What are the major frustrations of this job?

DURING volatile times, a financial advisor can be invaluable.Unfortunately, many investors seem to share a few common frustrations with the service they receive. I'd like to share with you some of the main issues we see in the financial industry that investors should be aware of.- Transparency in feesHidden fees are a major irritation for investors. Clientsare not always provided with an explanation of the fees they will incur. I feel it is very important that clients have the complete picture. If your advisor didn't provide you with a detailed breakdown of the fees you are paying, ask for it now.- Lack of communicationSome financial advisors only speak to their clients once a year; typically at RRSP time or an annual review. Make sure that your advisor or their team is communicating with you on a more regular basis with market updates and portfolio reviews. It is impossible to effectively manage a client's portfolio if your advisor doesn't know what is going on in your life, so it is important to stay in touch.- Hiding poor performanceIt is important to keep informed on the performance of your portfolio. Your portfolio performance can be skewed by showing favourable returns during certain periods. There are standard times to report returns, such as; year to date, since inception, calendar year returns and one year returns.- Failure to understand the clientInvestors are individuals; just because you are at a certain age or stage in life doesn't mean that you should be cookie cut into a certain investor type. We have clients in their 70s who don't want to own bonds and would rather be weighted in dividend paying stocks. Alternatively, there are clients in their 50s who don't like fluctuations in their portfolio and would be better suited to investing in bonds and GIC's. If you are uncomfortable in the stock market and choose to liquidate your portfolio, I believe that you should not be forced to stay invested.- Lack of product knowledgeA financial advisor may think they are working in your best interest, but may fail to fully understand the product and the risks associated with it. This can be very dangerous for the investor who is relying on the advisor's knowledge. If an advisor is recommending something besides a stock, bond or GIC, ask questions about the product. If they can't explain it in layman's terms it might be best to stay away from it. If you don't understand it, don't invest in it.Investors should be aware of these issues to ensure their portfolios are being handled the best way possible. - See more at: http://www.nsnews.com/living/work/common-frustrations-with-financial-advisors-1.357310#sthash.dhoQcIMN.dpuf

One of my frustrations is impact a reorganization on the operations side of the business. They frequently do not take into account the changes that need to be made on the finance side to keep the analysis in line with the new business structure. Communication is key. With enough notice on a business reorganization, finance can restructure the information to keep the analysis relevant to the updated organization.

My major frustration about working in finance is not having systems in place to consolidate the data in the view that management wants. Different management will want different summarizations of the data. This leads to a lot of manipulation of the data in excel. The data view requested changes often so I spend a lot of time slicing and dicing the same data to provide a new perspective.

But on the plus side, it is a new challenge every month and I do like thinking through a new request.

Hi - I found one of the must frustrating things about a job in finance is that it can be very regimented around month-end. If you are task oriented and enjoy regularity, this might be a great fit for you!