As we head into 2016, a final rule from the Department of Labor defining who is a fiduciary when giving retirement advice is finally, maybe, on the horizon and a looming talent shortage threatens to stymie advisory firm growth.
The talent shortage isn't just hurting the old guard of advisors trying to exit the industry but struggling to find someone to take over the firm they've worked decades to build. It's hurting advisors who are still working on growing their firms: who are trying to keep up with changing regulations while servicing their current clients and finding new clients to carry their firms into the future.
The good news is that the career seekers who stand to benefit from the shortage and the advisors who are trying to rise above it have the same end goal: to swell advisory firm ranks with high-quality, talented advisors who are attracted to the firm's mission to serve clients.
Angie Herbers is a consultant to financial advisors who has spent the past several years writing in Investment Advisor and on ThinkAdvisor.com to educate advisors, young and old, on what it takes to succeed in a career in financial services. She acknowledges the talent shortage with a blunt warning.
"This is the best time we've ever seen for younger planners to change jobs: from a career standpoint, it's fabulous. For those who own firms, it's painful, sometimes even deadly," she wrote in the cover story for this supplement.
She provides a step-by-step guide for job seekers, those who are graduating from financial planning programs and those who are unhappy in their current firms.
