Financial planner salaries expected to rise 23%
Data shows that despite salaries are expected to be flat across the board in 2021, financial planners are expected to buck that trend with those who have one to five years of experience predicted to see a 23% rise.
The annual Robert Walters Salary Survey, which tracked trends and sentiments in the Australian job market, showed confidence in the opportunities on offer in the industry were also high with 65% of those surveyed indicating they felt confident about their job prospects this year.
There was also 25% of businesses in the wealth management space that indicated they would give pay rises this year, with 33% of professionals in the industry expecting a pay rise in 2021.
Across the banking and financial services industry in general – the most sought after individuals in 2021 were risk and compliance professionals, credit and lending professionals, and investment analysts and specialists.
Remuneration was also identified as not being the key driver of worker satisfaction, as the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and stay-at-home directives had seen professionals instead turn to job security, workplace culture and their colleagues as the main source of their job satisfaction.
Overall, 85% of professionals surveyed indicated they want their current flexible working arrangements to continue, which included 43% who want to continue working remotely full-time.
However, business leaders said they were focused on getting employees back to the office, which they viewed as having a critical role to play in restarting the economy and 60% said productivity was the driver for them not wanting to continue with flexible working arrangements.
Almost half (49%) of those surveyed who were unemployed said it was due to a COVID-19 related redundancy, while 32% of businesses said they would continue their hiring and headcount freezes into 2021, and 25% would likely make redundancies.
James Nicholson, Robert Walters ANZ managing director, said 2021 was going to see a resetting of the employment landscape.
“Job seekers are confident of their job prospects for the year ahead and are emboldened by the flexibility gains made in 2021,” Nicholson said.
“However, employers are working to get their teams back to the office and remain cautious on the long-term recovery of the economy.
“How this re-balancing of the working environment and bridging of the expectation gap is managed now, has the potential to dictate the future of the workplace for decades to come.
“We expect salaries will remain relatively flat in the year ahead – even in those industries experiencing the most demand; and a third of businesses have indicated they will be continuing with headcount freezes in the short-term.”
AUTHOR
Chris Dastoor
Recommended for you
With regional and rural suburbs exhibiting high spare capacity to invest, Money Management speaks to three regional advisers on the opportunities beyond the major cities and the importance of a strong network.
Platform consolidation is expected to accelerate among financial advisers this year, as software company Finura pinpoints which two platforms are set to be the winners, thanks to this trend.
The software provider has made several appointments in its APAC wealth propositions team, with a focus on driving growth across digital advice, Xplan and strategic partnerships.
The platform has announced it plans to close its Xplore managed discretionary account service in 2026 which holds $2 billion in funds under administration.
