Wealth Management Vice Presidents

Certification or Licensing

Several organizations offer certification to wealth management professionals, including:

• Association for Financial Counseling and Planning Education (accredited financial counselor)
• fi360 (accredited investment fiduciary, accredited investment fiduciary analyst, professional plan consultant)
• Institute of Business and Finance (certified fund specialist and certified annuity specialist)
• Investment Adviser Association (chartered investment counselor)
• Investments & Wealth Institute (certified investment management analyst, chartered private wealth advisor).

Like anyone else involved in investing, wealth managers and their activities come under the regulatory aegis of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and are generally considered broker-dealers, much like your average broker, and while there may be a handful of esoteric regulations that deal with private wealth management, most experts say private banks and wealth management firms are treated much the same as your local TD Ameritrade or Charles Schwab branch.

Vice presidents are usually required to obtain their Series 7 and Series 63, 65, or 66 credentials from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, the self-regulatory arm of the investment industry. The Series 7, or General Securities Representative certification, allows you to buy or sell, or solicit the purchase or sale, of all securities products, including corporate securities, municipal securities, municipal fund securities, options, direct participation programs, investment company products, and variable contracts. It’s the most basic form of certification for anybody involved with the markets. The majority of firms will also require a Series 63 registration, which requires knowledge of state securities laws and allows you to be a securities agent. Other firms may require the Series 66 (which covers the same ground as a Series 63, but also certifies you to act as a registered investment adviser) and the Series 65 (which certifies you to act as an investment adviser representative).