International advice firm deVere Group has revealed its UK division saw a doubling of applications on the most popular recruitment day of the year in January, with the rise largely attributable to IFAs left orphaned after their firms exited the industry in 2013.
deVere said the first working Monday following the festive period saw an increase in applications of more than 100 per cent compared with the same day in 2013, in the immediate aftermath of the implementation of the Retail Distribution Review..
It said the rules changes were indirectly the primary reason for the surge, as many of the applications can from independent advisers who have been left in the cold as “many banks, and other advisory firms, exited the independent financial advice market last year”.
Kevin White, head of financial planning at deVere UK, said: “This year we were staggered by the amount that we received – it was up more than 100 per cent on last year.
“Whilst RDR has further driven up industry standards and transparency levels, many banks, and other advisory firms, exited the independent financial advice market last year due to the perceived regulatory burden of RDR.
“A substantial amount of the applications we received on Monday came from IFAs who previously worked for those companies.”
“We’re looking for additional, talented, diploma-qualified IFAs to join our teams in both London and the East Midlands.”
Mr White said deVere UK is also putting together an apprenticeship scheme where new business administration team members and paraplanners would join at entry level and receive ongoing training to become fully qualified level four advisers.
