As college graduation season approaches, some wealth managers may be preparing to welcome new college graduates into their firms. At Joseph Capital Management, LLC, a fee-only registered investment advisor (RIA) in Hernando Fla., they have just hired their first right-out-of-college advisor, who is in training now. Ron Rhoades, a private wealth manager, director of research and chief compliance office at the firm explains their training initiative.
The firm was "started by CPAs and attorneys," Rhoades (left) says. "We have two CPAs and two attorneys," three of whom are now Certified Financial Planners (CFPs). "We also have a trust officer who is on her way to becoming a CFP—with 20-years of experience—and a professor of economics who is semi-retired and one of our advisors."
Rhoades says it will take two or three months for the new hire to prepare for the Series 65 exam, "studying part time while they're training at our firm." It "really takes five or six months of fairly intensive training just to learn all of the policies and procedures in our firm and really enable the person to function every day."
"Because we use a passive investment methodology and fairly structured portfolios for our clients, learning the investment side of the business is not terribly difficult. It's important, of course, to know the investment strategies and theories and products we do use. There's a discrete body of knowledge that's acquired through going to conferences and a lot of in-house study," Rhoades explains.
