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Investment consultant jobs usually first involve a discussion with trustees or other fiduciaries to discover their investment goals and work out how their funds are currently governed. Investment consultants aim to comprehend what level of performance the trustees expect and their attitude toward risk. The consultants work to formulate liability plans and profiles that enable them to suggest an acceptable investment policy for the trustees.

With increasing frequency, however, investment consultants must implement the advice they provide. This means they often now compete directly with fund managers.

Investment consulting careers generally are in one of two categories:

Asset allocation - Asset allocation specialists help clients decide whether to invest in equities, bonds, private equity funds or other alternative asset classes with the aim of generating the returns they require to make payments over the next 30 years or longer. Asset allocation roles are more complex and require the use of mathematical models to find the correct outcome.

Fund selection - Fund selection specialists spend most of their time analyzing individual asset managers and their products and researching their investment strategy. They study the performance of the retirement funds' portfolio and compile regular reports on its positives and negatives.

People working in asset allocation positions will have previously earned an actuarial qualification. Those in actuarial jobs use statistical modeling to create forecasts used to hedge against future risks to investments. They calculate future liabilities and use these estimates to advise companies on the best way to structure their retirement scheme.

Senior investment consultants usually work in the fund selection division and interact with clients the most. Senior consultants create presentations for clients to discuss the logic behind the investment strategy that the team has designed, show its ongoing performance and handle any problems that arise. A single investment consultant will always have multiple clients.

In most cases, fund selection consultants will have a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) qualification or equivalent.

Investment consulting roles are supported by a team of investment analysts. This is a junior position which requires little client interaction. They spend most of their time researching, with tasks including drafting investment policies, developing statistics for client presentations, analyzing investment performance of portfolios and producing reports for clients monthly or quarterly.

As investment consultants have grown into large international companies more recently, they have also hired more people in support and compliance roles.