Lucrative career path calls for young blood According to Forbes, the average financial advisor in the US is 50-years-old. Needless to say, this presents an opportunity for younger individuals to enter the market. Figures supplied by Head of Business Development and Membership Services at the Financial Planning Institute of Southern Africa, Certified Financial Planner® Anthony Campher, suggest the situation is the same in South Africa. Estimates by the Financial Services Board put the number of licensed financial advisers in SA at 100 000. Of those, 4 472 are registered with the Financial Planning Institute of Southern Africa as Certified Financial Professionals® (CFP®). A further 1 615 are set to qualify in the next few years while 325 students are enrolled for courses at the universities of Johannesburg, Free State and Nelson Mandela Metropolitan. The average age of the South African financial advicer is 46. Just over 5% are under 30 years of age; 28% are younger than 40; while 36% are between 40 and 50. The remaining 31% is over 50 years old. The CFP® certificate is a postgraduate qualification. Campher says, “It is either a B com Honours in Financial Planning or a Postgraduate Diploma in Financial Planning. Five SA higher education institutions offer either of these qualifications.” The number of young people entering the profession has increased in the last five years due to efforts by the institute. The student outreach programme has resulted in the swelling of undergraduate enrollments. “We have created a learning pathway over the last five years and the approved programmes are offered by some higher education institutions in South Africa,” Campher says. But it doesn’t end there, “In 2011 we introduced a mentorship programme which helps students to meet the experience requirement for CFP® certification. The amount of interest in this programme is increasing on a monthly basis,” Campher says. About half the SA financial planners are independent and not affliated to big financial services companies – effectively running their own entrepreneurial enterprises. The rewards are worthwile, Campher says, “As in any other profession you need to establish yourself and build your business, especially in a fee base environment. For those who do this the right way the rewards are fulfilling.”
Posted on: Sat, 08 Jun 2013 09:35:04 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015