Old Mutual Wealth has said its Financial Adviser School could grow to focus on all aspects of the industry, including administration.
Richard Freeman, chief distribution officer of Old Mutual Wealth, said he would look at how the school could expand in a year’s time.
He said: “I have been in distribution for 20-odd years. At all the firms I have ever been in we have wanted some sort of academy to bring in new blood. This (buying the Financial Advice School off Sesame) was a great opportunity.
“We have taken longer than perhaps we should have done to get it set up because we are in a big PLC and things do not move as quickly as they might but we want to scale it up.
“What I want is different streams stopping short of Level 4, maybe on the administration side but that is phase two or three.
“What we need to do first is to get it up and running and that will probably take us 12 months.”
Old Mutual Wealth bought the Financial Adviser School from Sesame Bankhall Group in February 2016 and operates it on a not-for-profit basis.
Last month it appointed Darren Smith, who worked at Old Mutual Wealth-owned network Intrinsic, as the school’s head.
Mr Freeman said the focus of the school will not just be on getting young people into the industry - it will also be aimed at those who might want a second career.
He also said Old Mutual Wealth has agreed with the Financial Conduct Authority that newly trained advisers will be able to choose their own path at the end of the course.
He said: “We cannot force someone at the end of the course to join us but most of the initial advisers will come from our adviser firms.
“We have got a year to build a relationship so it would be unusual if they didn’t want to join us but we will not try and force people to do so if they don’t want to.”
