It may sound like an obvious statement, but Jason Flood – director of wealth management firm St James’s Place (SJP) Academy – said this is why he is on a mission to address the growing skills gap and breathe new life into the market.
For young people coming into the industry, financial services is seen as an attractive industry, but Mr Flood added that they do not always consider careers in advice.
This is changing, however.
As the industry moves towards becoming more professional this has raised its profile, but it still lags behind other financial services sectors, such as banking.
This is where Mr Flood sees the academy as having a big role to play.
It has three main arms.
The mainstream academy is aimed at individuals who have had a previous career in another sector. They will attain a Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) diploma in regulated financial planning.
Then there is the next generation academy for younger people, typically in their 20s, who will become qualified to diploma level and subsequently work with a mentor in order to gain more experience.
The third group takes existing support staff and helps them become paraplanners. A paraplanner works with an adviser to complete non-client-facing tasks such as preparing a client’s financial plan. Previous graduates from the academy have included ex-soldiers, athletes and footballers.
Mr Flood said that attracting younger people and second careerists into the industry will help breathe new life into an ageing advisory sector. So much so that in some cases existing SJP advisers who were considering leaving the sector have decided to stay on longer.
Mr Flood said: “Second careerists bring fresh thinking because they have transferable skills and specialisms from their previous careers we can learn from. We are finding that a number of the academy partners are breathing new life into our existing partners. Seeing younger dynamic individuals coming into advice is really pushing them to stay on.”
However, Mr Flood said one area that needs improving is the number of women entering the IFA sector.
He said: “Women make fantastic advisers. They have some natural abilities. Their communication skills are usually very high and their client care is excellent.”
As a second careerist himself, Flood is perhaps in a better place than most to lead the academy.
Twenty-five years ago, after years of being a squash coach, his interest turned towards the financial services sector, which led him to undertake a career change programme.
Mr Flood said: “I realised quite early on that the people I was coaching were giving up because they had dodgy knees. This made me start to think that maybe this is not a long-term career for me.”
Starting out as an adviser in Acuma, he went on to join SJP as a business development officer. A chance conversation with SJP senior director Peter Edwards led to him running the firm’s learning and development functions, which at the time were going through a period of change.
As an ex-squash coach Mr Flood said he has always been drawn to roles where there is a strong learning and development culture.
He said: “A lot of what I did then is not too dissimilar to the provision of good financial advice. As a coach you are observing, identifying people’s goals and analysing their situation in their game. Subsequently, you are giving them advice and solutions, which you need to do in a digestible way.”
While building the next generation of older and younger advisers will help the wider UK advisory community, it has also been good for the SJP advisory business. Some graduates from the academy have started out on their own, while others have gone down the SJP Partnership route.
SJP Partnership consists of about 2,200 advisers and advisory businesses. The majority are sole traders with a growing trend in recent years for multi-adviser businesses to join the company. Likewise, younger individuals from the next generation academy have also been hired by SJP.
The training across the three groups is a combination of self-study, structured learning and pastoral care in the form of mentors. As well as technical training, soft skills – such as communication – are a big focus. This chimes with the shifting trend in the industry away from a product recommending role to one where stronger soft skills are needed in financial planning, as a result of the retail distribution review in 2013.
Technology is another big area that is affecting the industry.
It cannot be escaped, but Mr Flood stresses that technology should be used to aid the advice customers still desire and need.
The adviser market is feeling the pressure of regulation, technological change and consolidation, all of which are creating a growing skills gap as the need for advice grows.
SJP is unlikely to be the only firm investing in training, but Mr Flood sees the academy as a channel that will help the IFA market grow in a significant and diverse way.
He said: “We have a healthy and sustainable growth model that will help us to ensure the UK has access to quality advice for the next 30 years.”
Ima Jackson-Obot is a features writer of Financial Adviser
Jason Flood's career highlights
2017: Appointed academy director, SJP Academy
2016: Started heading up SJP learning and development
2011: Became head of business at SJP
2006: Joined St James’s Place as business development manager
1991: Joined Acuma (part of American Express bought by United Friendly and subsequently Friends Provident)
