St. James’s Place Wealth Management has welcomed 32 newly qualified advisers seeking a career in financial planning.
The graduation ceremony took place on Friday (27 April) at the Chartered Insurance Institute, London and marks the end of a two-year training programme.
The training took part in four Academy offices across London, Manchester, Solihull and Edinburgh before graduates were given the chance to become wealth managers within the St. James’s Place partnership.
Jason Flood, academy director for St. James’s Place, said: "As the requirement for sound financial advice increases, we can be confident of the long-lasting value brought to the sector through the Academy, which continues to be an important and innovative programme bridging the skills gap evident in the UK.
“We encourage, and hope to maintain a broad culture of diversity running through the Academy in the years ahead.
"At St. James’s Place we actively seek new talent to further enhance the stature of the wider adviser profession. In addition to today’s graduates, we have 250 people currently studying, and look forward to welcoming more individuals to the programme in future.”
Academy candidates have come from a wide range of backgrounds, but are often people looking for a career change or a new challenge.
Around a quarter of all people to have joined the Academy programme since its inception are women and the average age of a graduate is 37, which is significantly lower than the average across the industry.
Since 1992, the number of financial advisers in the UK has fallen, while demand for face-to-face financial advice has continued to increase, resulting in a substantial shortage of quality professional advice in the market.
