“To be fair, there are a lot of practices within those companies out there that will offer employed roles but to get to them you've got to dig them out or be introduced by the recruiters of those companies,” he added.
Improved visibility
Atherton believed there needed to be better visibility to show exactly what it is a financial adviser does and the impact advice can have on a client’s life.
He thought having financial planning discussed at schools as a specialism will get more younger people interested.
He said: “Financial planning isn't on the syllabus at schools, and when we get to choose specialisms, we can choose french, maths, history. So, if we could actually get financial planning on the syllabus, then all of a sudden it becomes visible to 11 to 18-year-olds who would potentially then think about it.
“Among my peers, some became doctors, some became lawyers, some became accountants, nobody thought about financial planning at school and I just fell into it as a second career.”
Atherton felt that to increase visibility, the profession needed to actively show the public what it means to be a financial planner.
“Clients thank their advisers because they know the value the advice has provided them. So why are advisers not in the same category as doctors and nurses because we change people's lives for the good as well,” he added.
Atherton said the advice industry was also a fragmented one and in order to get more younger people entering the profession there needed to be a collaborative approach across the entire sector.
He said: “You always see IFAs having debates with non-IFAs and there are always advisers bickering with each other on social media about topics. We need to come together for the greater good to promote our profession but it needs to be a top down approach at the moment it is just bottom up.”
Impact of having fewer advisers
Atherton feared if more advisers didn’t start to enter the industry there would be fewer good outcomes.
He said: “There's going to be more people stressed, worried about money which is going to cause more physical and mental health issues. That is what's going to happen to these clients when the 50 per cent of advisers that we think are going to retire, do.
“Clients will suffer, the profession will suffer and AI isn't the answer. All these people who say AI is the answer are not actual advisers.”
Atherton said while AI will empower advisers and put the ‘fun’ back in the role it will not take away their ability to bring a client’s aspirations to life by having face-to-face interactions.
alina.khan@ft.com
