Schroders Personal Wealth has followed in the footsteps of St James’s Place and Openwork by launching an academy programme for budding financial advisers.
The academy is based in London and has signed up 20 trainee advisers who will complete an 18-month programme designed to arm them with the qualifications and skills to become SPW advisers.
Candidates will sit Chartered Insurance Institute exams, starting with R01 and ending with a full diploma in regulated planning.
On completion of the programme, academy trainee advisers will be supported by SPW as they progress towards Chartered Financial Planner status.
A national need to repopulate the wealth advice sector
SPW head of adviser development Tom Horan (pictured) described the launch as “another key milestone” for the business.
He said: “Given the current economic climate the need for high quality financial advice has never been more important. The launch of the academy not only plays a big part in growing our business it also helps to address a national need to repopulate the wealth advice sector.
“We want to become one of the UK’s leading financial planning businesses and that means continuing to provide excellent service to our clients and ensuring that we have advisers of the highest calibre to do this.”
‘Moulding trainees in the business’s image’
SPW’s move has echoes of the SJP and Openwork academies already in operation and industry commentators have previously speculated that SPW could become the next SJP.
But GBI2 managing director Graham Bentley does not think the launch of an academy is evidence of this in action.
He said: “I don’t see this as copying SJP, rather recognition that an ‘apprenticeship’ allows you to mould a trainee in the business’s image, ensuring its practices are adopted as standard, and a certain loyalty is engendered as a result.”
What other academies do
SJP’s academy comprises a two-year training programme to help advice professionals to build a career in financial planning and wealth management.
SJP graduates then either launch their own business or choose to be an adviser within an existing partner practice. Since its creation in 2012, SJP’s academy has helped create 557 firms across the UK.
Last month, SJP announced its academy has supported 39 financial advisers launch their own businesses since the government’s lockdown measures were announced on 23 March.
Openwork runs an academy for college or university graduates aged 19-27. The 12-month programme trains candidates to level 3 or 4 diploma status with each participant attached to an existing Openwork firm.
Former Openwork chief executive Mark Duckworth joined SPW as CEO this month, but Portfolio Adviser understands the SPW academy was already part of its development plan and not related to Duckworth’s appointment.
