Reading and Writing Activities of a Financial Broker

Throughout school I've realized English has never been one of my favorite classes. Reading books and writing essays was a task I wish I'd never had to do. However, I've come to realize that most jobs require sufficient reading and writing skills. So maybe that’s why English teachers make students annotate articles and write lengthy papers on our readings? The concept of learning how to write and read will help students become better professionals in their careers. Therefore, since I find myself embarking on the career of a financial broker, I've decided to take a look at what type of reading and writing activities they do. Since a broker's job is to provide investment advice to investors they must be knowledgeable. Brokers must stay currently informed to offer the best possible advice. Therefore, researching companies is a huge part of what brokers do. However, before we go any further lets make sure we know what a broker actually does.

According to Fundamentals of investments, by Bradford D.Jordan states, "A broker is an intermediary who arranges security transactions among investors."Brokers are essentially middle men, matching investors with opposite investment decisions. For example, say that you own shares of Apple stock and you decide that you want to sell your shares. You simply pick up your phone (or go to you online brokerage account) and tell your broker about your decision. After the phone call your investment broker will find someone else who is looking to buy your shares of Apple stock. Then once your broker has found someone to purchase your shares, the transaction will take place and you will receive your money.

Building trust with clients is an extremely important aspect of becoming a successful broker. In order to accomplish this task a broker must be knowledgeable to give good advice. Knowing current issues, like the position the current economy is in, relates to directing a client towards smart investment decisions. Therefore, investment brokers must read a lot of material involving company and industry reports. Understanding how current events affect market decisions is a crucial part in picking the right companies to invest in. Therefore, brokers make their money by investing in profitable companies, so deciphering this relationship between current news and affected companies is crucial. Therefore, learning how to annotate information could be a way to decipher underlying messages that would help predict the future market as a broker.

Another important task to build trust with clientele is regular communication. People feel more comfortable investing their money when they have someone to answer their questions at anytime. When talking with one of the brokers at Scottrade he mentioned that "his door is always open." Communication with his clients is mainly done through email mainly because Scottrade is an online brokerage company. Therefore, sufficient writing skills are crucial. Brokers not having proper writing skills could impact the required "trusting" relationship with clients. Imagine if you were receiving poorly written emails from their broker how would that make you feel? You would probably may begin to doubt who you are sending your money to. Since being a successful broker requires having a good relationship with clientele, they must have professional analytical skills.