'Grads can help advisers cost-effectively grow their businesses'

Speaking at the ifa Future Forum 2022, Graham Burnard, senior consultant at Elixir Consulting, recommended advisers looking to bolster their capabilities consider bringing on graduates.

Graduates, he said, can help advisers cost-effectively grow their businesses.

“I’ve certainly got a few clients who have got grads working three to four days in the business. They’re obviously capable and intelligent people. They may stay after the degree... They’re a really great cost-effective resource,” Mr Burnard explained.

Services like Striver, he said, can help match up advisers and graduates in their local area for a fixed fee. Otherwise, Mr Burnard recommended reaching out to universities directly.

“Just go over and post a note at the universities. So, if you’ve got a college, something in your local area, is there a notice board? And just getting the word out there among family and friends as well, people that have children of university age,” Mr Burnard said.

He emphasised the need to actively increase the appeal of financial advice as a profession among young people because the industry’s reputation “has been tainted”.

“We need to resell the industry. [We need to] tell people the great work we do, we change people’s lives. Young people need to know that this is a great profession,” he said.

“Get that word out there, that it’s a great profession. Get people wanting to join and go through that professional year.”

Ultimately, Mr Burnard said: “If you do need to grow, think of the right way to grow the right resources.”

“If you’re feeling capacity constraints, you’re certainly not the odd person out, it’s the common thing we’re seeing around the industry — people wanting to grow their business effectively and efficiently and profitably,” he said.

“So how do you do it? First focus on the big leader — culture. Make sure you understand the culture you want to have and make sure your team is actually engaged with you and the business and enjoys coming to work. If they’re not, understand why and maybe make some tough decisions about some people on the team.

“Then look for ways to reduce friction. Work out how many reviews should you be able to do in a week, or a month, how many are you doing, and if there is a gap there or you’re working way too hard to do that, there are frictions, and there is inefficiency. So, start to unpack that. Map it out, visualise it,” he continued.

Once that’s done, Mr Bernard said, the business owner/adviser can “focus on the right people doing the right tasks”. Businesses that do find that they need to grow can then “think of the right way to grow the right resources”.