Becoming an IFA

crober3224

Hi everyone

Im hoping someone could give me some advice on becoming an IFA.

Iam currently thinking about changing my career and becoming an IFA.

Im thinking about doing the Certificate in Financial Planning through the Chartered Insurance Institute but I dont have any relevant work experience working in Financial Services.

If I completed the CFP on my own would it increase my chances of securing a relevant job on route to becoming an IFA i.e as a paraplanner or trainee IFA?

Ive heard that securing a job within a bank or insurance company is also another option.

I know that the qualifications are changing in 2013.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks!

qpop

crober3224 wrote: »

Hi everyone

Im hoping someone could give me some advice on becoming an IFA.

Iam currently thinking about changing my career and becoming an IFA.

Im thinking about doing the Certificate in Financial Planning through the Chartered Insurance Institute but I dont have any relevant work experience working in Financial Services.

If I completed the CFP on my own would it increase my chances of securing a relevant job on route to becoming an IFA i.e as a paraplanner or trainee IFA?

Ive heard that securing a job within a bank or insurance company is also another option.

I know that the qualifications are changing in 2013.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks!

Unfortunately as of Jan 2012 the CFP will be obsolete for IFAs.

You'll need to study the Diploma in Regulated Financial Services (CII) or non CII equivalent, to be authorised to give client advice post 2012.

What is your job currently? I think transferable skills are an important aspect.

I think most IFAs either began as insurance co/bank sales people or as para-planners.

dunstonh

Im thinking about doing the Certificate in Financial Planning through the Chartered Insurance Institute but I dont have any relevant work experience working in Financial Services.

That qualification is already obsolete for new joiners. The 2012 date applies to existing only.

If I completed the CFP on my own would it increase my chances of securing a relevant job on route to becoming an IFA i.e as a paraplanner or trainee IFA?

From what I understand, the banks are no longer taking people on without the qualifications and a track record or some background that would appeal to them. I have an IFA firm and employ people and I wont touch new advisers. Too much cost and risk.

The more limited career path nowadays is to start with mortgages (which has 3 lower level qualifications) and then do the protection qualification to allow mortgages and insurance. Then find an IFA that you can be a mortgage adviser with and then progress towards being an IFA over the following 3-5 years. You cant just become an IFA any more and expect success. Those days have gone Indeed, I wouldnt want to be an IFA starting out now unless you know you can be spoon fed clients (and that wont happen much). Even in the good years, over half of new financial advisers/mortgage advisers will leave the industry within 2 years having failed to succeed in the career. Usually lack of clients being the killer.

crober3224

Thanks for your replies.

My background is in accountancy and property sales so I believe I would have some transferrable skills.

So if I started the Diploma in Regulated Financial Services on my own and continued in my current job and then approached banks/insurance companies or IFA firms to start working as a para planner for them? Would this be the best way to get started?

Does the Diploma in Regulated Financial Services include the mortgage qualifications or is this different?

I would be willing to start at the bottom and work up to being an IFA.

dunstonh

Does the Diploma in Regulated Financial Services include the mortgage qualifications or is this different?

You would mortgage qualifications on top. (hence why the common model is to start with mortgages first and build the IFA ones on top).

qpop

Mortgage qualifications (Which for CII is Cert CII (MP))consist of CF1 (the old main paper for the Cert FP) and CF6. These are "National Qualification Framework lvl3", and are pretty easy by all accounts. Both multiple choice exams.
The Dip RFP is a bit more challenging, consisting of R01 through R06, and is a NQF Lvl4.
There is some logic to doing the easier one first, and in fact I inadvertently did (though I didn't advise on mortgages)

If you're working as an accountant, it should be pretty easy to start networking with IFAs. You'll also find a lot (some estimates 30% of the "independent" workforce) are going to leave the industry in the next year or so, given the changes the FSA are implementing.

donniej

I'm sure you know this already, but in 2012 with RDR coming up the IFA industry is likely to go through a bit of a shake-up. The expected effects that might be of interest to you are:

• many IFA companies are expected to close doors due to a combination of the cost of retraining and the lower number of customers expected to want to pay upfront fees. This also means that many IFAs will be made redundant (or retire)
• it's expected that the remaining IFAs will concentrate on higher net worth clients, for whom the upfront fees are less likely to have an impact on prospective returns

In short, it is likely there will be quite a few redundancies (so the job market will be quite competitive for a while) and the customer base will be higher net worth clients (so good presentation is essential.) That's not to say it's a bad time to become an IFA, but it's worth bearing those in mind.