Future shortage of finance professionals likely

The financial planning industry is likely to experience a shortage of trained professionals in three years’ time, and must prepare now for that situation, according to the chief executive of Prosperity Advisers, Allan McKeown.

McKeown said there is an increasing number of ‘free resumes’, or jobless financial industry professionals, floating around the job market as companies let people go as a result of the downturn. McKeown believes that as time passes they will move into other fields, creating a shortage of financial planners in the future.

McKeown said newer members to the industry are often worst affected, with trainees the first to be cut.

“Speaking with our colleagues in the industry, a number of firms are cutting back or freezing their new staff intakes, particularly at an intermediate or entry level. From our experience, having been in the business for a considerable amount of time, [when the economy recovers there is an] acute shortage of people,” McKeown said.

“As the cycle turns, as it inevitably will, the demand for people will increase, the workload will increase and skilled and trained people just won’t be available,” he said.

“Whilst they can’t hire everybody, [and] our firm will continue to recruit trainees and train them for the future, some other organisations just take a scorched earth policy of no intakes whatsoever.”