School, college and university leavers are clearly the prime candidates to become the next generation of advisers, but they are not the only demographic consideration. “The objective for the academy, although it is to attract younger people, is not necessarily only to attract younger people,” says Mr Balgarnie, who adds that those returning to work and leaving the military will also be encouraged. He explains that contact has been made with a specialist military recruitment firm, which will be used for the next cluster of trainees. He also raises the recurring issue of whether older clients will truly trust an adviser in their early 20s, which supports his view that older applicants should not be deterred. “They could be in their late 30s or early 40s, but they’ve got lots of life skills and experience,” he says.
Both academies will support, encourage and finance all trainees to reach chartered status. However, it is vital to consider that Ascot Lloyd and NFU Mutual each employ more than 50 advisers and subsequently have adequate resources to run these programmes. The problem for smaller firms is less easily solved. According to Mr Murphy, even apprenticeships are problematic to run due to amount of supervision required. Prudence is the order of the day for his firm and other smaller businesses. “We are looking at bringing in graduates to different roles while continuing their studies, with a view to one day moving across into the advice side of things,” he says.
Clubbing together
The growing problems faced by firms of all shapes and sizes has not gone un-noticed, and industry bodies are also now taking action. Last year the PFS stepped in to encourage the creation of employment opportunities for people hungry to enter the advice industry.
Its guide, entitled ‘A future career in financial planning: About apprenticeships’ outlines the support available for training roles such as administrators, paraplanners and advisers, including funding for training and development costs. Box 1 provides an example of how this could operate.
Mr Turner says the industry must act now in order to ensure it is still around in 30 years’ time. He recommends that talented, experienced advisers seek to pass on their skills while they are still in the workplace themselves. “Even if they don’t work for you or your firm, mentoring somebody into this career is a wonderful gift that everybody should do at least once. That’s my challenge to everybody that works in the adviser community – spot somebody who would be a fabulous adviser and help them become one.”
