How to recruit advisers the right way

Explain the regulator's expectations of a firm's hiring process
Communicate the rules governing recruitment
Explain how to hire the right person for your firm

CPD

Approx.30min

Qualifications

Individuals should supply your firm with their certificates in financial advice or equivalent.

These certificates should be copied and certified by the compliance officer as ‘true copies’, and then placed within the individual’s recruitment file, as a record of their qualifications.

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Please note it is not compulsory to have general insurance qualifications in order to sell general insurance products.

If the individual does not have any qualifications, it would be advisable to enclose copies of any assessments the individual may have taken with your company as evidence of their competence/knowledge in general insurance.

•    Obtain a completed internal application form;
•    Obtain a curriculum vitae (CV);
•    Obtain evidence of the individual’s identity and address;
•    Request a regulatory reference or references, as appropriate;
•    Carry out a credit check;
•    Obtain evidence of qualifications;
•    Obtain a copy of their Statement of Professional Standing, where relevant;
•    Obtain a copy of their passport or driving licence;
•    Obtain a copy of their statement of assets and liabilities;
•    Conduct rule training and evidence of knowledge via relevant testing;
•    Provide access to and obtain declaration and undertaking of your firm’s internal procedures;
•    On satisfactory completion of the above issue the individual with a certificate of FIT to carry out the role(s) they have been certified and appointed for;
•    Add the individual to the directory within 7 days from commencing the role; and
•    Ensure the individual’s file demonstrates the above process and your T&C plan and staff register are updated.

The individual should not carry out any activities of a certified person until a certificate has been issued to confirm that they have been assessed as fit and proper by the firm for those activities.

The FCA individual conduct rules in the code of conduct sourcebook set the minimum standards of individual behaviour in financial services and apply to almost all employees in a firm except for ancillary staff.

The new individual conduct rule six reflects the new, higher standard of the consumer duty, and the behaviour the FCA expects of all conduct staff.

It requires all conduct rules staff to "act to deliver good outcomes for retail customers" where the activities of the firm fall within the scope of the duty

A key aim of consumer duty is delivering good outcomes for customers and your recruitment process should enable you to recruit individuals that are able to deliver good outcomes for customers.

Alexander McGregor is head of policy at SimplyBiz

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How to recruit advisers the right way

Qualifications

New employees can work while they are being assessed as fit and proper. True or false?

What do firms need to consider when recruiting a senior manager or certified person?

How many years must references obtained from previous employers date back?

It is illegal to check spent convictions for certified staff. True or false?

What should you do when you detect that an applicant has debt on their credit file?

What does the FCA expect you to take into consideration about an individual when recruiting?

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