Stockbroker Job Description

Series Summary

Stockbrokers are qualified and regulated financial professionals who buy and sell shares and securities through market makers or financial firms on behalf of investors. The career is similar in nature to investment advisers and financial advisers, and many stockbrokers will also be qualified investments advisers. It is the job of a stockbroker to obtain the best price for stocks from the market, as well as execute and settle the trade. Interested in learning how to become a stockbroker? In this free video series on career information, an experienced investment counselor and stockbroker explains basic stockbroker career information. Learn about a stockbroker's salary and qualifications. Find out how to become a stockbroker and why to become a stockbroker. Weigh the pros and cons of this financial career and hear about the hardest parts of being a stockbroker, all from this free video series.

Video Transcript

"Hi, there, Dick Taggert, may I help you please. I'm Dick Taggert. I'm a investment counselor and stockbroker with American Funds and Trust Inc in Salt Lake City, Utah. I've been in business for fifty-four years, and with American Funds and Trust for fifty years. Our company, American Funds and Trust, is celebrating their fiftieth anniversary right now. We're kind of proud of that. What is a stockbroker. A stockbroker is a individual who hopefully is attempting to analyze research to know where people should be invested based on their goals and objectives. And I think the most important thing in this whole world, as an investment counselor, is to listen very carefully to your clients, and find out what their personal objective are, then attempt to prescribe those types of vehicles that will most effectively meet their needs. Some people like to be aggressive, some people like to be conservative. And the investment counselor or stock broker's responsibility is to attempt to analyze that very carefully, and then prescribe those investments that will most effectively meet their needs. My typical day in the investment business here at American Funds and Trust. I arrive at approximately nine o'clock, and I'm after work longer than most people. I stay till about seven at night. Most investment brokers, we're--I'll explain this a little bit. At my particular firm, American Funds and Trust, we're mutual fund specialists. And that is our primary goal is to be aware of, and be able to prescribe the best mutual fund investments in the country. Now many brokers are somewhat different than ourselves. They're what we call full line brokers that handle stocks, bonds, commodities, options, and they're--they usually start at seven in the morning, and they work till about two or two-thirty in the afternoon. I prefer my type of profession, being in the business where we specialize in mutual funds. It's a wonderful industry, and I'm very, very proud to be in it."