If you want to become a financial planner, there’s a dizzying array of options and an alphabet soup of qualifications to get your head around. With the help of Steven Williams, founder of RockWealth Brighton, ROBIN POWELL offers some advice to guide you through the maze.
There are few professions more rewarding than financial planning. After all, there can’t be many other jobs that let you get to know your clients inside out, help them identify what they want from life, and see them achieve their goals.
Once fully qualified and experienced, there is scope for flexibility around work-life balance and working from home, which can allow you the flexibility to support your family as well as pursue a rewarding career.
So, whether you’re studying for your A Levels, assessing your options after university or considering a change of direction in mid-career, how do you become a financial planner?
Attributes required to become a financial planner
Before you go any further, you need to do some serious thinking and self-analysis. Most important of all, if you’re not a people person and a good listener, this isn’t the job for you. Nor will it suit you if you don’t like learning and studying; there will always be new research and information that you’ll need to get your head around.
Financial advice is partly about numbers, so of course you need to be comfortable with those. However, words are important too, so ask yourself: Are you good at expressing yourself and explaining difficult concepts, both verbally and on paper?
Remember, too, that clients will be sharing their innermost thoughts and dreams with you, so are you someone who listens so they can really trust and rely on you?
Should you go to university?
Going to university is a big decision which only you can make, but our view at RockWealth is that, generally speaking, a degree does provide a good foundation if you want to become a financial planner.
Postgraduate options include Queen Mary University of London and the London Institute of Banking & Finance.
Professional qualifications
If you are already working and financial planning is a new career choice, you can work towards a professional qualification while employed by a financial planning firm.
One well recognised way to do this is by by becoming a paraplanner. As a paraplanner you will be supporting a qualified financial planner, drafting client reports and sitting in on client meetings. This gives you invaluable first hand experience, with support, while you study.
The main professional body is the Personal Finance Society (PFS), which is part of the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII). Among the many different qualifications the PFS offers is the Diploma in Regulated Financial Planning, which is the most common qualification for advisers in the UK. It’s classified as a Level 4 qualification in the Regulated Qualifications Framework (RQF).
“The Level 4 diploma from the PFS is the standard entry ticket for advisers in the UK, and it meets the FCA’s basic requirements across six core areas,” says Steven.
“The London Institute of Banking & Finance offers a Level 4 Diploma for Financial Advisers (DiPFA), and the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (CISI) offers a Level 4 Investment Advice Diploma.
“Each course has a slightly different emphasis, so you need to do your research. If it’s financial planning you want to focus on, rather than just financial advice, I would personally recommend taking the CISI route.”
Choosing the right employer
Another very important decision, of course, is which firm you’re going to apply to join. Some of the large financial advice chains offer training schemes with attractive packages, but Steven’s advice is to consider the long term, decide what you really want from your career, and choose accordingly.
“Aspiring financial planners are often attracted to the bigger firms, and that’s understandable,” says Steven. “But just because a firm is well known, that doesn’t make it a better choice than a smaller firm.
“You obviously want an employer who will support you in your studies. But you also want a firm whose ethical values you share. Some of the larger chains have very high fees and, frankly, are more interested in selling products and generating the maximum profit than being a true fiduciary. So be sure to research potential employers thoroughly.”
Beyond Level 4
For financial planners, Level 4 is very much a minimum requirement.
“Level 4 really is the base level,” says Steven. “The more you develop your skills and technical knowledge, the better able you are to serve your clients and the more trust they will have in the services you provide.”
So, what routes of progression are there beyond Level 4? Well, they are many and varied. There’s no Level 5, but the CISI offers a Level 6 Certificate in Pension Transfers and Planning Advice (PTPA). You can also study for Certified Financial Planner (CFP) certification, which corresponds to RQF Level 7.
“I’m a CFP myself and would definitely recommend it,” says Steven. “It’s recognised globally as the gold standard for financial planning professionals.
“The training allows you to back up any decisions with hard evidence and provides a financial planning framework that’s robust and repeatable. That gives clients real confidence and helps you to build stronger client relationships. That in turn drives referrals and helps you to grow your client base.”
CFP certification is recognised globally as the gold standard for financial planners, says Steven Williams
A changing profession
Beyond these formal qualifications, there is a wide range of training courses and professional development programmes to choose from as well. Steven particularly recommends the Kinder Institute of Life Planning and the Know Thyself Relational Financial Planning training course.
“The profession has changed so much since I started in financial services,” he says. “And I mean that in a positive way. There’s far less emphasis now on products and money management, and much more focus on areas where a financial planner really does add value to client outcomes.
“I was very impressed with both the Kinder Institute and the Know Thyself training, and my clients have benefited as much as I have from the time, effort and money I invested in those courses.”
“We need good people”
So, if Steven could give one piece of advice to would-be financial planners, what would it be?
“Find yourself a mentor,” he says. “I act as a mentor to young people of colour who are new to the profession, and I’m particularly keen to work with a talented back female independent planner.
“This profession needs good people — not just talented people, but people with the right character and values, who really want to do the right thing. We also need to become more representative of our diverse society.
“Financial planning is a great sector to work in, and people shouldn’t be put off choosing it because their colour, disability, sexual orientation or social background isn’t yet well represented. Be part of the change.”
ASPIRING BLACK FEMALE INDEPENDENT ADVISER?
Currently black females are particularly underrepresented in independent financial planning as a career. If you’re an ambitious, black and female independent adviser, or if you would like to become a financial planner, Steven would like to hear from you. You can get in touch via the Contact page.
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CAN WE HELP?
If you’re looking for a financial planner, why not call us or send us an email?
We serve clients in Brighton and across both East and West Sussex, as well as in London.
If we can’t help you, or feel you would be better speaking to someone else, we will be happy to point you in the right direction.
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