Desire to make a difference making advice an attractive profession

Like many before her, Ishwa Pandya was drawn to the profession through familial ties. Growing up in India, Pandya would watch her father who was a financial adviser and knew that she wanted to follow in his footsteps.

“I was very clear on pursuing this, becoming an adviser, from a young age,” Pandya told ifa.

Starting out her studies in India at Ahmedabad University, Pandya obtained a Bachelor of Business Administration with a major in finance, and later went to Gujarat University to complete her Postgraduate Diploma in Investment and Financial Analysis.

Aged 22, Pandya left India, spending the next two years at the University of South Australia acquiring a Master’s in Financial Planning and Services and, as of this month, has now taken up a wealth associate role with Canberra-based advice firm Bravium.

While there are several paths she could have chosen in the finance sector, Pandya said that the desire to help people was the driving force behind pursuing a career in financial advice.

“With advice, the one thing which I thought is for me is the client relationships. When you sit down, you build that relationship with the client when they're coming in, and then when you do give out that advice is where you're making that impact in their lives,” she said.

“You're helping them to make the right financial decisions. You are educating them, obviously, but with your education and guidance, they are making the right decision.”

The personal fulfillment or gratification that comes with helping others make these decisions is often cited as one of the more important aspects of what can, at times, be a trying job.

“If someone is coming in that says, ‘I've got this amount of inheritance, I don't know what to do’. We are telling them the right things to do. And with that inheritance, after three years, we could see with our advice what difference they have made with their own life,” Pandya said.

“So, that is something which is rewarding for me, to see that I did help this person with the money and now, with my help or my advice, he's doing the right things.”

Thinking of her future clients, Pandya said that building relationships and fostering trust will be the most important aspects of her professional persona, ensuring that clients feel comfortable sharing their personal circumstances with her.

“I want to really build that strong relationship where they can openly talk about things like, you know, ‘I'm thinking of changing my job. Can you help me? My mother has passed away. Can you tell me what I should do?’ I would develop that relationship where it's more like a care thing, where they can come to me with anything,” she said.

So, why aren’t more people joining the profession?

Despite efforts made by the Financial Advice Association of Australia (FAAA) and other industry groups, adviser numbers have struggled considerably with a net increase of just 153 year-on-year as of the week ending 16 January, according to Wealth Data, bringing the latest total to just 15,494.

One of the profession's biggest deterrents for young talent, according to Pandya, could be a lack of confidence in communicating with clients that are much older than themselves.

“Sometimes, when you are sitting in front of a client and you are 25, some clients might take it as, ‘oh, the person is 25 and they have no life experience. What kind of advice would that person bring to the table?’” she said.

While this is an issue that could be alleviated with time and education, a report from Kaplan last year showed that students aren’t receiving training in those critical soft skills, which is ultimately hindering their client relationships and even their ability to secure employment.

To this point, Pandya said that finding an entry position with an advice firm proved to be a rather difficult task, taking her around two years, which could be further hindering growth in the profession.

The exit of institutions from the advice sector also saw the removal of crucial training grounds for young advisers, with smaller firms struggling to justify the cost of bringing on a graduate or professional year (PY) adviser.

In addition to these concerns, Pandya suggested that the ever shifting regulatory landscape of financial advice could also be acting as a deterrent, as some may be hesitant to join an unstable profession.

“Look, if I'm entering today, things are the same. Tomorrow, everything changes. I would not like it,” she said.