The job market for newly minted financial planners is wide open. Doubtful? Just ask XY Planning Network co-founder Alan Moore.
“There are more jobs than we know what do to with,” he tells me, adding that young people don’t pursue the career because they still believe it requires cold calling or even door-to-door sales. “We are having a problem finding enough students to get through planning programs, get their CFP and then get jobs,” Moore says. “Right now it’s very much a buyer’s market.”
Even once students realize there’s no door-knocking involved, there are certain hoops firms feel compelled to jump through to attract and keep promising talent. Salary is just one part of the equation, according to Financial Planning Senior Editor Charles Paikert.
“Millennials entering the workforce are going to want more work-life balance, flexibility and firm involvement in community and charitable causes,” Paikert tells me. Firms are paying attention.
Just some of the perks they offer include volunteer days, relocation bonuses for advisors who move closer to the office and “fun committees” that arrange activities such as go-kart racing, according to Paikert, who wrote the main feature, “Pay Day.”
Across more than two years of advisor surveys, industry worries have evolved dramatically. Yet certain themes continue to capture attention.
Ulf Brüning is Principal and International Client Executive Leader at Global Risk Consultants based in Darmstadt, Germany. He has spent nearly 20 years with the company helping some of the world's most successful businesses identify risks and shape their risk management strategies.
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“In addition to increasing compensation for employees in a tight job market, RIA firms are making sure employees feel like they’re having fun at work and enjoy working for their employer,” Paikert says. In his story, Paikert mentioned the coffee bar in Homrich Berg’s Atlanta headquarters, but “I wasn’t able to track down the juice bar that at least one RIA reportedly has in their offices,” he says.
Of course, you can’t pay bills with the proceeds from a go-kart race win or savings from free office coffee, so Paikert dived into salary metrics for advisors around the country.
In San Francisco, lead advisors’ total compensation package runs $193,000. Those in Dallas earn about 9% less. Maybe because they’re paying for the fresh-squeezed juice?
