Advice businesses must be ‘more strategic’ to attract new recruits

In a new opinion piece published on ifa, Virtual Business Partners head David Carney said that businesses are already faced with the challenge of finding the right people, particularly younger people who are “unlikely to spend their entire career in one business".

Meanwhile, it was revealed that the number of Australian advisers shrank below 19,000 late last year and is predicted to reach 13,000 by the end of 2023.

“The simple answer is that financial planning business will need to start being more strategic in their recruitment approach and take a long-term view,” Mr Carney wrote.

“This means planning ahead, not just waiting for the ‘perfect person’ to come along. Or, even more risky, waiting until they are too busy to cope before starting to recruit and then hoping for the best.”

Mr Carney suggested implementing a recruitment strategy can address this challenge, such as considering areas of specialisation, setting productivity expectations of advisers and succession plans.

He wrote that addressing these areas can help both the business in its recruitment and the adviser “see their own career path”.

“This is an opportunity for businesses to think not just about the next few years, but to look at how they can develop the next generation of advisers and have a clear pathway for them,” he wrote.

“Those businesses will be so much more valuable in the future.”

Read the full opinion piece here.

Neil Griffiths

Neil is the Deputy Editor of the wealth titles, including ifa and InvestorDaily.

Neil is also the host of the ifa show podcast.