Old hand, New Rules?

In my role as a financial services recruitment consultant I recently held a conversation with a highly skilled and fully qualified financial adviser who had been working abroad for a number of years in a non UK regulated, financial services market. Now, as a financial adviser he was clearly very skilled and had the relevant FPC qualifications from this country but he was experiencing difficulty getting back into the financial services industry as he didn't hold CAS status.

Certainly as a financial services recruiter I am seeing this more and more. As the economy contracts in other countries, financial advisers who left the UK to go and work in lucrative markets abroad are now looking to make a return to what they know - or so they thought.

With the onset of the Retail Distribution review and the surge in TCF the financial advisory landscape is perhaps even more rugged now for these people than it was a few years ago.

With the UK economy still in turmoil, financial services employers have difficulty justifying the expenditure of taking someone on who isn't going to hit the ground running so if they have to be signed off as competent, with the hours of observed meetings, compliance, etc that it takes, is it any surprise that many are reticent to do it.

There must be a better way of bringing people who are well qualified, highly professional and in most cases, very good at their job, back into a financial services industry that at the moment could do with all the fresh blood it can get.

For a financial adviser coming back to the UK from other markets abroad there are basically two options - 1) You go directly authorised under the protective umbrella of a network. In a lot of cases you won't get client support, you're self employed with no guaranteed income and of course there's no guarantee that your business will be successful, which will leave an unpleasant paragraph on your CV or - 2) You go back in on the ground floor as a trainee with a large organisation - many of which won't sign you off as CAS until they've had their moneys worth, as a trainee your salary won't be anything to write home about and for a financial adviser who has been relatively successful it can be demeaning to have to take not one but a few backwards steps!

I think there's a vastly underused commodity out there for the financial services industry and there must be a way they can be fast tracked back into a role that most are very good at and are clearly qualified for. Answers on a postcard!

When will the banking market return?

With today's(29th April 2009) recent surge in first quarter profits posted by Santander and the Abbey Bank in particular, are we starting to see the first green shoots of recovery in the banking environment and therefore the financial services recruitment industry? I am no economist and can only give a recruiters view on the situation but recent events do seem to indicate that we are perhaps starting to see a small increase in profits generated by financial services organisations, which should theoretically bring with it an increase in the amount of recruitment undertaken by the banking industry.

The stock market experienced a small rise on the back of the banking markets better than forecasted pre tax profits and this indicates a small but significant recovery. Of course, with the UK economy still in the mire of a supposedly full scale depression it could be a long time yet before we start seeing any upturn in the financial services recruitment market but it does however bode well for the latter part of 2009, despite the government telling us that 900,000 people will lose their jobs this year.

The recent increases in first quarter profits aren't quite across the board as yet and the mortgage market in general is still depressed but increased profits must mean increased consumer confidence and a slight easing on the restrictions in lending policy, which in turn will bring a need for an increase in financial advisory and mortgage advisory staff. Is quantitative easing beginning to take effect? Who knows, but after a year of headcounts and financial advisory positions being severely restricted any amount of recovery, however small, would be most welcome.

Working in the UK financial services recruitment industry, reliance on the 'big four' high street banks for financial services roles and the resulting lack of opportunity has brought about a heavy downturn in profitability. This has been offset by increased business development and marketing in order to generate alternative business from IFA organisations, Accountancy practices and assurance providers which has to a degree worked. However, the staple of most financial services recruiters is the banking environment and the financial advisory opportunities they bring, the holy grail of the PSL still being the aim, however,what good being on a PSL does if the jobs just aren't there, I don't know?

Speaking from experience, we have seen a small increase in jobs from the financial adviser or wealth management arms of the High Street banks very recently, resembling a small chink of light in the economic gloom. Hopefully it will increase and continue into the latter part of the year. And, if it manages to get back to resembling anything like it did last year in terms of the number of opportunities, both I and XL Recruitment will be happy bunnies!

Marketing 101

Marketing - Not really a part of the business that many paid attention to up until last year. For much of that time new accounts were a nice addition to the accounts already held and not, as this year, a vital necessity. Much of the marketing we at XL Recruitment did last year was via word of mouth and it wasn't really deemed a priority- perhaps not the best plan for business growth - but then, we are already providing financial advisory staff to the majority of the blue chip companies in the UK, along with a multitude of the national IFA and assurance organisations up and down the country.

Things have changed. The contracting economy and diminished returns from existing business have made it absolutely essential that we market ourselves to new potential clients- getting ourselves and the XL brand exposure to new contacts on a weekly, if not daily basis. It will be the same for any financial professional whatever discipline - whether an IFA, financial adviser or mortgage adviser. The principle won't change - it will still involve you marketing yourself to a new audience with a view to acquiring new business.

As a recruiter working in the financial services industry we are only now starting to take a look at the myriad ways to market ourselves - something we should have been prepared for and up to date with a while ago, certainly it would have helped. With the Internet well established, nowadays there are so many different tools to create exposure for you and your brand and its important to know what works for you and what your potential clients will use in order for you to create a proper targeted media campaign.

Marketing is of little use if its done in an unfocused and scatter gun manner. Its not enough to just create a business profile on Facebook and send out a thousand email newsletters. Its vitally important to put a disciplined plan in place. Think about where your clients come from, what websites and media they will use. You need to focus on those areas.

Its also really important that you can measure what you are doing - its no good throwing money around on marketing that doesn't work. Again, choose what will work and spend time, money and energy on that. If seminars worked before - use them again, if you had success cold calling - get back on the phone - just make sure its to the market that you need to be targeting, not a random section of the population.

The most important things to do are to:

1. Determine what resources you can use in terms of time, energy, money and people and that will give you an idea of what can be done.


2. Determine who and what constitutes your target market? You have to find out who your audience are before you can think of what to deliver to them.


3. Think about what your strengths are - its no good getting up in a seminar and delivering a pitch if you're not very good at it or not confident with it. Choose what you are good at and focus on that - the more confidence you have in what you are doing - the more likely it is you will get better results.


4. Always be prepared to use something that you haven't before. Don't discount something just because you haven't used it - it could be a hugely effective marketing tool- Always look at things with an open mind.

Its more important than ever that we use marketing to get the best results we can and no business plan, whether personal or part of a bigger picture, will succeed if it doesn't involve at least a modicum of marketing nowadays, especially in the financial services industry.

What is a Financial adviser

Financial Services Part 1 - I suppose one of the things I should have done is at least explained what a financial adviser actually is or does. From a recruiters perspective its probably a good idea to 'know your quarry' and if you're looking to come into the financial services industry as a financial adviser then this will give you a good idea as to what to expect. There are a few very good websites that you can look at to get an idea as to what a financial adviser actually does such as the IFA guide website or the Prospects University graduate website, however, here we will give you a brief outline of what you can realistically expect from a financial adviser, whether looking for a job opportunity or a potential candidate for a role.

The title 'Financial adviser' basically explains itself, it does what it says on the tin - a financial adviser will literally advise someone on financial matters, making recommendations on ways to use their money - thats if, given the credit crunch you still have any! Enough joking - the role involves explaining the mulititude of products and services that are available to clients and helping them choose the ones that best meet their needs.

There are different types of advisers varying from corporate advisers that deal with commercial entities - providing say employee benefits advice, High Net Worth specialists that deal exclusively with affluent clients through to general practitioners who offer advice in all areas, pensions, savings, investments, mortgages, etc

There are thousands of advisers across the UK and they are either 'tied', multi -tied or 'whole of market'. The differences are explained below:

• Tied - Can only offer advice on products from one provider - usually one they work for, usually a bank, building society or assurance society


• Multi tied - Can offer advice on products from a panel of different providers - ususally employed in similar settings to the above but with more scope.


• Whole of market - Truely 'Independent'. These advisers can work for a company or be self employed but they can offer advice on the full range of products available from the 'whole of the market' and by law must offer the most approriate advice.

Make no mistake about it, the financial advisory role is a sales job and with sales comes targets and bonus payments for success. However, its not just about making sales at all costs. The products offered are regulated, so there is a strong emphasis on carrying out the right procedures and there are compliance processes in place in order to be able to show that the client has received the best advice. The decisions you help the client make are important decisions for their finances and future, so protecting them and making sure they get the right advice is essential. Having said that, most advisers earn their salaries from commissions on whatever sales they make, although a number do offer clients the option to pay fees for advice. IFAs are obliged to offer their clients this choice. We are tending to see more and more organisations going over to this method of payment now as it inspires consumer confidence and the closer to the RDR review we get in 2012, the more we will see this business model.

When you start out as a financial adviser it is more than likely that it will be in a Bank, building society or assurance society and more than likely as a tied adviser. This will give you good basic training in a range of financial products. Most employers usually provide this in-house. New advisers will usually start by undertaking some of the research and admin and then, gradually begin to deal directly with clients, under supervision. As new financial advisers become more experienced, they acquire their own client portfolio.

If you have succesfully been a financial adviser for a period of time you may want to progress your career. Most will move into multi tied or 'whole of market roles, dealing with higher value clients perhaps or maybe specialise in dealing with one type of advice - pensions specialist or mortgages - or one type of client - commercial or long term care clients, say. You may even want to go self employed which is another option.

Salaries for financial advisers can be varied. As a 'tied' bank adviser you could realistically expect a base salary between £18,000 and £28,000 per annum initially, rising to say £40,000 for an experienced financial adviser with OTE of £60,000. Self employed IFA's can earn anything from £25,000 up to £100,000 per annum. Its a great opportunity whether looking for your 1st or 2nd career.

A Change of Plan Perhaps

When I started this blog - not so very long ago I might add- I had a vision of an information portal for financial services professionals whether a financial adviser, IFA, financial services recruiter, anyone basically working in and around the financial services and financial advisory industries in particular, somewhere financial services professionals could find relevant information to do with their industry. That hasn't changed because although there are a number of information sites for the industry, as a resource I have yet to see many websites or blogs covering the financial services industry from a number of perspectives.

The initial format idea has changed slightly in that yes, it was going to be about hints and tips on sales, marketing, advising itself but in particular the headhunting of suitable financial advisory candidates for many of the jobs I work on - if I'm honest I thought it would be a good way to get in contact with more financial services professionals. The thing is, I quickly realised that it was going to take a very long time to get the number of followers required to make it a viable source of industry professionals. Since then, I've made a conscious decision to change the format of the blog and make it more into a look at the industry from a recruiters perspective and still contain the things I wanted it to initially - so more of a resource for professionals - whether new to the industry or old hands - than a resource for candidates. Of course theres also the novelty value of something personally written - sometimes it will be serious and factual - sometimes it will be blase and amusing -It will however still have its roots in the financial services industry and that's, I suppose, what I wanted.

Goal Setting - small targets for big results!

For a new financial adviser starting out in the financial services industry it’s probably a bit unrealistic to set yourself grand targets that are most likely doomed to failure, certainly without the relevant experience. It is still however, a very good idea to set realistic goals and targets in the form of a business plan as when results are achieved as written down it drives you on further to do even better. A great man once said to me ‘always write down your goals, visualize them every morning, put the hard graft in and eventually those dream and goals will be realized’ 

So how should a new financial adviser with little experience go about setting their goals? It doesn’t really matter to be honest. I think the important thing is that you write them down. Seeing them in black and white makes them real. Your goals and targets should also be realistic and answer your purpose whatever that might be – increased income, better holidays, better work life balance, etc. I’m sure that most of you started off this career for a reason. For some, it’s to pursue an interest, some to earn financial freedom, others to challenge themselves. 

I would advise keeping it simple in the beginning and writing achievable goals that are realistic and can be achieved in say 2 to 3 years. If you can’t see any result in the short term it will make you disillusioned and more likely to fail. A good example would be something like the one below:

‘When I started this job it was to earn financial freedom within 10 years but in the short term I would like to at least match what I was earning in my previous role and be earning 100,000 GBP in the next three to four years’

Short and to the point but matched with realism. This is a good example of goal setting.

Now another thing to think about as a finncial adviser is how you are going to achieve those income goals. How much you will earn I determined by how much activity you do and how you do it. You can only manage what you can control, forget what you can’t influence. You can control how many calls you make, how many appointments you make and how many clients you see. The better you get as a financial adviser the easier it will be to make these controllable aspects profitable.

It is vitally important that the small activity goals you set are being achieved. Planning your time effectively to include exclusive times for cold calling and appointment setting is important. At the moment you should jut focus on seeing the number of new appointments you set per week and making the right number of calls to new prospects. Achieve those targets and your income targets will surely be met.

In conclusion it’s important to keep things simple and focus on getting the things you can control right. Don’t waste time setting unrealistic goal that you won’t achieve making you disillusioned and less likely to have a successful career as a financial adviser.

New Clients are the new black

Recruitment for Dummies - Part 2 - Developing new clients

If you are a consultant working in the financial services industry you will be finding your role has changed over the last year to include a much higher percentage of new business development than it did. I would go as far as to suggest that perhaps an increase of 25% wouldn't be too much. In today's financial services market there are a whole host of financial advisers displaced from their roles, a lot from the major high street banks, who aren't recruiting as much, and from the larger National IFA firms. Candidate generation isn't really the issue - finding roles to put them in however, well that's a different story.

In your organisation, do you have specific individuals responsible for new business development and subsequent account management or do you, like us at XL-Recruitment make everybody responsible for developing new accounts? Both business models work and both can be very effective, like most jobs, its about having the right people. It takes a lot to successfully develop and manage a new account, from initial contact, right through to successful placement of financial services candidates.

Firstly it takes the development of some sort of rapport. Its ok having a strictly professional relationship but people will be much more willing to help you with any queries if you've taken an interest in them previously. It also helps in getting past the 'gatekeeper' if by the 5th time you've called you know they're married and support Everton football club! See how many times you get through to the decision maker then?

Secondly - finding out exactly what the client is doing currently to source their financial advisers or IFA's, if they are getting good results? what they are unhappy with? whether or not whatever they are doing is cost effective? Gently probing to determine what it will take to differentiate your company from your competitor - and then offering to supply that, can make all the difference in securing the business

You may not get the business immediately and I would suggest that with the financial services industry and the economy in turmoil at the moment, it probably will take more than one call. Persevere though and if you can't get on the PSL immediately look to at least secure a trial when they are next looking for new financial services professionals. How are they going to know what you can do without giving you a go?

Finally, when you do get the new business and you've been tasked to find a new IFA or a financial adviser, para planner, whatever, make sure that you keep in contact and develop the relationship. Keep them in the loop, provide good feedback and make sure that you provide a professional and most of all cost and time effective service.

New business generation and finding new roles is a much more important part of the successful financial services recruitment consultants armoury nowadays and is a part that shouldn't be neglected. Its also a hell of a lot easier to talk to candidates if you have a role that is different from the jobs that have been put to them by five consultants before you!