Mortgage Advisor / Indepedant Financial Advisor - Career Advice

denni123

Hi all,
Firstly, thank you for taking the time to read.
I am currently stuck in a rut in regards to my career and looking for some advice/guidance from others!

I am 28 years old, married and have a son who is 7 months old. I currently work in the public sector for the last 4 years after previously working in contractual positions in major international events in IT as well as procurement/financial purchasing. I completed a degree from Open University of Economics and Politics in 2019 and was very proud to achieve this consider the obstacles and challenges of working full time and study part time!

However, I have come to a crossroads in my career and prior to joining my current job, I wanted to utilise my degree in Economics and enter within the finance industry of Mortgage advising and eventually independant finanacial advisor remit. However, I took the route of my current position as a safe option if I am truly honest.

I am intending on studying CeMAP which is the required qualification to become a mortgage advisor but I don't have any direct experience in mortgage advising and trainee positions offering very low salaries with the anticipation of commission. My concern is that this change of career may impact my family and become a huge mistake and unsure of the financial possibilies in the mortgage advising industry?

If anyone has any advice or guidance, I would truly appreciate it.

Thanks for taking the time to read my post!

Denni

Ditzy_Mitzy

I briefly looked into this too, including reading through what was required to complete the CeMAP qualification and choosing a course.  I didn't take it further in the end, after being put off by the sort of jobs available upon qualification.  The work seemed to fall into two categories: in branch adviser, either building society/bank or estate agent; side line for a proper IFA.  
The first is a sales position.  If that suits and you could imagine yourself doing similar selling cars or double glazing, then it might be worthwhile.  The CeMAP course isn't that expensive, or at least it wasn't when I last checked.  Beware of long, irregular or unsociable hours as well as low basic pay and commission structures.  The second one will be lower volume, less target driven and with more regular hours.  It's also nigh on impossible to get into without all sorts of qualifications, prior experience and being the IFA's son or daughter.  Beware of IFAs.  Larger firms are on the corporate side, smaller ones tend to operate as the adviser's personal fiefdom.  

ACG

First thing is to decide the route you want to go down - Mortgages or pensions/investments. 
IFAs can do mortgages but in the main they dont - Mortgages are actually quite complex, I think people are quite surprised what goes into mortgage advice (not trying to big up my job, but go and look at the criteria of a lender - then imagine trying to know that and the subtle differences for 10-20 lenders). 

The big question really for either of these is employed or self employed. Employed route you will earn more in the first few years but probably less in the longer term. Self employed is the opposite. 

You also need to be comfortable charging fees to customers - not all mortgage brokers charge, but you are going to be doing a lot of work for little pay if you rely solely on commission. 

If your sole intention is to do pensions/investments, you may as well just drop CeMap and crack on with the diploma. 
I have done part of my diploma, but I actually enjoy doing mortgages, I love telling people we have their mortgage offer and still get that little buzz of excitement after 10 years. I dont get that with pensions/investments. 

Annisele

I'm not a mortgage adviser, and I never have been one, but I do have CeMap. (An ex-employer offered to pay for it and gave me time off to study, and I thought I might as well.)

My own view is that there's very little point in studying for CeMap if you're not also getting training and support from an employer. CeMap itself will not make you a mortgage adviser. It will mean you've heard of all sorts of concepts, but it won't tell you about the differences between Bank A and Bank B's lending critiera. Nor will it teach you how to get clients, or how to sell to them when you do get them.

I'm also not at all convinced that a career as a mortgage adviser will utilise an economics degree. I know quite a few mortgage advisers, and whilst most (not all) have a degree, I don't think any of them studied economics - and I can't see an economics degree being a particular advantage.

Finally, it sounds as though you're only looking at a mortgage role as a stepping stone to being an IFA. Mortgage advisers aren't junior IFAs; they do a different job. I accept that it's not fantastically uncommon for people to move between the two, but if I wanted to be an IFA I think I'd start by trying to get an employed financial adviser role.