IFA's as football teams - is there a correlation?

I was wondering the other day just for a bit of fun, recruiters do have fun you know, if I could come up with any sort of correlation between financial advisers or more specifically IFA's, and Premier league football teams. In between the hours spent in the noble position of assisting people making excellent financial services career decisions I actually came up with, what we at XL-Recruitment thought, were some rather comical ones. Now, the definitions were that there had to be some sort of direct comparison and that it was the top four teams in the Premier league that they had to represent.Well, five including mine!

So we started with the A - The Arsenal of IFA's. The Arsenal IFA is cosmopolitan, probably a city gent and most definitely the most sharply dressed, suave and sophisticated in his firm. His swift and decisive advice although well executed, has often been known to flirt with monetary gain without really making the knockout blow and delivering the result required. Verdict - pretty but doesn't really get the job done!

The Liverpool IFA - The IFA representing Liverpool is a fanatically detailed financial adviser, technically proficient and stable but often labelled conservative and dour, defensive even. Primarily risk averse, he/she will build a usually solid investment portfolio that will immediately collapse if one or two funds go missing for a short period. Verdict - Conservative and perpetually jealous of the neighbouring firm.

The Manchester Utd of Financial Advisers or IFA's is a big swaggering giant of an IFA, arrogant and sure of his/her own ability. The Manchester Utd adviser has a cosmopolitan flavour with a gritty northern foundation, they will be suave with a steely determination to win and they are ultra competetive. They will quite often get down and dirty in order to get ahead, have a flagrant disregard for authority and you can guarantee, they will be the adviser in the firm doing the mega sized pensions transfer cases. Verdict - Champion in his/her own lifetime, arrogant to the nth degree but unfortunately, bloody good at what they do!

The Chelsea IFA - The Chelsea IFA or financial adviser is a returnee to the financial services fold. Probably a financial adviser that was once 'top of the class' although he/she might have that jaded, hangdog look of the 'almost but never quite got there'. An IFA that builds functional, yet fluid investment portfolios, they work with solid foundations and are usually always lucky enough to get the result, even if it is in the last minute. Verdict - sturdy performer, works well within a system but not so well on their own.

Now, as a Tottenham supporter myself I absolutely have to include my team. So, here we go: The Tottenham IFA is an IFA or financial adviser who harks back to the glory, glory era when they worked in 'tied' home service and their slick moves could bamboozle the punters and the opposition alike ensuring that they quite often topped the tables and won awards. Nowadays, they are bitter, often reminded by bigger and better neighbours of what used to be. An inability to plough funds into their practice at the right time and keep up with the industry has meant that the Tottenham IFA has had to watch as the rest of the world have caught up and even passed him/her by. Verdict: Bitter and constantly tells anyone who will listen how good they used to be.

If any of you professional financial advisers or IFA's out there want to include your teams or your comparisons, please feel free to add comments, it would be a welcome addition to just me writing and it would be funny I'm sure to see some of them like Bolton or West Ham, so come on, get those comments in.

Financial services, unattractive - whatever next?

There was a frightening story coming from The Recruiter last week highlighting how the credit crunch and failing economy have affected the financial services industry. It also mentions how the financial sector as a whole has become less attractive as a career choice for professionals over the last year, something we at XL-Recruitment and certainly on this blog,have harped on about on numerous occasions.

It seems that, according to Universum UK, financial advisory, IFA, banking and financial organisations in general have seen a reduction in the numbers of professionals applying for their positions, well, all except the Bank of England of course, they still stand at 23rd in the all time list of favourable career choices. Well, those Million pound bonus's are kind of attractive aren't they?

Funnily enough though, students were asked the same survey questions and results demonstrated that banks, auditing firms and management consultants were still deemed to be good career choices. Not a mention of the financial adviser, IFA or Broker consultants roles that are the majority of the financial recruitment sectors bread and butter!

Also, surprise, surprise here but career and job security have come out top on the 'what to consider when choosing where to work' scenario. Of course, its going to come out on top, we're in a recession people. You would have thought that the 2.5 million unemployed might have cemented that idea. In any case, job security came out on top as 'the consideration most likely to affect job choice' in 55.9% of cases.

It appears that the new consideration for companies within financial services is that, more and more employees are staying with the same company. However, with the job layoffs and cost-cutting initiatives, employee engagement is low. When the economy picks up, these employees will be looking for new opportunities and employers will be faced with a challenge: how to deal with rising attrition rates and at the same time meet new market demands. Companies cannot afford to neglect their employer brands.

The Government and the financial services industry - pah, they haven't got a clue!

This video, shown live on Sky News and featuring financial adviser, Jonathan Davies, a year ago, when the economy was at its worst,we at XL-recruitment believe, highlights the governments inability to understand the financial services industry as a whole and not just the housing market. Longer term their lack of understanding could potentially have a detrimental effect on the financial services industry as a whole and I think many financial advisers and IFA's are watching with interest how the next few years within the industry as a whole, pans out.

Financial advisers across the UK and particularly in the mortgage industry, have often informed us at XL-Recruitment over the last year, that the mortgage market has died a death. Sub Prime lending is no more - not a bad thing - couples with limited funds and very little expendable income, overreaching themselves with 100% mortgages and property with overinflated values can't be good for the economy as a whole!

Can the green shoots of recovery we are now experiencing - and we are - be attributed to the governments and Bank of England quantitive easing or is it just natural organic growth? For us in the financial services recruitment industry, any growth whether forced or not is fantastic, especially after a year of reduced fee income and business development. The more of it we see, the happier we become, as I am sure, are most, if not all the financial advisers, IFA's and mortgage advisers who have struggled to maintain enough of an income level to survive, let alone prosper.

So come on Mr Brown, get a grip, why not put some measures in place that might actually work and give us a sustained uplift and not a yo-yo recovery.

I don't need to interview, I'm a financial adviser

For those of us working in financial services recruitment, we all have our own pet hates.  I  personally, as a recruiter specializing in financial advisory or IFA roles have quite a few but then thats me. I'm joking of course but the main one absolutely has to be, candidates that haven't fully prepared for the interview they are going for. Now, the fact that I have a few pet hates doesn't automatically make me a grumpy old man, it just means that I have a lower tolerance threshold than is probably required!


How many of you financial services recruiters have contacted a candidate, whether from job board, database or even client referral, sold them a financial advisory position that would be absolutely ideal on paper, thoughtfully prepared them and told them everything you know about the company..............only to have them not look at the website or the job spec you've sent and when they get to interview, absolutely forget everything you've previously told them about the job that will most probably improve their economic situation immeasurably? Clearly this problem isn't limited to financial services recruitment, I've even done it myself, a long time ago mind - I think it was going for my first interview.  It is however exhibited by candidates who believe themselves above needing to research and prepare.  Yes, you know the ones, the guys and gals who think they're too good for the role they are going for - forgetting that there are 2.5 million unemployed out there and that there will also be 15 other candidates going for the same job they are. The ones that absolutely know they are going to get the job anyway, whoever else goes for it.


Now, we all know that in the real world of financial services, this doesn't happen.  No financial adviser or IFA is going to walk into any job in a bank or national IFA firm. All it takes is a bit of humility, a realization that perhaps someone else, the professional, does know best.  Take a little time out to look at a website, research the company you're interviewing for, get your figures together, run through the interview in your head the night before.  Its not that hard and it doesn't take hours but the work any financial adviser or IFA puts in to pre-interview prep pays huge dividends at the actual interview.  90% of people don't prepare for interview so it should come as no surprise to see that the 10% who do, even if less skilled, will often be the ones that progress to 2nd stage or even quite often, get the job.


If you're a financial adviser, an IFA or a mortgage broker, take a bit of time, prepare for interview and you will see the results, I guarantee it.  Take it from a grumpy recruiter who could do, quite honestly, with earning a few more fees from the interviews he's setting up! Rant over!!

CV Writing for financial advisers

As a recruitment specialist working in the financial services industry I am often asked to write the best CV I can for a financial adviser or IFA applying for their perfect role but what is the best way to write a Cv and what should it contain.  The financial services industry and particularly financial advisory organizations or IFA's, are looking for a definitive type of applicant and it's my job, ultimately, to present that candidate in the best light, in order to secure the financial adviser or IFA a 1st stage job interview. The Cv is a concise advertisement of yourself that should create interest for a potential employer and motivate them to want to interview you above anyone else.  

So, what does the modern financial advisory organization want in their IFA or financial adviser? Probably better to start telling you what they are not looking for first.  They are not looking for anyone who has lacked commitment in previous roles - so if you've flitted about from job to job throughout the last four or five years - you had better find a ready excuse to explain it! The financial services organization today is not looking for anyone who has defined targets in previous roles to be too difficult - too difficult, too difficult? By whose standards? The modern financial adviser or IFA type role is  very sales focused, as covered in previous posts,  Salesman, IFA or Financial Adviser?  so for a financial advisory professional to deem targets as unachievable, it indicates to the potential employer that the candidate lacks application and the desire to achieve.  The potential financial services employers also don't want inexperienced, under-qualified individuals that won't hit the ground running although this is currently defined by economic circumstance and as the market picks up and the economy performs better, we will see more leeway on this standard.

Now we have an idea as to what the potential employer in the financial services industry is looking for, how do we put it down as clearly and as attractively as possible.  A good Cv should always be easy to read and it should always have the most important functions close to the top of the page.  Start with your address details obviously but the first thing written should be a short, concise profile of yourself putting yourself in a highly desirable light for the role applied.  Sometimes this is called a career statement.  The next thing should be a bullet pointed list of key achievements, awards, etc.  Again this shows that you have excelled in previous roles and demonstrates you as someone who takes pride in achievement. for the financial adviser or IFA it is vital that they show they have the previous sales performance to excel with the potential employer reading the Cv.
The next thing on the financial services CV should be your past employment history, written in chronological order and showing any achievements, what your job entailed and the key competencies and experience gained.  The last thing on any CV is always personal information followed by referees.

A good financial services Cv should also never be more than two A4 sides long.  That is it! Much longer and it runs the risk of becoming tedious and will probably be repetitive.  Any shorter and it also runs the risk of looking like you don't have enough experience for the role or not enough employment history.  Financial advisory organizations, IFA's or accountants, because they work within the financial services industry are very much more strict with their procedures, references, etc, so it is important that the correct information is also put on the CV.  Lies or embellishment could always be found out at a later stage.  Working in financial services recruitment, I have become used to the need for exact CV's with exact career history and details, financial services is an industry that always checks.

If you need any Cv polishing or assistance with writing a CV - contact XL-Recruitment - financial services recruitment specialists, on 01278 429000 and ask to speak to one of the consultants.  This is just one of the value added services provided by XL.
                      

Salesman, IFA or Financial Adviser?

How strong is the sales aspect of an IFA or financial advisers role?  What percentage of the IFA or financial advisers role is taken up by actually selling financial products rather than financial planning?  These are both important questions that should be asked by new entrants into the financial services industry, particularly those looking to become financial advisers or IFA's.

For those professionals or graduates out there that are considering a career in financial services, the most likely route into the financial services industry is through a banking organisation.  Recruitment througout the financial services industry and certainly more so within bancassurance, is heavily focused on face to face sales skills and targeting of the financial advisory staff. Unfortunately, the financial services industry as a whole doesn't have an exceptional graduate intake like those of the merchant banking industry or the public sector, nor does it seem particularly interested in creating one.  This means that the preeminent route into the financial services industry and regulated sales is that of the banks.

Now, with the onset of RDR and the increasing transparency of the industry, the heavily sales focused financial advisory service provided by the banks retail arms doesn't sit particularly well with the cry for truely independent and unbiased financial advice.  Banks, when offering financial advice, by their very nature are biased towards offering their own products, they have to be.  Therefore, it stands to reason that the advice offered is perhaps tainted by a need for the financial adviser to acheive targets.  Of course, most if not all of the UK banking industry offer independent or IFA arms although they tend to be aimed at catering for the affluent. It is also however, very difficult for a newly qualified financial adviser or graduate/trainee to be offered a position within one of these segments.

What has to be realised for those seeking a career in financial services/regulated sales as a financial adviser or IFA is that there is a sales aspect to the role and most if not all positions will be targeted to a lesser or greater degree. How much of  a sales aspect the newly qualified financial adviser can accept is down to personal feelings.  Some will revel in the targeted environment and thrive on the peer recogntion it engenders, others will prefer the independent route, where perhaps the focus, although still sales orientated, leans more towards the financial advisory aspect and the nature of the financial planning advice proferred.  Each have their own benefits and pitfalls and its really horses for courses.  In my humble opionion the financial advisory industry as a whole is a sales industry first and foremost, the advice, whilst learning your trade as an IFA or financial adviser, comes second.

Polarisation - what effect would it have on the financial adviser recruitment industry?

Depolarisation - the rule that gave rise to the prominence of the Independent financial adviser or IFA has recently come under close scrutiny following the publishing of the Retail distribution review, the guidelines laid down by the FSA for the future of the financial services industry. For the layman, depolarisation legislation gave rise to the term 'independent' financial adviser by drawing a clear line between the differences in those who could offer truely independent advice and those who were working for companies offering their own financial products. Depolarisation also created a third type of financial adviser, the multi tied option. This basically means that the multi tied financial adviser, although not truly an IFA, can provide financial advice on a number of products from various providers, therefore offering a choice of sorts to those requiring financial planning advice.

Are we moving back towards a polarised financial services market and what differences will it make to the IFA and financial adviser of today and more importantly for those of us in the financial services recruitment market, the financial services industry ? Consumer protection was of course a huge motivating factor in the introduction of depolorisation legislation yet many recent studies have shown that consumers are not entirely concerned whether or not their financial adviser is truly independent or not and are more concerned that the products provided are the right financial products for them, with the right image and the right reputation. So, does this mean that consumers are apathetic towards financial planning?  I wouldn't have thought so but I would have expected the recent turmoil in the economic climate to have the effect of making consumers consider their choices more than they perhaps did previously although so far, studies have shown that isn't the case.

It is unsure as to what effect polarisation would have on the financial services recruitment industry and from the consumers perspective it seems to make little difference.  Multi tied advisers would simply have to become truely 'independent' financial advisers offering a choice from the entire market or 'tied' financial planners providing products from one provider, a salesperson in effect.  There shouldn't be a detrimental effect in the amount of roles available although in the short term, as companies within the financial services industry adapt there could be a small drop in the numbers of IFA's, financial advisers and therefore administrators and paraplanners required.  An equilibrium should however manifest itself within the medium term.  My opinion would be that short term it may have a relatively small effect but longer term, the financial services recruitment agencies would survive - we just wouldn't be working for multi tied organisations anymore. Simple really!