Reflections of an aspiring financial planner

There just aren’t enough planners to go around, according to leaders of the financial planning profession. Speaking this month in New York, Nicholas Nicolette, president of the Denver-based Financial Planning Association, said some firms will need to double or triple in size in the near future.

“The most common question I get when I travel around the country is, ‘How do I find qualified people?’” said Mr. Nicolette, principal of Sparta, N.J.-based Sterling Financial Planning Inc.

At the same event, Deena Katz, associate professor in the division of personal financial planning at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, and president of Coral Gables, Fla.-based Evensky & Katz Wealth Management LLC, said attracting and retaining new people is the “biggest problem in the industry” [InvestmentNews, Oct.8].

That certainly sounds encouraging for someone who is starting, as I am, a second career as a financial planner. But the emphasis that I’ve found so far in job interviews has been on sales, not planning.

I was, in fact, attracted to the profession by its unique combination of career skills. I very much liked the idea of combining people skills and personal attention with sound analytical fiscal planning.

On industry websites, however, most of the emphasis seems to be on client retention, brand marketing, increasing referrals, and new and improved networking techniques.

When I began to peruse industry job boards, I found one major broker-dealer looking for a “financial adviser — demonstrated ability to sell.” Another broker-dealer wanted “proven outside sales experience.”

A major insurance company made clear that “top line, you will be selling to clients” and that “boundless drive and determination” were required.

One interview involved simulated phone conversations where I had to try to sell products to three types of clients: one who is receptive, one who is rushed and one who is ornery.

There were probing discussions about my social circles, group affiliations, family and friends. There were frank revelations about 60-hour weeks in the first couple of years, although of course you could take a day off now and then for the good of your marriage.

Finally, I joined a group of other interviewees to meet with the regional vice president of one firm. We went around the room, and each of us shared what natural markets we could tap into and whom we could approach to pitch our services.

We were being offered jobs as financial planners. Most of my fellow aspiring planners sounded enthusiastic. But I was confused, somewhat uneasy and wondering what I was doing there.

I began to suspect there is a tidal change going on in the dynamics of entering into the financial planning profession. There is the pull of the old-model career changers’ coming over from sales, and the push of the brave new world of freshly minted planners with bachelor’s or master’s degrees in financial planning.

Where did that leave me? Rocking back and forth in the ebb and flow of these clashing paradigms. Not the worst place to be, but certainly unsettling.

There are endless stories about the seismic shift in baby boomers’ financial needs and the fact that the industry can’t find enough planners and trusted advisers who will act as fiduciaries. But the reality of the job market appears to be all about sales.

Are there really legions of financial-planning-worthy clients casting about for professional direction? If so, what is the real industry need: planners to assist them, or salespeople to bring these prospective clients in the door? Are these the same people? Do they have to be?

I also have been repeatedly told that it takes two to five years to build up a client base.

I have not been told that it takes years to build up the skills to put together a thorough and effective plan for someone. While I suspect both may be true, it is the message of client generation that comes through most strongly.

I realize that I am entering a field that is in transition. While financial planning is intent on burnishing its image as an industry comprising credentialed professionals with actual fiduciary responsibilities, it continues to be identified with sales and client generation.

It still appears to a novice such as myself that sales is more essential than planning in establishing oneself professionally. There seems to be an assumption that one can learn the ABCs of planning for clients but that selling them on the planning process to begin with is where the rubber really hits the road.

Admittedly, my experiences are limited. I look forward to getting a more nuanced, thorough understanding of the industry. Nonetheless, these are some of the messages I’m encountering and concerns I have as I enter the world of financial planning.

Paul Norr, a former research scientist for Minneapolis-based Pillsbury Co., is finishing a financial planning program at the University of California, Los Angeles. He lives in Thousand Oaks, Calif., and can be reached at [email protected].