In a world of ever-expanding investment opportunities, the number of experts looking to offer that perfect financial advice is bound to grow.

Bangor is no different than the rest of the country. People here have been pouring money into the stock market at a record rate while the industry has been growing and consolidating, with national brokerage houses acquiring regional outfits and banks and insurance companies muscling into the business.

The latest thing to hit Bangor is Alan Hess, a 24-year veteran broker who had risen to partner at Means Investment Co. when he decided this year to set up his own local office.

Hess is not alone as an independent broker-dealer in the city but is unique in the number of years he spent accumulating clients with one of the area’s few remaining locally owned investment companies before going solo.

“Every broker kind of gets into a niche,” the 45-year-old Hess observed. “A lot of my business is helping people plan their finances for the rest of their lives. I do a lot of retirement.”

The variety of sources for investment advice is about as wide as the selection of markets that beckon for your capital. There are brokers, bankers and planners all with their particular insight. Some investors dabble. They use their banker to set up a trust fund, seek out a financial planner to round out their estate needs, and find a good broker to nail down a portfolio of stocks and bonds.

In Maine, the exponential growth in investment dollars has been followed by a rapid increase in advisers. The number of licensed brokers has more than doubled since 1990, according to the Securities Division at the Maine Bureau of Banking. In eight years, the number of licensed broker-dealer outfits has grown from nearly 700 to more than 1,000 while licensed representatives have increased from 15,300 to more than 36,000.

The trick for the advisers is to either align themselves with a reputable firm or distinguish themselves as an independent with a strong record. Hess has his years at Means to kick-start his business and an increasing specialty in managing defined-contribution retirement plans — 401(k) plans — for employees at local companies. He says he expects his base of 200 to 300 clients to continue to expand.

“Everybody in this business does some sort of financial planning,” Hess said. “There are so many choices, which is actually something that has made the business very good. People need help.”