Yes. It is the main measure of your practice. Give the current amount, the number of households and how the figure changed over time.

Which licenses should I list?

Every active FINRA and state license and any designations such as CFP®, ChFC or CFA. Add insurance licenses if the role includes insurance planning.

Can I mention client retention?

Yes, it is one of the strongest signals you can give. State it as a yearly figure and the period it covers.

How do I move from a client service role to an advisor role?

Show the licenses you earned, the client meetings you led and any households you served on your own. Those facts show a firm you are ready for a book of your own.

Should I include my regulatory record?

You do not need to state it, but a clean record is worth a short line in the summary. Firms will check public records either way.

How do I show growth if I inherited most of my book?

Say what you inherited and what you added, separately. Firms respect advisors who kept an inherited book intact, and the new assets you brought in show your own reach.

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