Quora Answer: Are There Financial Consultants Who Specialise in Real Estate or Other Assets?

The following is my answer to a Quora question: “Are there financial consultants who specialise in real estate, or other asset-based income strategies?” 

Financial consultants specialise.  Finance is a huge industry.  There are a many categories of finance, many classes of assets, many different regions.  It is impossible to know everything, and stay current.  Also, financial consultants have a compliance and licensing regime, which in many parts of the world, preclude us from handling certain classes of assets simultaneously.  Thus, in Singapore, for example, a real estate agent may not sell insurance, even though he may have the license to be both.  He can only do one, or the other.  The insurance consultants may have a banking license, but may be precluded from selling funds without an insurance component if he is at a tied agency. 

Another reason why advisors specialise is because they focus on certain segment of the market, or a certain product.  This allows the consultants to depend their knowledge and customer base in that specific area.  That is part of their personal branding.