Everyone just sort of falls into Financial Services...

“Everyone just sort of falls into Financial Services – no one planned to be here.”

This was a passing comment made to me by the former Compliance Director of Sense Network, when I first entered the rather small world of Financial Services, and it’s a statement that has stuck with me; in truth it does apply to me as it wasn’t a career path I had ever really considered. This article is designed to highlight the need for diversity within the industry, but also to remind those that are considering becoming financial planners that you can do it, at a pace that suits your lifestyle and duties.

For those of you with children, or who have them within your extended family, you'll no doubt be aware of the knowledge gap within the school curriculum surrounding savings and investments. Finance can be something of a taboo subject, and parents do not necessarily discuss their incomings and outgoings with their children; but there are some great teaching aids out there to help develop an understanding of money’s worth. Personally, I have used the "GoHenry" card scheme with my son and found it an excellent example of how technology can 'gamify' the savings and investment process, providing an early and more importantly safe introduction to the world of finances. More should be done to promote the importance of saving and investing for your future and to highlight that financial advice isn’t exclusively for high-net-worth individuals. We should be promoting careers in finance, and perhaps if someone had described how rewarding it is to develop relationships, provide reassurance and deliver on a client’s financial goals to me earlier, I would have gotten here sooner.

It will come as no surprise to you that the demographic data of the adviser population within ASHL reflects that of the wider industry. Within Lyncombe and Sense Network just under 50% of our advisers are currently aged over 50, with over 55% of our firm principals also over 50 years old. In comparison, 5.04% of our advisers are under the age of 29, and only 0.84% of firm principals are in the same bracket, we are actively working to increase the younger population of our advisers.

At ASHL, we recently launched our Adviser Academy in partnership with NextGen Planners. Having been a core part of the development of the programme, I am excited to be able to help bridge the gap between our community of modern financial planners and those looking to enter the industry, and above all to combine my knowledge as a teacher with my experience working through the R0s to ensure that the right support is provided to the right candidates, at the right time.

Our goal is also to provide a flexible platform to allow those who wish to upskill, change career, or continue to flourish after school and beyond, which for me is exciting as it could also create a greater window of opportunity for more women to enter into the industry. It’s slow progress but currently 15.37% of our membership are women, which again is reflective of the industry statistics.

Whilst no two journeys are the same, I wanted to take this opportunity to share mine, because of the time and pain spent in getting to where I am. I was recently asked to describe my path into Financial Services and to give some insight into how I found, not only changing career, but taking exams and progressing, at the same time as working and raising a family. So here goes…

I joined Sense Network in 2017 in an administrative role, having been working as a primary school teacher, however, I had come to the decision that I wanted a new challenge and had become disillusioned by the changing requirements and support available as a teacher. Slowly, my role felt less to do with helping the children and more to do with hitting targets.

Despite being called a “perpetual student” by my Dad, having already completed a degree and post-grad certificate, pursuing further qualifications was not really at the top of my to-do list. However, the team at Sense were keen to support me through any exams I wanted to take when I was ready to do so. As I began to understand the requirements of the industry, and by taking some career advice from our in-house industry experts, I started to see career potential. So, I decided to begin my journey to earn my diploma.

…Perhaps Dad was right.

ASHL have been very supportive of my desire to progress and have helped with the exam costs, gave me time to study in work, as well as allowing me to take paid training days to sit the exams. My colleagues were amazing, and very happy to help me understand aspects I was finding difficult to grasp. Their support is testament to the nurturing and encouraging nature of the advice planning community. Although it wasn’t all plain sailing (taking three attempts to pass R04 – Pensions & Retirement Planning) I knew even during the toughest times that I had the support and the drive I needed to progress

The reality of parenting…

“Mummy school is the worst”

There are generally unfair expectations of parents, around what they can commit to, and finding the right balance between home and work life can be very hard. This certainly isn’t unique to financial services and can be an issue in any industry. Personally, I have been lucky that I work for a great company and have had amazing managers who do understand; however, when your child turns around and asks why you cannot play and have to work so much (not understanding the difference between the job and studying) it can be crushing. When I began my journey to Level 4 in 2018, my daughter was 5 and my son was 10 – a very lively pair, who like most children could be a bit of a handful, so between running around after them and working full-time, there were times when I felt like I would never finish reading the textbooks let alone get around to practice papers or fully understanding the content. It was a hard slog, and I did contemplate giving up more than once. In the end it took me 2 years to complete R0s 1-6, Covid got in the way as well, which didn’t help me to maintain my studying; taking on the full-time job whilst home schooling took its toll. Apparently Mummy school was the worst, and luckily for me once the social bubbles were allowed Granny school was the solution! I am extremely lucky to have a supportive family, and whether it was my husband taking on the cooking or my parents taking the children out, so the house was quiet, I am very grateful to them all.

Everyone should be afforded the opportunity to develop at their own pace, but finding a balance is hard and at times, might not feel achievable. In the end, hard work does pay and I am very proud that I have managed to navigate my way through to where I am now.

For those of you who are weighing up whether you have the capacity or time to start a career in financial planning, I hope this little article has demonstrated that you can do it.