Can You Be a Financial Advisor Part-Time?
Whether you can be a financial advisor part-time depends on the firm and your state. The steps FINRA and NASAA describe are passing exams, associating with a firm and registering, and the pages cited here do not mention hours. Once registered, FINRA Rule 3270 requires prior written notice to your firm for the outside activities it lists, such as outside employment, other business roles and outside compensation.
The steps do not mention hours
You can take the SIE without any firm. A qualification exam such as the Series 7 requires association with and sponsorship by a FINRA member firm, and state exams such as the Series 63, 65 and 66 are set by state rules, so confirm yours with your state securities regulator.
Whether a given firm will take on someone who works part-time is that firm's decision.
Your current job and the firm
Under FINRA Rule 3270, a registered person must give the firm prior written notice before acting as any of these for another person, or being paid by anyone else for business outside the firm.
- An employee
- An independent contractor
- A sole proprietor
- An officer, director or partner
The rule has further provisions, so read it in full and ask the firm's compliance team how it applies to you.
What one firm says about the time
Parsonex, the firm behind this site, says on its own page for prospective advisors: "Plan on 10 to 15 hours a week while you're part-time." That is the firm's statement about its own program, not a rule or a standard for the industry.
A low-commitment first step
The SIE is open to anyone 18 or older without a firm, so it can be taken before any decision about a job or a firm.
- SIE
- Series 7Needs a firm
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Sources
General information only. Rules and fees change, so confirm with the linked sources and your state securities regulator before you act.