Why Evelyn Partners is looking to graduates for future advisers

So for Evelyn Partners the launch of its financial planning graduate programme is an opportunity to bring talent into, and grow the future of, the financial planning business, says Emma Sterland, who is chief financial planning director at the firm.

As a wealth management and professional services group, the firm already has an established graduate programme for its investment management business. “We wanted to replicate that in our financial planning business,” says Sterland.

“We’ve seen the investment management graduate scheme be really successful. It was something that was very strong in the legacy Smith & Williamson part of our business.

“[The investment management graduate scheme] has brought talent into the business. And as years go on, we’ve retained that talent and they’re looking after clients now, [so] why wouldn’t we want to do the same?”

As well as growing its headcount of advisers over time, the financial planning graduate scheme enables an element of succession planning, by hiring younger recruits to work and learn alongside advisers who have a book of clients but may be approaching retirement.

“It’s also a skills transfer,” says Sterland. “Professional exams are one thing and they’re really important, but actually it’s that skills and knowledge, and so learning alongside those more experienced people who’ve spent their entire careers working with clients and their families, that’s invaluable.”

Another route to a career in advice

The financial planning graduate scheme, which will see 10 hires in September embark on a four-year journey at Evelyn Partners, will run alongside the group’s existing ‘assistant financial planner’ route to a career in advice.

“Some of those [assistant financial planners] are graduates, some are not. And we have a very structured programme that takes them through some soft-skill training, but also technical training. So we have got a well trodden path for taking people through.

“But generally those people are already qualified, from a professional qualification perspective. And depending on their experience, whether we’ve hired them internally and they already understand the business and how we do things, and our approach to clients, or whether they’ve been doing the job somewhere else, we take them on an appropriate journey.”

We get to work with them and train them the Evelyn Partners way. I think sometimes that’s got benefits over having to retrain somebody.

On the other hand, Sterland says that an advantage of hiring graduates is that, in some ways, you have a “blank sheet”.

“They haven’t had a full-time job in the industry, so we get to work with them and train them the Evelyn Partners way; show them the way that we think you should interact with clients and how we do things. So I think sometimes, that’s got benefits over having to retrain somebody who’s maybe learnt it a different way.

“I think the flip then, of hiring graduates, is the exact opposite, which is maybe they haven’t had experience of being in a [work] environment, Monday to Friday. If you hire somebody who’s been doing the job, they’ve kind of learnt some of the ropes.”

While Evelyn Partners is looking to graduates for the next generation of advisers, Sterland’s own route to financial planning was the opposite. Rather than attending university, Sterland started working in the industry when she was 18 as an assistant to a senior private banker.

“I think the industry is trying to become more diverse, and to look at different routes for people to enter into the industry,” says Sterland. “We’re dealing with a very wide range of clients, and therefore it’s really important we have a wide range of colleagues that can interact with clients and their families.”

Sterland likewise aims to have a diverse panel of colleagues interview potential graduate trainees, and not the group’s most experienced planners.

“We’re making sure that the graduates are getting access to some of our ‘mid-tier’ financial planners, so they can see a career path and think, ‘I could see myself being that person in 10 years’, versus maybe someone who’s a bit more experienced, who’s been in the job a bit longer.”

As for what Evelyn Partners will be looking for in candidates, Sterland says that soft skills are a significant factor. “What we need through the programme is for them to develop their ability around soft skills.

“The fact that these individuals are graduates tells us they’ve demonstrated that they can apply themselves and take relevant exams to pass their qualification. So it’s a given that they’ll get through the regulatory exams.

“We’d be looking at the outset to see if somebody is personable, could they have conversations with clients?

“In financial planning, we’re talking to clients about their life goals, objectives, what’s worrying them, what’s stopping them moving forward. And often that is either previous history of dealing with money, or family, and a lot of that is very sensitive.

“So we do need those graduates to be able to flex their style, so they can accommodate different clients. So I think for me, it’s the big piece around soft skills, being able to interact with clients, but also interact through the generations.”

We’d be looking at the outset to see if somebody is personable.

Besides developing their soft skills, graduate trainees at Evelyn Partners will study for the Personal Finance Society’s diploma and work towards becoming a chartered financial planner.

Although the diploma is the regulatory minimum, Sterland says the aim for graduate trainees to achieve chartered status sets the tone for expectation that the group wants to have at Evelyn Partners.

“[Chartered] is the expectation that I think lots of clients look for; and therefore, the best time to do it is when you’re already studying and you’ve already got that base knowledge, so I feel like we’re setting people up for the future.”

Chloe Cheung is a senior features writer at FT Adviser