Half of all jobs in the industry are held by securities sales agents and management and financial operations workers, who generally have a college degree; the rest are mainly office and administrative support jobs.

Employment is expected to grow as a result of increasing investment in securities and commodities, along with a growing need for investment advice.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and major stock exchanges are instituting accounting and corporate reforms to increase public confidence in the investment markets.

The high earnings of successful securities sales agents will cause keen competition for these positions-particularly in larger firms.