Hire an offshore client services officer

What a client services officer handles, before and after each meeting

Advisers and brokers lose hours every week to work that is necessary but is not advice. A client services officer takes that work, stage by stage:

• Before the meeting: book the review, send the meeting pack and fact-find, and request documents.
• After the meeting: update file notes and CRM tasks, prepare forms for e-signature and track what is outstanding.
• Implementation: follow up product providers, super funds or lenders, and report progress to the adviser or broker.
• Ongoing care: run review reminders, rate-expiry lists and routine client updates.

In an advice practice the focus is reviews, provider paperwork and implementation. In a mortgage brokerage it is client updates, settlement milestones and post-settlement care.

A financial planning virtual assistant or a client services officer?

The titles often describe the same job. What matters is that one person owns your client administration and knows your clients by name. With Tarino you hire that person directly, working in your CRM, rather than sharing an assistant with other practices.

What stays with you onshore:

• Financial or credit advice, product recommendations and strategy
• Fee conversations and any decision outside the agreed process
• Complaints and sensitive client matters, which the officer escalates to you

How we test for a client-facing role

Because this role speaks for your practice, communication carries a lot of weight. Each search typically starts with 1,000+ candidates from job advertising, direct headhunting and referrals through vetted local networks in the Philippines. Of that starting pool, about 40% pass CV and quality screening and 20% the video screen, which checks spoken English and phone manner. About 10% pass the practical assessment, 5% the structured interview, and around 2% reach finalist review. You receive a shortlist of 3–4, usually within about 2 weeks.

The practical assessment could include a sample client file and an inbox of requests: prioritise the tasks, write a client email confirming next steps, and draft a follow-up to a super fund. When you interview, look for warmth on the phone, accuracy with names and dates, and a candidate who can tell you which client questions they would pass straight to the adviser.

What the agency route costs over time

A managed agency charges a fee every month on top of the officer’s salary for as long as you keep them. Staff Domain, for example, publishes $1,099 per person per month, about $13,188 a year, plus $1,200 per hire (checked October 2026). Over three years that is about $40,764 in fees.

With Tarino you pay a one-time fee, and your offshore client services officer keeps their full salary because you pay them directly. Compare agency fees with a one-time fee, or work out the markup on your own figures.

Getting the first month right

Hand over one adviser’s review calendar first, then add advisers once the routine is steady. Plan cover around the Philippines public holidays for 2026 so review season is not left short. If drafting advice documents is the real bottleneck, look at a paraplanner; if loan files are, a loan processor. Clients notice when the person who books their review changes; more than 95% of Tarino placements are still in the role at 6 months. Read how the hiring process works.