Will the cost of planner education crimp practice sales?
Many newly qualified financial planners and accountants will choose a salaried position with an institution over a more entrepreneurial consultant role in order to pay down their education debt and other industry entry costs, according to specialist financial services business broker, Paul Tynan.
In a sign of things to come, Tynan believes that fewer financial planners who are relatively recent entrants to the industry will be looking to acquire existing planning businesses.
“Young professionals considering a career in the financial services advice sector must carefully consider how they will enter an industry that is weighed down by educational standards and regulatory costs,” he said.
“Acquisition of an existing practice and associated financial commitment is definitely not on the cards,” he said.
Tynan said that it was in these circumstances that older accountants and financial planners seeking to exit the industry needed to understand the new industry dynamic and improbability of them being able to achieve the types of returns on their businesses which were common before the global financial crisis.
“Baby Boomer planners are faced with regulatory and educational changes which are only going to increase as technology continues to disrupt traditional business models,” he said. “Education standards, industry and professional accreditation exams / requirements are here to stay and if a course of action is not taken whilst time is on their side, these planners will find the exit strategy being made for them.”
“Similarly, senior age accountants are facing new business models which are moving away from compliance to advice businesses,” Tynan said. “These changes are driven by technology and time delays in taking action will result in exit strategy failure.”
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