20 February 2022

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Financial Advisor: Resilience and Awareness

Author: Luigi Campopiano

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The role of the financial advisor today could be one of the best examples to express the concept of resilience and anti-frailty: staying clear in the face of potentially critical events and having good control of emotions. For the financial consultant, it is a fundamental skill not only to transform a problem into an opportunity, but also to realize something even greater and more important for their clients and their future. The profession was born in the 70s, but only in the early 80s did we start talking about the role of the financial promoter in a more consistent way.

Following the issuance of the SIM law and the establishment of the register, the visibility of the role has changed, as has the propensity to invest on the part of savers and with a focus on the customer different from that adopted by traditional banks. In the early 2000s, with the boom in technology and the consequent multi-channel approach, all credit companies discovered the importance of having a network of financial advisors. Despite the evolutions achieved, and regardless of the choices made by everyone, the failure to recognize the profession of the financial promoter, like that of a lawyer or accountant, has continued to generate many difficulties before being able to establish itself and acquire customers.

The succession of events linked to the crises in the financial markets, the evolution of customer lifestyles, the development and dissemination of technology, and new regulations, has generated a new awareness of the role and its importance. Thus, since 2010, the financial promoter has begun to live in a new light; he has been able to exploit these "new favorable conditions" by conquering very important market shares (representing about 15% of the investment savings of Italian families). In 2016 the name of the profession evolved into a financial "consultant" we started talking about financial education and the profession as that of "trustee" of its clients. The financial consultant has made his way in the economic-financial world by establishing his role and skills. Today he is recognized as having a "social value": hundreds of millions of euros managed and entrusted by his clients can be addressed (observing Mifid regulations, profiles of risk, and satisfaction of the needs expressed by customers) in sustainable investments to ensure a healthier future for our planet and the next generations and in activities carried out by small and medium-sized Italian companies to give concrete impetus to the economic recovery of our country.