70% of advisers describe themselves as successful

Seven in 10 financial advisers self-identify as successful in their field, uniformly citing trust, individual effort and specialized knowledge as the three most important influences on achieving success.

That is one of the highlights of a survey on advisers’ perceptions of success conducted by the American College Center for Women in Financial Services. The study invited participating advisers to evaluate their success on a seven-point self-scoring scale — defining a continuum from low to highly successful — and asked whether advisers were meeting their business objectives to establish a means to adequately gauge levels of achievement.

Meeting business and growth objectives closely correlates with being successful, the American College of Financial services said in a release. Only 28.4% of respondents who were not meeting objectives defined themselves as successful, while 90% of those meeting objectives were defined as successful. Nearly eight in 10 of respondents who indicated they were not meeting their objectives elaborated on why in a follow-up question. Responses revealed business development (31%), the Covid-19 pandemic (17%) and systemization (16%) as the top themes for not meeting business objectives.

“Showcasing success attributes of current female practitioners can help attract more women to the business and aid them in achieving their short- and long-term career goals,” said Hilary Fiorella, executive director of the Center for Women in Financial Services.

Female respondents were more apt to credit some portion of their success to others, such as ability to communicate and external support received, than were men, who emphasized individual effort more than women.