Career Trends: Securities, Commodities, and Financial Services Sales Agents

Securities, commodities, and financial services sales agents connect buyers and sellers in financial markets. They sell securities to individuals, advise companies in search of investors, and conduct trades.

Securities, commodities, and financial services sales agents work in high-stress environments and often work more than 40 hours per week.

A bachelor’s degree is required for entry-level jobs, and a master’s degree in business administration (MBA) is useful for advancement.

Employment of securities, commodities, and financial services sales agents is projected to grow 10 percent from 2014 to 2024, faster than the average for all occupations. Demand for investment banking advisory services and commodities trading are likely to create strong employment growth.

This occupation supported 354,600 jobs in 2012 and 341,500 jobs in 2014, reflecting a decline of 3.7%. In 2012, this occupation was projected to increase by 11.2% in 2022 to 394,300 jobs. As of 2014, to keep pace with prediction, the expected number of jobs was 362,500, compared with an observed value of 341,500, 5.8% lower than expected. This indicates current employment trends are much worse than the 2012 trend within this occupation. In 2014, this occupation was projected to increase by 9.2% in 2024 to 374,000 jobs. Linear extrapolation of the 2012 projection for 2022 results in an expected number of 402,200 jobs for 2024, 7.5% higher than the 2014 projection for 2024. This indicates expectations for future employment trends are much worse than the 2012 trend within this occupation.