Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for ETF Internal Sales Consultant

🎯 Role Definition

The ETF Internal Sales Consultant is a distribution-focused, client-facing product specialist who partners with external wholesalers, institutional distribution teams and internal stakeholders to drive ETF adoption, product sales and net flows. This role combines deep ETF product knowledge (structure, indexing, creation/redemption mechanics, liquidity and market structure) with consultative selling, CRM-driven account management and cross-functional collaboration across trading, portfolio management, marketing and compliance.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

External Wholesaler / Field Sales Representative with ETF or mutual fund experience
Institutional Sales Analyst or Client Service Associate at an asset manager
Product Specialist / Trading Desk Analyst with capital markets exposure

Advancement To:

Senior Internal Wholesaler / Senior ETF Sales Consultant
Regional Sales Manager / Head of Internal Distribution
Director of ETF Product Strategy or Head of ETF Sales

Lateral Moves:

ETF Product Management
Institutional Relationship Management
Capital Markets / Trading Desk or Liquidity Specialist

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Proactively support the external wholesaling team by building and executing targeted distribution plans for ETF product lines, leveraging segmentation, propensity models and historical fund flows to prioritize accounts and maximize AUM growth.
Serve as the primary internal sales resource for financial advisors, wirehouse wholesalers and institutional channels by responding to product, performance and portfolio construction inquiries with timely, accurate and compliant materials.
Develop and deliver tailored sales pitches, pitchbooks, fact sheets and presentations that clearly articulate ETF strategy, index methodology, historical performance, fee structure and competitive differentiation for use in client meetings and advisor education.
Provide consultative guidance to advisers and wholesalers on ETF use cases (core allocation, tactical exposure, tax-efficient investing, cash equitization, hedging), including model portfolio integration and asset allocation implications.
Maintain deep working knowledge of ETF mechanics including creation/redemption processes, AP relationships, secondary market liquidity, spreads, NAV tracking and market maker behavior and translate this into actionable talking points for sales teams.
Monitor and analyze daily fund flows, order flow, liquidity metrics and secondary market behavior; prepare concise market color and trading guidance to support wholesalers and help manage client expectations.
Act as liaison between sales and trading, facilitating trade support for large or sensitive client orders, and coordinating with the trading desk to address liquidity, execution and settlement questions.
Lead product training sessions—virtual or in-person—for wholesalers, advisors and internal teams to increase ETF product literacy and promote effective selling behaviors across channels.
Support competitive analysis and benchmarking by tracking peer fund performance, expense ratios, index changes and distribution activity, and provide sales teams with differentiated positioning statements.
Build and maintain high-quality CRM records (Salesforce) including activity notes, pipeline updates and account plans to drive reproducibility of outreach and ensure effective follow-up by field teams.
Coordinate with marketing and digital teams to develop targeted campaigns, digital sales collateral and advisor-facing content that increase awareness, drive inquiries and support cross-sell opportunities.
Prepare and present regular sales performance reporting, KPIs and territory dashboards to management, highlighting wins, at-risk accounts and growth opportunities with recommended next steps.
Manage due diligence and RFP responses by aggregating product documentation, performance attribution, compliance disclosures and legal materials in line with firm policies and required turnaround times.
Support large account penetration by mapping advisor teams, centralizing intelligence on wirehouse desk structures, identifying influencers and escalating strategic opportunities to senior management.
Partner with portfolio management and product teams to communicate client feedback, feature requests and market trends to inform future product development and enhancements.
Ensure all client-facing communication and sales materials comply with regulatory and internal compliance standards, coordinating pre-approvals and maintaining version control of approved collateral.
Drive cross-sell and upsell opportunities by identifying accounts with adjacent product fit, coordinating bespoke outreach and enabling wholesalers with model allocations, rebalancing ideas and tax-aware strategies.
Manage ad hoc competitive and custom analytics requests for wholesalers and institutional clients, creating timely performance, risk and attribution analyses that support the sales cycle.
Facilitate escalation management for service or trade-related issues by coordinating resolution across operations, compliance and portfolio management and communicating status to stakeholders.
Support pricing, liquidity and structural education for complex ETF strategies (active ETFs, derivatives, leveraged/inverse strategies) and ensure wholesalers understand use cases, limitations and risk factors.
Mentor junior internal sales colleagues by co-leading calls, reviewing pitching materials, sharing competitive intelligence and establishing best practices for internal wholesaling execution.
Engage with asset allocation desks and model portfolio providers to secure shelf space for ETFs, provide performance/due diligence support and speed up adoption into model portfolios.
Actively monitor regulatory updates (SEC, FINRA, ERISA guidance) that impact ETF distribution and sales practices, and partner with compliance to update scripts, pitches and disclosure language when needed.
Develop and maintain an ongoing education program for sales on market structure changes, ETF innovation and industry trends to ensure the team remains a trusted resource for advisors.

Secondary Functions

Support ad-hoc data requests and exploratory data analysis.
Contribute to the organization's data strategy and roadmap.
Collaborate with business units to translate data needs into engineering requirements.
Participate in sprint planning and agile ceremonies within the data engineering team.
Assist with creation and upkeep of internal sales playbooks, FAQs and onboarding materials for new internal sales hires.
Coordinate logistics for advisor events, webinars and roadshows, including prep materials and post-event follow up analytics.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Deep ETF product knowledge: creation/redemption mechanics, NAV/spread dynamics, index methodology, and liquidity profiling.
Capital markets literacy: market microstructure, market makers, AP desks and secondary market dynamics.
Proficiency with CRM systems (Salesforce) for pipeline management, account planning and activity tracking.
Advanced Excel skills including financial modeling, pivot tables, and fund flow analysis; familiarity with VBA a plus.
Experience with sales and market data platforms: Bloomberg, Refinitiv, FactSet, Morningstar, or similar.
Comfortable creating professional investor presentations in PowerPoint with clear, data-driven messaging.
Strong quantitative analytical skills for performance attribution, risk metrics (beta, tracking error) and fund flow analysis.
Familiarity with regulatory and compliance frameworks relevant to fund distribution (SEC, FINRA, ERISA).
Experience preparing RFP responses, due diligence materials and institutional pitchbooks.
Basic SQL or data-querying ability for ad-hoc reporting and extracting account-level metrics (preferred but not always required).
Knowledge of ETF order types, trading best practices and execution strategies for institutional and retail channels.

Soft Skills

Consultative selling mindset with an ability to listen, synthesize client needs and present tailored solutions.
Exceptional verbal and written communication skills, able to distill complex investment concepts into advisor-friendly language.
Strong stakeholder management and cross-functional collaboration skills to align sales, trading, portfolio and marketing teams.
High degree of organization and attention to detail for managing multiple accounts, deliverables and deadlines.
Problem-solving orientation and comfort working under pressure with tight turnaround times.
Initiative and self-starter mentality with a focus on measurable outcomes and continuous improvement.
Persuasive presentation and public speaking skills for webinars, trainings and client meetings.
Relationship-building and emotional intelligence to build credibility with advisors and internal partners.
Data-driven decision making and curiosity to use analytics to prioritize outreach and measure effectiveness.
Adaptability to changing market conditions, product launches and evolving distribution strategies.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor's degree in Finance, Economics, Business, Accounting, Mathematics or a related field.

Preferred Education:

MBA, MS Finance, or progress toward/holding professional designations such as CFA, CAIA, or CFP.

Relevant Fields of Study:

Finance
Economics
Business Administration
Quantitative Finance / Mathematics
Data Analytics

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

3–7 years of experience in ETF or mutual fund distribution, internal wholesaling, product specialist, or capital markets roles.

Preferred:

5+ years of direct ETF internal sales, wholesaling or sales support experience at an asset manager, ETF issuer, or major broker-dealer.
Demonstrated track record supporting significant fund flows, successful distribution campaigns, or measurable growth in AUM via targeted sales efforts.
Experience working with institutional channels (RIAs, wirehouses, institutional consultants) and familiarity with model portfolio inclusion processes.