Addressing the SMSFA National Conference 2021 last week, FASEA chief executive Stephen Glenfield said more than 1,200 students had opted to study financial planning degrees last year, according to university data.
“Based on preliminary returns from education providers from 2020, we are looking at a 300 per cent increase in the number of potential new entrants to the industry,” Mr Glenfield said.
“We have close to 300 professional year students being employed by the profession, and on a daily basis FASEA is taking calls from people seeking more information on how they can enter the industry.”
The new data represents a significant increase in professional year enrolment numbers from a low base, with FASEA data from September last year having indicated around 150 advisers were enrolled in PY programs.
The standards authority also told ifa in September that 900 students were enrolled in advice degree courses at the time, meaning enrolment numbers have grown by around 30 per cent in the last quarter of 2020.
Mr Glenfield said 120 of the 300 current PY trainees had already passed the FASEA exam.
He also commended existing advisers on their “commitment to sitting the exam and enrolling in higher study”, with more than 11,200 advisers having passed the FASEA exam.
Mr Glenfield said FASEA would extend its focus on supporting existing advisers through the remaining exam sessions until the 1 January 2022 compliance deadline, offering pre-exam webinars for those registered to sit at upcoming sessions and personalised feedback for re-sitters who were struggling with the exam concepts.
“FASEA has received a lot of feedback from advisers regarding how can we help them to get through [the exam], and we will endeavour to help people through,” he said.
“In terms of each exam when we release results, we highlight the sections the failing candidates need to study in. We have been providing additional feedback one on one with candidates who have failed multiple times to help them understand what’s driving that result and how they can improve.
“For those who haven’t sat the exam yet, I would strongly encourage you attend those [pre-exam] sessions.”
Calling a massive BS on this one.
The new entrants to the degree courses obviously don’t know any financial planners, I feel sorry for them.
It’s called false and misleading advertising by the uni’s. Nobody is telling these poor kids that nobody will take them on at the end for a “professional year”. Uni’s should be sued.
I call fake news public marketing exercise on this. Even if it was true, those numbers, we know what the success rate is for ‘uni graduates’ in a people/sales business. Make no mistake, financial planning and risk sales are both ‘sales’. You are selling yourself, your service, your advice and a relationship. That is not taught to them in their “degree” or anywhere through Uni. Even if it was, we all know only some ‘have it’.
since ASIC and the media are doing their best to tarnish and destroy financial planning where are these kids going to get a job? Who is going to mentor them through their professional year, it is great if they are studying but has anyone told them without your prof year done you wont qualify as an adviser. So i guess our industry super funds are now going to over run by inexperienced graduates.
I call BS
Another BS propaganda exercise from THE FARCES carpet baggers. Desperate to make it look like they haven’t completely destroyed financial planning as a viable career path.
‘potential’ new entrants – I bet they included existing advisers that needed to enrol for their FASEA subjects…
1200 doesn’t really cut it when 10,000 will have left the industry by the end of 2021 and another 10,000 by 2026. You can’t put any positive spin on this.
So in 2020 there were about 5,000 adviser leave and FASEA are glad they will be replaced by the 300 new entrants. The law of supply and demand should fit in nicely (not) with ASICS plan to make advice more affordable.
Can I get their phone number to warn them please?
Call me cynical, but it would be interesting to see the “real” numbers ie are these brand new entrants to the industry, or existing participants that have now decided to start the education journey that needs to be made? Its not like FASEA have been fully transparent over the past few years! Nothing like using statistics to validate yourself.
This is a joke right? Even putting aside the carnage of a likely 50% wipe-out of adviser numbers by the end of this year, compared to Jan 2019 levels, 300 new entrants per year would be less than half the number leaving through natural attrition (ie. reaching retirement age). As for the 1,200 students entering FP courses…this just tells me the universities are good sales people. Unfortunately very few will be able to find jobs unless there are substantial and imminent changes from our Government and regulators
I’m not so sure students are attracted to FP courses due to uni sales skills. At its heart financial advice is a career that is interesting, intellectually challenging, pays a reasonable income, and helps lots of people. That mix has a lot of appeal. It’s why most of us joined right?
Unfortunately financial advice as a career has also become the target of indiscriminate persecution by biased regulators and extremist political activists. Thanks to these power abusing haters, it has become more of a stress filled ordeal than a fulfilling career. Most people who don’t work as advisers (which includes the people who teach financial advice at unis) are probably unaware how bad things have become. New graduates are in for a rude shock.
Just because someone is studying a degree in economics, accounting or finance DOES NOT mean they have any intention of becoming a Financial Adviser…besides, these are the smart kids entering uni, why on earth would they want to become advisers in this environment…Calling you out Glenfield!
That sounds like an awful lot of people who do not understand risk and return.