• A Personal Message from Catriona
• Featured Article :
  The Next Generation of IFA
• Out Now : Audio Masterclasses for CF1, CF2 and CF5
• Moving On – Climbing the Career Ladder
• What’s Around the Corner?:
  CF6 Audio Masterclasses
• Exam and Learning Resource Updates
• We Recommend… Calculation Workbooks
• Quote of the Month

December is a bit of a strange month for me with a mix of relief, excitement and trepidation.  There’s the relief that I have made it through another year successfully – which this year has proven to be a very positive and happy year.  There’s the excitement of Christmas that having a four-year-old son brings, as well as thinking about my plans for 2010 as well as what 2010 may unexpectedly throw at me.

As always, I have a mad rush up to 31 December as I try to tick those things off my ever-so-long ‘to do’ list, and a nice clean pad of paper for 2010 with new, inspiring ideas. 

Here at Brand Financial Training we have some great plans for 2010 with new learning resources for all exam-takers which should go even further in our mission to help you to pass your exams first time.  We will also be helping out even more exam-takers in 2010 as we look to providing resources for additional exams. 

If you’ve got any ideas for us that will help you to pass your exams first time, now is a great time to let me know what you need.  I’d love to hear from you at Catriona@brandft.co.uk

Have a great Christmas, and I look forward to helping you achieve fantastic exam success in 2010.

Catriona.

If you have any questions or comments, or any suggestions as to what can be included in this newsletter to help you maximise your potential and pass first time, please contact me directly at Catriona@BrandFT.co.uk  I would love to hear from you.

Never in the field of Financial Services could so much be written for so many by so few

Terry Hall of Recruit UK looks at IFAs, and how they should be recruited in the future.

The environment we all work in is changing and these changes will impact on everyone involved, to a greater or lesser extent, depending on their place in the sector. Various people are talking about what the post RDR landscape will look like, and suggesting figures.  Based on what, I’m not sure. One of the more interesting forecasts I read lately was concerning IFA numbers post 2012. Based on that, both the firms recruiting and IFAs looking to make a future move, may have to adjust to fit into the new landscape.

In November this year Ernst and Young predicted that of the 35,000 IFAs currently working in the UK only 10,000 would remain after 2012. This means that just 28% of today’s IFAs will still be practising when 2013 starts. So with firms doing all they can to build and develop their client banks through forging professional links with accountants and solicitors and seeking private clients through referrals and so on, that’s not a lot of IFAs to satisfy a lot of clients. In other words, in the brand new world of fee only based advice, potentially a lot of fees will be shared out over 72% less IFAs than today.
 

Working as a recruitment consultant within financial services, and so spending the majority of my time speaking with IFAs, I continuously come across clients keen to recruit good quality staff. The majority of clients when recruiting place emphasis on written business, with the bar normally set at £100,000, good trail income and a fully transportable client bank. If the sourced candidate fails to get past the initial criteria then, to be honest, very few firms consider interviewing them. This strategy leaves a lot of well qualified and successful IFAs out in the cold or, more realistically, stuck where they are. This in turn means that some good firms will miss out on some very good IFAs that, to be honest, are just in the wrong company at present but who would flourish in a better/different firm.

The Retail Distribution Review is quite often the reason I’m given by IFAs for leaving the industry but in almost every case it is coupled with the age of the IFA concerned. Given this and the high average age of IFAs this reduction of numbers in the industry could be a good thing. Not only will there be more business to go around fewer people, there will be more chance to bring in new blood to fill the void left. The only thing to decide upon is how and with whom that void is filled.

With the introduction of the RDR firms now look more closely at the qualification level of potential employees and what their future exam plans are. Maybe whilst looking at their qualifications, firms should also look at the IFA as a whole. Yes they should be judged on business written and for what they can bring to the firm, but what they will achieve in the future depends on the firm as much as the IFA and what they have already done. Perhaps firms should also look at where they have come from and what affect that has had on them. What are their marketing abilities, persistency rates, technical abilities and so on? Admittedly this will be discussed at interview, but only with the ones that satisfy the initial criteria.  If firms were to spend more time talking over candidates with their chosen recruiter and looking at the whole IFA from the outset, not just the initial criteria, then the void would be filled more easily and with well qualified and rounded IFAs committed to their sector and taking their new firm through 2012. This is also an ideal time to address the average age issue. Clearly that average will have dropped after 2012 through natural wastage but maybe firms should look at taking on trainees with a targeted approach to career development now in readiness for 2013. This will help maintain a lower average age for years to come whilst ensuring skills and knowledge are passed down from more experienced IFAs to the next generation.

With a more rounded, flexible and comprehensive approach to recruitment comes the need for a more rounded, flexible and comprehensible IFA. With the perceived void in the workforce comes an opportunity for both employers and employees to benefit. The one thing that will ensure this, is both parties looking at the bigger picture and working to help each other develop accordingly. There’s no point being capable of writing huge business levels if you don’t have the required qualifications come 2013. Equally there’s no point being the best relationship builder if you don’t have the technical skills and knowledge to capitalise on these relationships.

If Ernst and Young are right, the 10,000 IFAs left will be in an enviable position and the firms looking to recruit them should know who they may be now, and be looking to take them on sooner rather than later. They may not be the current big hitters with lots of trail income and a fully transferable client base. They will more likely be the younger, hungry IFAs who are still building their career and whose client bank is only partially transferable. Their written business levels may be a little less than a firm would like to see, maybe as a result of sitting papers or building a business. They will have definite plans on how they intend to achieve RDR compliance and will be active in sourcing and building new relationships with clients from diverse backgrounds. They will, with the right development, coaching and support, become the big hitters of the future, past 2012, and will reward their employers for looking at them as a whole  and not just as a set of limiting criteria.  

Copyright 2009, Terry Hall - RecruitUK

Do You Have An Article You Would Like Us To Publish In Our Newsletter?

We’re always interested in reading and publishing any articles that may be of use to our readers. They can relate to the financial services industry, the general insurance industry or to studying and exams in general. If you would like us to consider one of your articles for publication, please email it to catriona@brandft.co.uk

Realism is an important consideration when planning your next step on the career ladder. In order to progress your career, be honest with yourself as to your level of competency and your abilities. The short-term high of jumping a couple of steps is invariably met with the long-term low of not delivering and having to make another move to compensate. A good consultant will know you and their clients well. They should always look to put you in a role that is not only better for you than your current role but will also enhance your CV and act as a platform for your next role. Beware of consultants that spend too much time talking up the role and not enough time talking through what the role can do for you. 

RecruitUK – The independent specialist IFA recruiter. Ensuring the right people are in the right places for the right reasons.

More information can be found at www.recruitukltd.co.uk

To discuss your recruitment needs in more detail please contact Terry Hall, directly at terry.hall@recruitukltd.co.uk

Audio masterclasses are a great way to vary your study methods, make studying more interesting, and increase knowledge, understanding and information retention. You can listen on your PC, on the bus, at the gym – pretty much anywhere.

Get your free sample masterclasses at:
For CF1 : http://www.brandft.co.uk/cf/cf1mclass.asp
For CF2 : http://www.brandft.co.uk/cf/cf2mclass.asp
For CF5 : http://www.brandft.co.uk/cf/cf5mclass.asp

Updates to our Learning Resources

Updates to all of our learning resources can be found a http://www.brandft.co.uk/updates.asp 

It is essential that you visit this page periodically to ensure that you have the most up-to-date information regarding your learning resources.  Please do not email us with any resource-related queries before checking this page.

General Insurance Learning Resources for 2010

We are currently updating all our IF1, IF2, IF3 and IF5 mock papers for the new syllabus examinable from 1 January 2010. These will be available for sale from mid-December. If you are sitting your exam in 2009, you need to ensure you purchase the 2009 mock papers NOW, before they are replaced with the 2010 versions.

The good news is that there are not many changes to the syllabus, so only a few questions have had to be replaced or re-worded.

Our calculation workbooks focus on the calculations found in your exam.  They ensure you get maximum practice with step-by-step answers so that you know exactly how to get the answer required.  The calculation workbooks cover the exam syllabus and will ensure you gain extra marks which often mean the difference between a pass and a fail.

These are not available anywhere else!

You can view a demo video to find out what is included in the calculation workbook related to your next exam.

They are available for:
CF1 http://www.brandft.co.uk/cf/cf1calcwkbk.asp
CF2 http://www.brandft.co.uk/cf/cf2calcwkbk.asp
CF6 http://www.brandft.co.uk/cf/cf6calcwkbk.asp

J01 http://www.brandft.co.uk/df/j01calcwkbk.asp
J04 http://www.brandft.co.uk/df/j04calcwkbk.asp
J05 http://www.brandft.co.uk/df/j05calcwkbk.asp
J06 http://www.brandft.co.uk/df/j06calcwkbk.asp

Provided electronically in PDF format, they are available as soon as you make payment on our website.  You can print it out and go through the calculations wherever you wish – no need to sit at a PC and no waiting for the postman!

And don’t forget our 14-day money-back guarantee.

Gain access within minutes by simply paying online.

Ensure you pass first time, without fail.