Some 41 qualified advisers and 13 qualified paraplanners have graduated from St. James Place Academy, which is run by wealth management business St. James’s Place Wealth Management, in November.
A graduation ceremony was held on 7 November in London and graduates will now have access to a career in financial planning within the St. James’s Place Partnership.
Since 1992, the number of financial advisers in the UK has fallen, while demand for face-to-face financial advice has continued to increase, resulting in a substantial shortage of quality professional advice in the market, SJP stated.
Jason Flood, academy director, said the school sought to bridge this gap by producing the next generation of committed wealth advice professionals.
He said: "It has been a wonderful day celebrating the successes of our academy graduates. It’s great to see them enjoying a moment of recognition following some really hard work and dedication to their new craft, and looking forward to helping clients to achieve their financial aspirations.
"The quality of these individuals as well as the level of expertise we are adding to St. James’s Place and the profession, gives me great confidence in the future provision of excellent advice for clients.
"I’m proud of their achievements so far and delighted to see more diverse and driven individuals joining our programmes every day."
The academy, which provides different career programmes, currently has more than 400 people actively working towards qualifying as a wealth advice professional.
Graduates can choose to run their own business under the umbrella of St. James’s Place or work within existing partner practices. Both routes have access to ongoing support, development and further training opportunities.
Academy candidates come from a wide range of backgrounds and are often people looking for a career change or a new challenge, SJP stated, with about a quarter (24 per cent) of all joiners since its inception being women.
The average age of the graduates is 37 years.
