Where are the financial advisers?
One of the country’s biggest banks is having trouble recruiting financial advisers.
Thursday, February 26th 2015, 6:00AM 
8 Comments
by Susan Edmunds
ASB’s head of wealth, Jonathan Beale, said his division had been in a growth phase for some time. He would like to add another seven or eight financial advisers to the staff.
“We have adverts out all the time and we’re inundated with people but we struggle to find the right people.”
Five new advisers have been hired. "If I could get 10 more, I would take them," Beale said.
Beale said when he started in the financial services sector he was working with a lot of people in their late-20s and early-30s.
“Go-getting, people people and I liked that. That’s the type of person we’re looking for. We get people applying who’ve been in the industry a long time and that’s not to say they’re not any good but that’s not what we’re looking for. We’ve had success with younger, go-getting smart people with a degree who see it as a career. They’ve done well.”
Beale said product and technical knowledge could be taught but what was hard to find was enough advisers who had the skills to build relationships with their clients. “Asking the right questions, having a good conversation. That’s what people want from their advisers, not ‘have I got a product for you’.”
ASB had put pathways in place to help transition people into AFA roles from other parts of the business, he said. Experienced advisers were being used to tutor those new to the role and Beale had been speaking to groups such as young lawyers, hoping to entice some who had decided the legal profession was not for them.
But he said the industry as a whole had work to do to get younger people in. “How many people in their mid-20s think of financial advice or financial planning as a profession or career they want to follow? It’s not at the level of lawyers or accountants, those things that are thrown out there.”
Beale said people needed to realise that financial advice could be a rewarding career.
As KiwiSaver balances grew and people became more aware of them, there would be a growing need for people to get advice from, he said. “Maybe the regulation needs to change to make it easier for people to give advice.”
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Comments from our readers
1. someone in mid-30s upwards.
2. financially stable - no need to have loads of money, but manages his personal finances well.
3. preferably married, and of course a good family man/woman.
then, talk about qualifications, experience, and service. just my preference cos i think this person can offer more than a 20+ or early 30s with 1st class honors degree, loads of student debt, in an unstable relationship and not have much life experience.
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