What can the profession do to encourage more tertiary and secondary students to choose financial planning as a career? Four planners and two academics provide their views on student engagement.

Dawn Thomas CFP^®

Executive Relationship Manager and Senior Financial Adviser, Wealthwise

Licensee: Financial Wisdom

The concept of financial advice was introduced to me when I started work at Bankwest. It appealed to me because of the value I could bring to clients and my perception of financial planning being a well-respected profession.

At the time, I had an Arts undergraduate degree and was accepted into CBA Wealth Management’s financial cadetship. It is only through this experience that I could see the multi-faceted nature of advice and how someone like me could serve within it.

However, I believe the wider community has a different impression of the profession and the type of person best suited for it. That’s why women should be encouraged to enter the profession by providing them with access to other women who are flourishing within it. This will allow these women to see that financial planning provides workplace flexibility, enabling them to have a family and a career.

I also believe the nurturing approach of women makes them ideally suited for the profession, allowing them to have deep and empathetic connections with their clients.

We need to promote the diversity of financial advisers that make up our industry, and redefine who the profession is best suited for. As individuals, there’s a lot we can do to promote this, such as connecting with local schools and conducting education sessions with their students to help prepare them for their first job. We can also mentor students.

Local universities appreciate the work experience programs that we can offer their students. As alumni to our former universities, we should make ourselves available for events that prepare students for their future careers.

There’s much we can do to attract the next generation of students into the profession, and we all have a role to play in doing this.

Dr Mark Brimble

Professor of Finance and Financial Planning, Department of Accounting, Finance and Economics

Griffith University

The battle for talent is heating up. Businesses face this in financial planning (and related) roles, while the education providers face this in terms of attracting both new entrants and career changers to programs.

On the one hand, financial planning has a distinct disadvantage – most potential new entrants (and their key influencers) are not sure what planners do, their perceptions are informed by the popular press and there is often a low awareness of the progression of the industry, nor the social and economic value that the advice community provides.

On the other hand, the opportunity that financial planning offers to new entrants, in the context of the current depressed graduate outcomes nationally, is substantial. Not only are new entrants in demand, but the narrative of positive reform/professionalisation and working with individuals, families and small business to improve their wellbeing, is compelling to new entrants.

So, what can be done to attract more students to this career pathway? The following are some of the strategies that have proven useful in recent years.

1. Make as much ‘noise’ as possible, through as many channels as possible, to:

• explain what a financial planner does; sell the positive at every opportunity, including the direction the profession is heading and the resultant opportunities that exist;
• explain the advice ecosystem and that client-facing planning is only one potential career outcome from this pathway; and
• point out innovations that are creating exciting new frontiers in advice.

2. Education providers need to offer attractive, quality programs that are:

• industry engaged and adopt active learning, authentic assessment and work integrated learning; and
• are offered in multiple modes to cater for different student needs.

3. Collaboration between industry and education providers through:

• prize and scholarship programs to attract a diversity of talent;
• integrating work integrated learning across degree programs with the aim of developing student professional awareness and professional identity, while providing opportunities for professional experience. This also provides practices with earlier access to talent to ‘try before you buy’, while improving learning outcomes and the ‘work readiness’ of graduates; and
• practitioner participation in outreach programs around financial literacy, high school careers/experience days, and participating in guest lecturing with degree students.

Financial planning has a lot to offer new entrants. By spreading this message and collaborating better, we can offer a compelling pathway to a diverse range of these future professionals.

Michelle Tate-Lovery CFP^®

Director and Principal Financial Adviser, Unified Financial Services

Licensee: Unified Financial Services

Financial planning is certainly one of the greatest careers of the future, as more and more Australians experience the benefits of financial planning advice.

I have spoken in schools and universities, raising awareness of financial planning as a noble career, however, financial planning as a career is not really at the forefront of our young people. That may be because their parents are still grappling with what financial planning is, how it is practiced and charged for, along with the fact there are so few financial planning degrees in the marketplace.

A student may want to get into Commerce, Economics, Accounting or Business, in the hope their qualification may lead them into a career with the big four accounting firms – and not to become a financial planner.

To increase the number of students who will elect financial planning as their chosen degree, a multi-tiered approach could work. This includes:

1. Being involved in career talks in schools, from primary school through to upper secondary, is one way to spread the word among students. It is important that students hear not only about the new educational requirements of being a financial planner, but they hear about what it is to be a financial planner on a day-to-day basis. They will soon realise that to have a sustainable career as a financial planner it is more about the love of people and helping them be more financially well organised, than it is about loving numbers.

Furthermore, offering a structured work experience program and/or paid project work to students from year 10 onwards during school holidays, could attract interest amongst students.

2. At university level, career days are important for our financial planning community to present at. How about a panel of advisers present – ‘A day in my work life’ – to the students?

How amazing would it be to go broader than just the commerce or business facilities? Why not target Bachelor of Arts students; why can’t an Arts student elect Financial Planning 101, in the hope they may transition across to the Financial Planning degree ? Attracting students from other facilities, such as Arts, Psychology, Education and Science, can only bring diversity to our industry and attract people who have a natural client engagement bent.

3. Running a scholarship program (or prize of work experience) for students, may attract more students to financial planning. The scholarship may involve paying a student’s fees and/or alternatively, may involve guaranteeing a student employment through an internship.

4. Mentoring programs could benefit university students when they start their courses (rather than when they finish, to secure employment). Mentoring helps students relate their study/theory with how it applies at the coalface – with clients.

5. Student membership of the FPA needs to be advocated more – for students, it’s free! More students should be encouraged to attend FPA Chapter events and the FPA Professionals Congress, for networking, learning and encouraging employment opportunities.

Diana Bugarcic

Head Teacher Accounting and Finance, Course Co-ordinator – Bachelor of Applied Finance (Financial Planning)

Sydney TAFE

The financial planning profession needs to engage with tertiary and secondary students more through demonstrating the different and wide variety of career options available.

That is, financial planning is not just about ‘providing advice’ – it’s about the wider financial services industry, such as accounting, financial markets, funds management, risk management, investment banking and so forth. This allows students to see a wide field of opportunities, rather than a narrow ‘financial planning’ focus.

In addition, when students hear about some of the industry stats, such as $2.26 trillion in superannuation (APRA June 2017) and $100 billion added annually, they start to get an idea about the scale of the industry and the opportunities available globally. It then becomes more interesting and appealing to them.

And when students see the potential salaries on offer, financial planning as a career option becomes even more attractive.

When I speak to careers advisers, students and their parents, they have no idea about the opportunities available in financial planning. I believe the profession needs to produce collateral that is relevant to students and that careers advisers can use to market the opportunities available.

Scott Brouwer CFP^®

Principal, Prosperum Wealth

Licensee: Banyan Securities

As a parent of two children who attend university, I am surprised by the lack of awareness of financial planning as a career amongst their cohort.

One day financial planning will be a professional career in great demand, but today, we need to take our message of the great work financial planners do and the importance of advice and the beneficial impact it has upon people’s lives, to the students.

At many professional events, there is a growing number of Gen Y’s who are fresh and enthusiastic about the future of their chosen career. These may well be the young professionals who are able to best communicate with students. Whether it’s via Facebook posts, tweets, podcast or even ‘old school’ face-to-face communication, we need to actively spread the word of financial planning. After all, there’s no point keeping it as the best kept secret in the world.

As an aside, being a Gen X, I feel it’s okay to delegate the task of engaging with students to the Gen Y’s!

In addition, many people are unaware that FPA student membership is free. If every financial planner who knows a student, who might be interested in pursuing a career in financial planning, send them the following link: fpa.com.au/membership/become-a-member/student/

Who knows, we might just find the next crop of up-and-coming CFP professionals ready to help more Australians achieve their financial goals.

Daryl La’Brooy CFP^®

Financial Adviser, Hillross Financial Services

Licensee: Hillross Financial Services

There has to be an outreach program of information and education designed for students in schools and universities around the country.

As it’s going to be difficult for the FPA to undertake this program on its own, it has to develop a program, which members of the FPA can take to their local high school. Once the principal of the school is engaged, then presentations can be held in the classroom by the adviser who has volunteered to present to the students.

State education departments may have to be engaged to obtain permission to speak to school principals or for the adviser presentations to form part of the annual curriculum.

At tertiary level, the FPA may need to work with relevant faculties to include financial planning as part of business and commence courses. This is happening to some extent now.

As only about 10 per cent of Australians use a financial planner, not many people know the profession well. As the barriers to entry are set to increase from 1 January 2019, it’s time to ensure some of the best and brightest students get an opportunity to consider financial planning as a serious career option.

Some career paths are fairly limiting, financial planning on the other hand is extremely broad and varied. Informing students of the variety of areas encompassing financial planning, will be a key to attracting them.

Also, providing students with examples of how we help people through client stories, will demonstrate what a fulfilling profession financial planning really is.