Pathways and opportunities are key to attracting and retaining advisers

To achieve this, it is important that advice practices are providing their staff with pathways and opportunities that further their career progression. This needs to be done at all stages of the adviser journey, from attracting people to join the industry to retaining more experienced advisers.

Engaging fresh talent

The first challenge is attracting people to join the industry. The uptake rate of new advisers is unsustainable, with only around 500 choosing to enter the industry each year. Since founding Integro Private Wealth over 20 years ago, I have witnessed the increasingly critical role that universities have to play in encouraging young people to consider a career in advice. The advice industry has its own role to play in supporting universities on this front.

At Integro Private Wealth, for example, we have a partnership with Curtin University in Perth which allows us to bring in students for 120 hours of work experience as part of their studies. This allows students to see what a career in advice can look like. From there, suitable candidates are offered part-time work and placement for their professional year, to help nurture their pathway to become a qualified financial adviser.

This should be the industry standard. Advice practices across Australia should be seeking to create partnerships with local universities and other education providers. Such partnerships are critical to bringing more advisers into the industry, particularly young people, as it provides a sense of progression and allows them to gain industry experience through their university years.

Fostering skills development

Pathways and opportunities for growth and development are equally important once newcomers are in the door. Interns and aspiring advisers cannot be purely assigned administrative tasks if the goal is to train them in the skills needed to work as a qualified adviser, rather than a paraplanner.

Integro Private Wealth provides interns and new starters within the “Integro Academy” with the opportunity to mirror an adviser and the work they do. This provides hands-on experience in areas such as investment management, reviewing existing wealth management strategies, and engaging directly with clients. In return, the firm benefits as these interns then start their graduate adviser roles with far more experience than others in the industry.

Maintaining long-term success

Moving through the adviser journey, the next aspect that advice practices need to look at is how they keep experienced advisers and senior staff engaged and motivated over the long term.

A growing trend in adviser retention is to give advisers opportunities to earn an equity position in the business. This provides a goal to work towards that allows the adviser to feel valued in the team.

Integro Private Wealth has acknowledged this trend and has recently opened equity positions for two members of our adviser team: Bryce Wild and Bryn Evans. Advice firms of all shapes and sizes should see this as an aspirational goal. We expect this trend to continue as competition increases for qualified staff, driving more lucrative job offerings in the sector.

The opportunity to own an equity stake in a business can attract staff, particularly in smaller practices that are struggling with scale. Similarly, leaders of smaller firms may find it beneficial to incorporate their client base into that of a larger provider, with the view to holding a stake in the larger business. Equity positions are likely to be a key aspect of the continuing trend towards consolidation of advice practices nationwide.

Finally, encouraging education and further learning is fundamental in retaining advisers at every level. This should include external courses and training as well as on-the-job mentoring and experience. We are seeing this theme play out now, with advisers increasingly seeking to upskill in emerging investment areas like private markets.

Advisers are always looking for an edge. Facilitating their growth has the two-way advantage of equipping the adviser with greater knowledge and skills that will give them that edge, while enhancing the overall wealth management experience for clients. The more pathways and opportunities advice businesses can provide, the more advisers, the firm and the end client will benefit.

Justin Gilmour, managing partner at Integro Private Wealth