“The average age of advisers is now 55 and that's no different at Quilter,” he said.
“We know that a lot of advisers are considering retirement over the next five or 10 years and that advice gap is only going to get worse unless we look to play our part in helping fill that gap and bring new people into the industry.”
He said it was key for the profession to make sure people understand advice as a career opportunity and help people understand what it is financial advisers offer.
“There's so much good financial planners do for clients. This is not just in terms of a product sale or an investment or pension, but also the personal things they do when they help out when there's been a family bereavement for example,” Jones said.
“What we've got to do is start to promote exactly what it is a financial adviser does in the broader sense.
For us, it's really key to bring people that want to help others into the industry and build a good career for themselves because it is a great industry to work in.
“We believe it's absolutely the right time to move away from what the financial adviser school has been and what it's delivered previously. We need to extend that opening up to a much wider, more diverse audience and encourage people to consider financial advice as a career.”
amy.austin@ft.com
