Financial planning: it's a boom
It's turning out to be a good year for financial planners looking to further their careers. By early Q1, vacancy volumes had already exceeded pre-GFC levels and they have continued to grow since then, according to Edmund Gill, director of Hays Corporate Accounts.
Sarah Wapling, client advisor, Marshall McAdam, agrees: "Recruitment levels have steadily increased since the beginning of 2010. When markets stabilised redundancies became less frequent and when the market started to recover, revenue to financial planning businesses also increased."
Recruitment is strongest in the retail sector, particularly within the major banks and larger institutions, says Wapling.
But smaller firms are also capturing candidates, "Because boutique financial planners have the flexibility to move fast with their offers, they are often securing the top talent ahead of the major financial wealth managers, who are still being relatively conservative in their recruitment process," comments Gill.
Employers in this sector are primarily focussed on hiring experienced, revenue-generating professionals. "Priority has been given to financial planners with at least three years of experience, with a minimum of the Advanced Diploma of Financial Planning," says Wapling.
Kasturi Pathak, team leader, banking and finance, ThincRecruitment, adds: "There is improved confidence within dealer groups and the IFA markets, with demand towards adding new revenue generating-roles - for example financial and risk advisers - thus putting candidates in a much stronger position than 12 months ago."
Pathak says support roles - such as client service officers and paraplanners - are also increasingly sought after, although the pace of the recruitment recovery has not been as fast as for front-line staff.
But how will the change to a fee-for-service structure affect recruitment?
"We have seen continued growth in financial planning roles, despite uncertainties around remunerations models. Organisations that already offer fee-for-service are still affected and are reviewing their business model to ensure they are complying with the changes. Commission-based firms are still going ahead with recruitment, though not aggressively as their priority is on the transition of remuneration model," explains Pathak.
She adds: "The new generation of advisers will need to be confident in the fee-for-service model, attain professional standards as an adviser, have the skills to build referrals partners, and have the know-how to build a portfolio organically."
to subscribe to our weekly newsletter.</i
