Mood: www.suzukisportingclub.com the only place to be
I'm still an IFA and have been since 1993. I work for a large national IFA firm running their Woking Branch and have about 12 or so IFAs in the Branch. It is nigh on impossible to find anyone who will take on and train someone to become an IFA from outside of the industry because of the supervision levels that are required. As a firm we run an academy whereby we take admin staff and train them over a long period to become advisers. I would say that the mortgage route is probably easier to get into but you will need CEMAP and undergo a high level of supervision. It is probably more difficult than it used to be to get into mortgage advice following regulation but looks as though you might have an in. Take the mortgage route and then take your FPC as well which will enable you to expand the range of advice that you will be able to offer. Best of luck though and if you need anymore advice then let me know.
Bikes: have owned 748/853/916/749/853R/748/848 not sure whats next...
Posts: 2,242
Join Date: Sep 2004
Mood: excited about the changes made to averysmotorcycles.co.uk that are coming up
im glad i read this, it was something i had thought of looking into. im currnetly working in a sales enviroment but want to progress my career unfortunately i have no contacts, how much would it cost to have the training and the exams and how long would it take to become fully qualified
Hi Deej, the easiest route into financial services is the mortgage advisers role and with a sales background you may be attractive to various companies. The Cemap exam is relatively straightforward and is all you need (Cefa is the banking equivalent) you can study for either in your spare time and the exam I believe was £60 last time I looked. The FPC 1 2 and 3 qualifications are a bit trickier but would lead to an IFA position advising on Investments, Pensions, Life/health protection etc, but nowadays its a tough environment to break into as any company that wants to put you through the programme even if you are already qualified cannot realistically expect you to earn commissions for about 6 months and the level of supervision is inhibitive. Once you have achieved competent adviser status though though world is your oyster. Competent adviser status takes 1 to 2 years on average. Although I believe some companies have streamlined it a bit more now. Good luck with it, you can earn a decent crust from mortgages alone.
I've just found myself unemployed for the first time in my life and was also looking at mortgage advise so thanks to everyone who has posted on this one. It's been very informative.