This week we wanted to find out a bit more about life as an financial adviser, we asked one of our advisers to answer a few of our questions. 

On the two-year anniversary of being signed off as CF30 by the Compliance team, we wanted to sit down and have a chat to discuss how you have found your first two years as an adviser at Whitechuch. 

Firstly, have you enjoyed it? 

Absolutely. I really enjoy the career and being able to help people navigate the world of finance to achieve their goals. 

What do you enjoy the most?

I enjoy how every client is different and how you must put the pieces of the jigsaw together in such a way that suits their objectives and risk, using different tools in your financial planning shed.

It means the job doesn’t get monotonous as everyday you are working on a different problem and solution.

Have you found it hard being a younger adviser?

When I was a trainee, I used to think this would be my biggest challenge when I finally became an adviser. You always hear how the average age of financial advisers is around 55 and that most people will more likely trust the “grey haired” adviser but in my experience, I have not found this to be an issue.

When someone is passionate about what they do in any walk of life, it is infectious and I believe that if you are both passionate and sincere about helping people and you have the technical knowledge to answer any concerns that a client has, the fact that you most likely younger than their previous adviser was, disappears as any kind of issue. Also, when I discuss how the industry has changed over the last 10-15 years, I see it as a positive that I have only ever worked in a post RDR environment.

Overall, I see my passion and ‘youthful exuberance’ for the job as a strength rather than something that hinders me.

What has been your biggest challenge during the first two years?

My biggest challenge has probably been finding the time to be an adviser and a serial exam taker. Over the last four and half years, I’ve taken around 13 exams which has taken a lot of time and work. Since I have been advising, whilst the workload and things like travelling hours have massively increased, the exam hours have not. Ultimately, I only have two more advanced exams and one piece of coursework before I am chartered and can advise on every financial product which was my goal starting out.

Fancy life as an adviser? We are always on the lookout for great talent, so if you are interested in working at Whitechurch do get in touch.  Send your CV and a speculative letter to dfm@whitechurch.co.uk. You could also pop back to our careers page from time to time to see if there are any new opportunities.