Financial Services Casting Nets For Younger Pros as Advisors Age Out
It’s no secret the investment industry has a choppy record in attracting young financial talent.
But with 100,000 brokers retiring in the next ten years, and half the industry talent age 55 or higher, according to a report from Cerulli Associates, some industry titans have had enough, and are actively recruiting much younger advisors.
Unfortunately, that may be an uphill climb, experts say.
“Young people don’t want to work in financial services because advisors’ websites mostly feature older white men – they see it as boring,” said David Edwards, president of Heron Wealth, a registered investment advisory firm based in New York City. “Or, they’ve seen ‘Wolf of Wall Street’ and think that financial advising is just ‘pumping and dumping.’”
'Grow With Your Clients'
Edwards points to companies like Oxygen Financial and his own firm as rare examples of investment companies that “get it” when it comes to landing younger advisors.
“While our bread-and-butter clients today are boomers and our oldest advisor is 55, much of our marketing is directed to GenXers or even Millennials,” he explained. “Our two youngest advisors are in their 30s. We give them mentoring and support, but we get them in front of clients right away. Right now, our training process is built around ‘grow with your clients.’”