| Summary: | Problem Discussion: Today the banks manage three central products: mutual funds, mortgages and bank accounts. Banks have authority and credibility, the services and the products they offer and sell can sometimes be difficult to understand. Customers are offered a large number of investment options with varying risk profiles. These developments have created an increasing need for knowledge and information among customers. The financial advice that the financial firms provides, remains a very important activity from a customer view. However, there are ambiguities in this advices’ and it has previously been shown to be difficult for a customer in a dispute of ”wrong” advising, to win over the advisers. The Bank sees the client as a partner while the customer develops a personal relationship with the bank. Usually it is the advisors who provide advice to bank customers and give the impression that it is advice rather than selling they are about to give when a customer walks into a bank office. Research questions: How does the law of financial advice affect a private adviser in his advice to customers? How can internal goals and reward systems affect an advisor in his advice? Which factors have influenced the number of notifications before and after the law? Purpose: The main purpose of this paper is to clarify how private advisers consider how the law on financial advisory, internal goals and reward systems affects their advice to customers. Another purpose is to investigate whether there is a difference between an advisors advice and sales. Method: We have through a deductive approach used existing theories to create a general idea of the theoretical substance. We have used quantitative and qualitative approaches; primary and secondary data were the interviews and statistical data in the form of notifications. Theory: We have used theories such as reward systems, principal-agency theory, trust and confidence, and customer relationship management. Conclusions: The law on financial advice has not had a major impact on the advice. However the adviser’s way of working has changed. Banks have goals to achieve. This affects the advisers’ by the requirements to adapt the advice’s that they give with the goals that needs to be followed. Reward system differs from bank to bank and acts as a tool to motivate advisors. The advisers are not affected largely by the reward system, but primarily of internal goals. The factors that have affected the notifications depends mostly on the media attention; which increased customers awareness of their rights and the economic crisis; which contributed to the stock market downward trend, affecting customers' outcomes that were other than what they had expected. There are difficulties to make a distinction between the concepts advising and sales. From the empirical answers, we note that advice and sales go hand in hand and that an advice to costumers will result in some kind of sale.
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