How Advisers Can Build Up the Industry’s Appeal

As the retirement plan advisory industry faces an uptick in retirements—approximately 35% of all financial advisers will retire within 10 years, according to Cerulli Associates—many advisory firms see a need to reach out and develop the next generation of talent.

Speaking in PLANADVISER’s Wednesday webinar, “Broadening the Appeal of the Industry,” panelists said successful advisers are often driven by a passion for helping people.

“We have to help [recruits] see the vision,” said Janine Moore, a senior vice president and retirement practice leader at HUB Retirement and Wealth Management. “Thirty years later, seeing some of the people that I helped initially retire with dignity is the most fulfilling thing in my life.”

The experts agreed that entry-level advisers could get discouraged with their progress, given that it often takes several years to build out a book of business.

“The big attraction is not going to be the money,” said Rick Sauerman, first vice president, investments and senior institutional consultant at ClearSight Advisors of Raymond James & Associates. “It’s going to be the training and the opportunity to grow into something seamlessly and confidently.”

Francisco Abril, vice president of employee engagement and financial wellness at HUB Retirement and Wealth Management, said his company coordinates talent development on a national level, rather than making it the responsibility of individual offices.

“This is a team effort. This is a collaboration between the C-suites, coming from the CEO, all the way to the regional level, to the [human resources] team,” Abril said. “The mentorship programs, the internship programs [are] a nationwide effort.”

Nevertheless, there is clear room for improvement. Asked to grade the advisory industry on its efforts to attract new talent, Abril gave a “D+,” Sauerman gave a “C” and Moore gave a “B-.”

Better Inclusion

Asked how the industry can earn an “A” or “A-” when recruiting new talent, Sauerman said diversity is key.

“We need to always acknowledge and remember that we are serving an extremely diverse population of plan participants. … They need to feel comfortable talking to us,” he said.

The advisory industry has made recent strides in increasing the number of women and people of color, but there are still ongoing concerns that the industry, and especially its management, are mostly white and male.

“I was handpicked to be this ‘face of the new adviser,’ and ‘This is what we need in the industry, more women of color.’ … and we’re still talking about it,” says Moore, who has been in the industry for more than three decades. “It’s probably because people hire people that look like them all the time.”

All three panelists made lateral moves into the advisory field—Abril came from bank marketing, Moore first served in the Ohio National Guard and then did customer service for a recordkeeper, and Sauerman came from investment management. They said firms can find valuable hires among those changing careers, as well as recent college graduates.

“I think our biggest success has come from the 30-something individual who has a little bit of skin in the [retirement] game and has understood what it takes to work hard and stay motivated,” Moore says.

The panelists said community outreach is also important. Finding a gap in retirement planning knowledge among Latino workers, Abril helped HUB recruit a team of Spanish-speaking financial education consultants; develop Spanish-language educational materials on financial wellness topics; and partner with recordkeepers to improve Spanish-language support.

“Twenty years ago, I had no clue about 401(k)s, no clue about investments, but I knew there was a need,” Abril said. “If we can partner with some organizations that have those hungry candidates and talented people out there that maybe … just need the big push, then that will help a lot.”

The panelists all encouraged companies seeking recruits to connect with youth groups, to ensure that students have exposure to careers such as retirement planning long before they choose a college major or enter the workforce. Sauerman volunteers with the nonprofit Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, and Abril runs high-school-level programs. Moore suggested that industry conferences could subsidize student registrations and said younger audiences are receptive to discussing finance, in part due to the rise of finance influencers on social media.

“They’re raising their hands and telling me about stock tips and all the things that they’re following online,” Moore said. “TikTok and Instagram have opened the [financial] world to everyone.”

Constructing Talent Pipelines

The panelists stressed the importance of structured training programs for new advisers and, in Sauerman’s words, “an inviting mentorship space.”

HUB’s retirement division offers a 90-day onboarding program for new advisers; a transition team that assists advisers with operations, tech support and sales training; and an “organic, relationship-based approach to mentorship,” according to information provided by Abril.

Raymond James has a two-year “Advisor Mastery Program” that stresses training, mentorship, networking and educational events. Interested advisers can receive a personality test and related executive coaching, according to information from Sauerman. Recruited advisers also receive support to help retain and transition their existing book of business to the new firm.

Moore, a mentor in HUB’s program, said her firm’s advisers have biweekly calls to discuss professional and personal concerns, and their “open-door policy” encourages feedback, regardless of an adviser’s seniority.

Moore also literally went to the mat for succession planning. After befriending a younger sparring partner at a self-defense class, Moore realized that the younger athlete could also succeed as an adviser. She said it has been a “labor of love” preparing her protégé to eventually take over her book of business.

“You can’t keep all your cookies for yourself. You have to share,” Moore said. “You have to be willing to cut people in on business so that they can see the results. If you just take all the credit, then you’re going to end up not attracting that great successor.”