She stated that it would be harder for somebody who didn’t get that face-to-face time with clients and then was suddenly expected to lead a client meeting instead of being eased in.
Easing in
Last month, research published by Quilter found that female paraplanners are much less likely to become advisers than their male counterparts, despite most having, or in the process of getting, adviser qualifications.
The research from Quilter also showed that only 6 per cent of female paraplanners said they would like to go on to become a financial adviser, compared to 41 per cent of men.
In Ferris’ view, this comes down to the firm you are with.
“I started out in a back office role but my employer has always been quite happy for me to be almost like a trainee adviser. So I’ve been getting on the job experience and interacting with clients for years. Some paraplanners don’t get that and having that interaction is how you can see if it is for you or not,” she said.
Another stand out finding from the Quilter research was that some women surveyed felt that moving to an adviser role required strong sales skills and this was something they were not comfortable with.
This was something that crossed Ferris’ mind before becoming an adviser who said getting clients in the door can sometimes come down to sales experience, but argued that advice should not be a sales industry.
“It’s not a sales role. We’re here to have the clients’ best interests at heart and help them with their finances at all stages through their life.”
In May, Ferris received an award from the Chartered Insurance Institute of Northern Ireland for being the highest scoring candidate to complete the CII diploma in 2021.
Prior to this, Ferris had been in the industry for almost eight years and had completed a number of the exams early on before stopping. It was only when the pandemic hit that she made the decision to continue with her studies towards becoming a chartered adviser.
Data from the Personal Finance Society has previously shown that of the 7,578 chartered financial planners in the UK, 1,638 were women - only 22 per cent.
jane.matthews@ft.com
