Professional shares top qualities that make a good adviser

Speaking on the FPA Future Financial Planner podcast, Julian Place, an experienced financial planning professional, spoke about the qualities a prospective financial adviser needs to have to prosper in the industry.

He said that the top quality possessed by good advisers would be “being a good listener”.

“Financial planning is a relationships business,” he said.

“That ability to form close relationships with your clients, and for you to be able to demonstrate that you know and understand what’s important to them, and why they’ve come to see you in the first place is critical,” Mr Place explained.

He noted that while the technical components of the job are “a given”, what clients want is a professional who “intimately” understands their goals and aspirations.

“Holding their hand along the way, giving them the answers they need,” Mr Place said.

Also high on the list is passion, he noted.

“If you’re not passionate about your business, if you’re not passionate about the industry, if you’re not passionate about your clients, then you may as well find something else to do.”

For those who are self-employed or looking to start their own practice, he noted that drive, motivation, and self-discipline are key.

Mr Place also offered some advice to new entrants looking to get their foot in the door, highlighting that “wading through Seek” is not going to cut it.

“I don’t think that’s the way to go,” he said and flagged the abundance of opportunities currently on offer to new entrants, especially those with a couple of years of experience in the industry.

“I would be looking for businesses that are on a growth trajectory … If there are businesses that you like the look of, why not give them a call? Don’t wait for a job to be advertised,” Mr Place said.

Earlier this month, Wealth Data revealed that an increase in the number of new advisers entering the sector since the back half of 2022 has helped licensees battle adviser retention.

“The number of new entrants to financial advice, initially as provisional advisers, was very sluggish when first introduced in [January] 2019,” said Wealth Data founder Colin Williams.

“However, we saw a dramatic improvement in the second half of 2022, which continues in 2023.”

Speaking to ifa late last year, Eugene Ardino, chief executive officer of Lifespan Financial Planning, explained that “it has never been more important to try and attract new entrants”.

“This has been a real challenge for the profession with all the legislative change combined with difficult market and economic conditions, but hopefully we see some easing from a legislative change point of view in the short term,” Mr Ardino said at the time.

Mr Ardino further stated that profitable and professional practices have acknowledged the advantages of hiring and training staff from scratch.