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Peter Wright, another director at CBK
Colchester is firmly of the opinion that experience is essential if you’re to be a good IFA. “People shouldn’t be allowed to
become IFAs straight away. There’s a wealth of knowledge needed to be an IFA that can’t be learned from a book. That applies across the board,” he says. “I think advising on just mortgages or
just protection is the breeding ground for most IFAs because you’re learning how to be more rounded and give better advice.” “Part of the reason IFAs are older than
brokers is because they’re setting up their own businesses,” adds Chadborn. “Younger guys tend to be more comfortable in sales roles in larger institutions to begin with, building up their client bases. You have to cut your teeth before you become an IFA.” Former packaging network owner,
Patrick Day, director of industry consultancy PD Consultancy, has been recruiting and training self-employed advisers for Northampton-based broker Homebank and says there is a mismatch between what brokers need to be skilled at now and the skills available in the market. “Homebank is looking for fully qualified
advisers who are already able to sell effectively and who will be comfortable being self-employed. They also need to have the ability to go and see customers most evenings which whittles down the number of people looking for work who will fit the bill,” he says. “I think that’s part of the problem in growing the market at the moment – those who are out of work don’t necessarily have the skills firms are looking for in this new market.”
Career path Most IFAs begin life as a tied adviser in a bank, building society or life office and consequently decide they want the freedom of advising on the whole of market and become a broker. The mortgage and protection broking sector is seen as a good breeding ground for IFAs and many in the industry say that accounts for the high average age of IFAs. Robert Sinclair says that is part of what’s contributing to the decline in the
number of fresh recruits in the intermediary sector. “Banks now aren’t recruiting in the
same way that they have been. They’ve needed fewer people in the past three years in particular, which has impacted on the number of people coming into intermediary sector,” he says. “That’s going to be ongoing. I also think the banks are working harder to keep good people.” Sinclair’s concern is that becoming an
IFA or mortgage broker looks difficult from the outside. “Where’s the little bible that says ‘this is
what you need to do to be an intermediary’? It looks very hard from the
becoming the last bastion of the cardigan brigade, but sexing up the industry is not the most straightforward task. Unfortunately it’s not just a case of stockings and miniskirts as it was with the girls at St Trinian’s. Chadborn raises the issue of aspiration
as a potential sticking point. “A big part of the problem is that
mortgage broking isn’t seen as a career path – most of the guys you talk to admit they just “fell into it.” Snowball agrees, “The demographic of
our advisers varies with 27% of our mortgage advisers under the age of 30. But for graduates, the mortgage advisory
“I THINK THE REASON MORTGAGE BROKING AND FINANCIAL ADVICE ISN’T SEEN AS A CAREER PATH FOR A LOT OF GRADUATES IS TO DO WITH CAREER TRAJECTORY. IF YOU’RE A GOOD MORTGAGE BROKER THIS YEAR YOU’LL EARN X THOUSAND POUNDS. IF YOU’RE A GOOD MORTGAGE BROKER NEXT YEAR, YOU’LL STILL EARN X THOUSAND POUNDS.”
outside to get all the qualifications, regulation and compliance right – and where do you go to find out? Unless you join a network and have them sort out most of that for you, and then you get into which network do I choose? “I think most intermediaries want to take
new people not from outside the industry but from inside the banks because of the disciplines they’ve learned. That means older people are coming across within the financial services industry rather than getting in new, younger people. “I think an important question we need
to ask is whether we need to sex up the industry a bit and try to get in people from schools and universities, which would of course have an attached cost. It’s something that forward thinking trade bodies should be trying to address – how to structure the funding for something like that.” Gwilliam agrees that the industry has to be careful of falling into the trap of
26 mortgage Introducer SEPTEMBER 2010
business may not be their first choice of career – especially in the current market.” “I think the reason mortgage broking
and financial advice isn’t seen as a career path for a lot of graduates is to do with the career trajectory,” says Chadborn. “If you’re a good mortgage broker this year you’ll earn x thousand pounds. If you’re a good mortgage broker next year, you’ll still earn x thousand pounds. Whereas in a large bank for example, you’ll see your pay escalate. “A lot of graduates go for training at the
wealth management brokerages, and they won’t do mortgages. Those firms have a good supply of young people coming in and working their way up because the salaries are aspirational. It’s the apprenticeship end of the market that’s struggling to get good and committed youngsters in the door.” Gwilliam says the focus on salaries and
money was part of the downfall of the intermediary sector in the first place and
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