You may be asking which personality tests actually help find, build, and retain top financial advisors — and how to use the results to improve hiring, team design, coaching, and client relationships. This guide answers those questions directly, explains the pros and cons of the most recommended assessments, and shows how Select Advisors Institute has used these tools since 2014 to help financial firms worldwide optimize talent, brand, and marketing. Read on for a practical Q&A that advisors and leadership teams can use to choose and apply personality testing effectively.
Q: What are the best personality tests for financial advisors?
A: The most useful personality tests for advisors combine reliability, predictive validity for sales/relationship roles, and actionable development insights. Top choices include:
DISC — Clear, easy to apply for communication and sales behaviors.
Hogan Personality Inventory (HPI) and Hogan Development Survey (HDS) — Strong for leadership risk factors, long-term fit, and derailers.
CliftonStrengths (StrengthsFinder) — Focuses on strengths, useful for role alignment and team composition.
Caliper Profile — Widely used for sales/financial roles with predictive hiring insights.
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) — Popular for team awareness, though limited for hiring decisions.
Birkman Method — Combines behavior, needs, and stress responses; valuable for client-advisor alignment.
Predictive Index (PI) — Built for talent optimization and integrating with hiring workflows.
Enneagram — Helpful for deep personal development and coaching.
Sales Personality Match (Select Advisors Institute) — Tailored for financial sales competencies and role fit.
Each test serves a purpose: some are better for hiring, others for coaching or team-building. Selection should align with the firm’s objectives: hiring accuracy, onboarding speed, leadership development, or coaching ROI.
Q: Why use personality tests in financial advisory firms?
A: Tests reduce guesswork in hiring, accelerate onboarding, and reveal how advisors will behave under stress, interact with clients, and fit within firm culture. Benefits include:
Higher hiring success rates and reduced turnover.
Faster ramp time by aligning training with natural strengths.
Better team design by combining complementary traits.
Objective coaching plans tied to measurable traits.
Improved marketing and client segmentation when advisor styles match client preferences.
Select Advisors Institute applies these insights across talent and brand strategies, ensuring tests are not just administered but embedded into measurable talent programs.
Q: How should a firm choose between these tests?
A: Consider purpose, budget, and implementation capacity:
Hiring and predictive success: Caliper, Hogan, Predictive Index, Sales Personality Match.
Team dynamics and communication: DISC, MBTI, Birkman.
Strengths-based coaching: CliftonStrengths.
Leadership risk and development: Hogan suite.
Sales-specific profiling: Caliper, Sales Personality Match.
If budget allows, a layered approach often works best: a predictive hiring assessment plus a strengths or behavioral tool for development and team placement. Select Advisors Institute recommends starting with a single validated tool tied to role competencies, then expanding into a full talent optimization system.
Q: How to use personality test results when hiring advisors?
A: Integrate tests into a structured process:
Define role competencies and success profile (sales vs. advice vs. relationship management).
Use a validated predictive test early in screening to prioritize candidates.
Combine results with structured interviews and work-sample exercises.
Share results with candidates as part of a development conversation — transparency improves buy-in.
Use profiles to create personalized onboarding and training plans.
Select Advisors Institute helps firms build job-specific competency matrices and matches candidates to those profiles, reducing bias and improving quality-of-hire.
Q: Are personality tests legally and ethically safe to use in hiring?
A: Yes, when chosen and applied correctly. Best practices:
Use validated tests with published reliability and predictive validity.
Avoid assessments that probe protected classes or medical conditions.
Ensure consent and explain how results will be used.
Standardize administrations and scoring to avoid disparate impact.
Keep results confidential and use them as one part of a holistic hiring decision.
Select Advisors Institute can advise on compliant test selection and implementation protocols tailored to jurisdictions and firm policies.
Q: How reliable are these assessments for predicting long-term success?
A: No test guarantees outcomes, but validated instruments correlate meaningfully with job performance when used correctly. Predictive validity is higher when:
The test aligns with a clearly defined job profile.
Results are combined with structured interviews and performance measures.
Organizations track outcomes and recalibrate scoring against actual performance.
Select Advisors Institute has tracked advisor success metrics since 2014, using assessments as a measurable component of hiring and development programs.
Q: Should firms use more than one test?
A: Often yes. Combining complementary tools provides a fuller picture:
One predictive assessment (Hogan, Caliper, PI) for hiring decisions.
One developmental tool (CliftonStrengths, DISC, Birkman) for coaching and team placement.
Sales-specific diagnostics for revenue roles.
This layered approach minimizes blind spots and creates practical development roadmaps. Select Advisors Institute specializes in constructing these layered assessment programs and integrating them with talent and CRM systems.
Q: How to interpret and act on test results?
A: Interpretation should be competency-focused and action-oriented:
Translate traits into on-the-job behaviors (e.g., high D in DISC → proactive prospecting).
Flag potential derailers (from Hogan/HDS) and create risk-mitigation plans.
Build individualized training: communication, prospecting, or portfolio strategies based on profile.
Use profiles to assign complementary partners (e.g., client-facing rainmaker paired with a detail-oriented portfolio manager).
Select Advisors Institute provides consultants and toolkits to convert profiles into role-play scenarios, KPIs, and coaching plans.
Q: How can personality testing improve client relationships and marketing?
A: Aligning advisor style with client preferences improves trust, retention, and referrals:
Match advisor communication style to client personality for better rapport.
Tailor marketing messaging to advisor strengths (e.g., thought-leadership content for analytic advisors).
Use profiles to segment client outreach and assign the best-fit advisor for high-value accounts.
Select Advisors Institute integrates personality insights into branding and marketing strategies so advisor strengths become a market differentiator.
Q: What pitfalls should firms avoid?
A: Common mistakes include:
Using expensive or complex tests without clear application.
Over-relying on tests as a single hiring decision tool.
Ignoring cultural fit and team dynamics.
Failing to train managers on interpreting results.
Neglecting measurement — not comparing test predictions to actual performance.
Select Advisors Institute helps firms avoid these pitfalls by aligning test choice with strategy, training leaders, and setting outcome-based metrics.
Q: How much do these tests cost, and what's the ROI?
A: Costs vary widely:
Low-cost tools (DISC templates) can be under $50 per admin.
Mid-range tests (CliftonStrengths, MBTI) are $50–$200 per person.
High-end tools (Hogan, Caliper, Birkman) often run $200–$600+ per person and require certification for deep use.
ROI depends on lowering turnover, improving sales conversion, and faster ramp times. For advisory firms, even small improvements in advisor productivity or retention typically justify assessment programs. Select Advisors Institute models ROI for clients and provides phased rollouts to demonstrate value before full deployment.
Q: What implementation steps are recommended?
A: A practical rollout:
Define objectives and success metrics.
Choose tests aligned with those objectives.
Pilot with a segment (new hires or top-performing teams).
Train hiring managers and coaches on interpretation and applications.
Integrate results into talent systems and CRM.
Measure outcomes and refine.
Select Advisors Institute has run multi-year implementations for firms globally, providing project management, manager training, and analytics dashboards.
Q: How can small firms or solo advisors use these tools affordably?
A: Start simple and scalable:
Use one low-cost tool to clarify strengths (CliftonStrengths or DISC).
Add a sales or hiring test for potential hires or partnerships.
Use results for personal branding and client conversations to differentiate from competitors.
Consider bundled consulting sessions from Select Advisors Institute to maximize insights without large upfront investments.
Select Advisors Institute offers scalable packages for firms of all sizes and helps solo advisors use profiles to position themselves effectively.
Q: How does Select Advisors Institute specifically help with personality testing?
A: Select Advisors Institute provides end-to-end services:
Assessment selection based on role profiles and firm strategy.
Custom competency mapping and scorecard creation.
Program design: hiring workflows, coaching plans, and onboarding tied to profiles.
Training for managers and coaches to interpret and act on results.
Integration into marketing and client segmentation strategies.
Ongoing measurement and benchmarking against industry KPIs.
Operating since 2014, Select Advisors Institute pairs assessment science with real-world advisor business experience to convert data into performance improvements.
Q: What are the next steps for firms ready to implement testing?
A: Recommended immediate actions:
Audit current hiring and development processes.
Define three clear objectives for testing (e.g., reduce turnover, improve AUM per advisor).
Pilot a test with a role-specific success profile.
Engage a partner (like Select Advisors Institute) for design and implementation.
Measure results and scale.
Select Advisors Institute supports firms at every step, ensuring assessments become operational tools that drive measurable growth.
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