You’re just what we’re looking for

The demand for good, qualified financial planners is unabated, but finding them is not easy.

Everybody wants planners and they have to be experienced, says Financial Recruitment Group managing director Judith Beck.

“Most clients want planners to be able to hit the ground running immediately,” she says.

“Dealer groups will not take someone and build up their experience.”

The other demand is for experienced planners who can bring their own client base, or be able to access their former client base after the no-contact period.

“It would be good to see dealer groups taking new people and growing their expertise, rather than fighting for the dollars that a planner earns,” she says.

Often a client will have a specific profile of a salaried planner, Beck says, or they want a planner who is a centre of influence with clients.

“The planner is expected to have the necessary qualifications as well as technical expertise, and they must also be good at building relationships with clients,” she says.

“Most recruitment specifications call for a CFP with DFP as the absolute minimum.”

Beck says it is really hard to find good financial planners as they are successful and don’t want to leave their current dealer group.

The only time a good planner usually comes on the market is if they are unhappy with their present situation, she says.

The problems of establishing new client bases, using different platforms and cultural differences often keep planners in their current jobs.

Beck says CFP salaries currently range between $90,000 and $150,000 a year plus bonuses.

“Age is not a problem, as long as they are really experienced,” she says.

Starting a new financial planning operation allows different selection processes to be applied.

TelstraSuper Financial Planning has recruited five planners and is in the process of recruiting a further five for its Sydney office.

The financial planning operation is part of Telstra’s superannuation fund and planners will be looking after existing members, rather than seeking new clients.

Pat Ryan, general manager of the financial planning arm, admits his selection criteria are a little different from the norm.

“I am looking for a planner with 10 years experience who is a CFP,” he says.

“I am also looking for people who are technically very good at developing strategies for clients.”

Planners at TelstraSuper are salaried, with leads fed to them by the call centre.

Ryan emphasises he is not looking for people who are interested in building a practice.

“I want experienced planners who don’t want to spend their time building a business,” he says.

Potential applicants who have made the shortlist are required to sit a two-hour exam, which Ryan compares to a difficult DFP unit.

“The exam is designed to show they actually have the technical expertise,” he says.

“It is a mixture of multiple choice questions and some client scenarios.”

The purpose of the exam is also to weed out people who may have just passed the CFP exams or taken many attempts to achieve a positive result.

Ryan says he checks references, but he tends to source other referees to provide an independent view.

“I will contact somebody I know or go to an outside referee, such as a BDM, who I know has worked with the candidate,” he says.

“If the candidate gave a workmate as a reference, it would not count as highly as one from their boss.”

TelstraSuper also undertakes Federal Police and Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) checks.

“We do as much as possible because if we hire the wrong person, it affects us, the client and eventually their career,” Ryan says.

“Time spent on recruitment is time and money really well spent.”

Collins House Financial Services managing director Dominic Alafaci says his tip for recruiting staff is to train them from the start.

“I was told years ago to go outside the industry to recruit and this has been the best way to go for me,” he says.

“Most trained people with experience are already settled and if they are not settled then they are not as attractive as potential employees.”

Alafaci puts technical expertise and work ethic at the top of his list when looking at candidates for a position.

“I would rank the work ethic as the most important thing,” he says.

Matrix Financial group managing director Allison Dummett says many planners joining the group come from referrals.

“We have a principal criteria for them earning gross revenues of at least $200,000,” she says.

“There is also an education criteria and we seek references. We are really looking for people who are going to grow a business.”

Apart from checking references, Matrix also makes a compliance visit to the prospective candidate’s business.

“We are looking at how they run a client’s file,” Dummett says.

“Surprisingly, we are not looking to recruit huge numbers of people, just A-team principals who are dedicated to growing a business.”

Currently, the group is looking at six applications and this year it has already appointed seven planners.

Garrisons managing director Kim White says the group doesn’t have to seek out planners to join it.

“We get a lot of referrals from people, as our culture seems to appeal to a lot of planners.”

White says any planner joining has to fit Garrisons’ culture, as well as meeting all the current education and compliance standards.

“They would have to meet PS 146 standards and we prefer CFPs,” he says.

“We also check references and they have to conform to a business template we have.”

White says this template is a good indication of whether the candidate will meet the Garrisons’ business model.

“The final stage is for the executive team to give their final approval, based on the reports by our people,” he says.

“We are trying to get a complete picture before making that final decision.”

White admits financial planning is a lot like many other industries.

“There are good planners and bad planners, and in between is the standard deviation curve,” he says.

Hillross Financial launched an active recruitment campaign last April. It was seeking planners from all walks of the industry — salaried planners, self-employed planners and those thinking about starting their own practice.

Hillross managing director Jack Regan says the support for the recruitment awareness campaign has been good.

“We have been talking to planners who are thinking about starting up their own business and need to consider everything from setting up a business structure, to compliance, to employing support staff, and finding a dealer group that suits them and their potential clients,” he says.

“We offer planners more than just dealer group support. Everything we do is designed to assist planners to manage their practices through every stage of the business cycle.”

The recruitment process includes a requirement for the candidate to write a business plan, which is thoroughly evaluated, Regan says .

“This especially applies to people coming into the industry and they will work through this with their potential area manager,” he says.

“If we think they need some help, we might buddy them up with an existing practice.”

The preferred education standard at Hillross is the CFP and Regan says 45 per cent of the group has now achieved that standard. References are also checked.

“We are looking for people who have the ability to run their own business,” he says.