‘We looked to develop a school that was accessible for young people and second-timers’

Recruitment has fallen, leaving an industry of middle-aged men that is growing steadily older, according to Lisa Winnard.

Ms Winnard, HR director at the Sesame Bankhall Group, is the driving force behind the Financial Adviser School, which launched two years ago with the intention of increasing industry recruitment and offering a more standardised and easily recognisable route into financial services.

“As part of our RDR project, we saw the reduction of adviser numbers and realised that there were no clear entry routes. Universities were providing the academic route, but not the softer skills. We looked to develop a school that was accessible for young people and second-timers; that meant they did not have to give up their day jobs,” Ms Winnard said.

The 18-month programme was designed to be predominantly online and part-time, allowing students to continue working while they studied. Miss Winnard said: “We have two virtual classroom sessions per week, plus face-to-face sessions every five weeks for softer skills, revision, working with other students and role play.”

SBG is not the first company to attempt such an undertaking, but many have been put off by the difficulty of combining regulation, and the necessity to develop business and adviser skills, with softer skills. The group therefore partnered with firms from across the industry, such as Zurich, Aviva and Aegon UK, to develop the programme.

The school’s current 60 students and 35 new joiners come from a variety of backgrounds and it is assumed they have no prior experience in financial services. They study for the RO1 in the first instance. The course is then split into modules, beginning with qualifying to write protection and GI business after the first six months, mortgage business at 12 months, and pensions and investments at 18 months. “We authorise the students to write the business at each stage, so they can earn while they learn and gain experience in writing simple business,” Ms Winnard said.

She continued: “We try to match students with an experienced mentor, giving them access to someone who can offer experience in their firm and who knows the industry. We also offer visits to Aviva, among others, with a London day that involves visiting the FCA and a trading floor. This is not just from the classroom point of view, but is giving a wider industry view.”

At the end of the 18-month course, the now fully qualified students can choose from options including: joining a practice from within or outside of the group, “or we have an AR firm set up called Journey, that authorises them through the programme, that they may wish to join,” said Ms Winnard.

Recruitment for the programme comes from a number of different sources, including advertising through the press, open days, graduate fairs and recruitment agencies, although good old-fashioned word of mouth and Google searching also account for some of the intake.

But the programme is not for everyone. “We do have a recruitment process – we expect standard GCSE exams, we do face-to-face interviews and look for key skills, such as relationship building, basic maths and English, an entrepreneurial spirit, a go-getter mentality and someone who can write a business plan and a marketing plan. It is a two-way process: we have to be sure they are committed, as it is hard to do exams and work at the same time,” said Ms Winnard.

The course may be innovative, but it is not cheap – at £16,000 for 18 months, it works out more expensive than the top universities at undergraduate level. However, the school is committed to helping new entrants into the advisory business, and therefore asks for £1,000 on registration with the rest payable over a structured plan after graduation. There are also opportunities for scholarships, offered to “people who have stood out for commitment and excellence during the interview process”, while some employers also pay a proportion or even the whole of the cost themselves.

Ms Winnard commented: “Students are a real mix of ages and backgrounds – 50 per cent are in their 20s and 30 per cent are female, which is bucking the current trend. It is great to see them taking ownership of their careers and setting up their own businesses.”

It has been two years since its launch and the school is not standing still – it is currently considering requests to offer sections of the course on an à la carte basis, and is even considering opening a second school in India. Ms Winnard is also looking to build on the school’s current links with the University of Huddersfield and forge similar connections with other universities. For the winner of 2011’s “HR Director of the Year” at the HR Directors Distinction Awards, the only way is up.

Lisa Winnard’s career ladder:

2011 Launched the FAS as director, spending two to three days a week at the school in conjunction with her HR director role

2010 Joined the executive team as human resources and development director, responsible for external learning and the HR&D agenda

2004 Head of HR at Sesame Group

1998 Joined the human resources team on gaining CIPD

1996 Joined DBS Management, which later became part of the Sesame Bankhall Group, as business development adviser, recruiting IFAs into the network