The initiative enables advisory firms of all sizes to recruit young people directly into professional roles or transition existing employees into paraplanning and advisory positions. Participants may work towards level 3, 4 or 6 qualifications through a fully-managed programme that handles recruitment marketing, training delivery, assessment and funding administration. This model seeks to reduce the administrative burden on participating firms while developing advisers with strong institutional knowledge and long-term commitment.
By leveraging government apprenticeship funding, firms can substantially minimise recruitment and training expenditure, with costs potentially covered almost entirely in some instances.
“This collaboration brings together education, industry, and innovation,” said John Somerville, director of financial services of the London Institute of Banking and Finance. “The pathways provide a clear academic and professional structure, but crucially, they also make it easy for firms to participate.
“All the training, assessment, and funding administration are handled for them, and it’s been done with the input of some of the biggest names in the business. This means the package of support is ready ‘out of the box’ for firms to start the process as soon as possible. It’s a practical, scalable solution to the profession’s most pressing challenge.”
