Who’s next?

New graduates envision clear career paths as they enter the advisory industry

Routes that the nation’s financial advisers have traveled to arrive at their careers vary widely and in many cases seem random, with professionals coming over from other fields as the advice industry has grown up over the past 30 years.

The next generation of advisers, however, has chartered more-direct career paths for themselves, though many variations to their approaches still exist.

In an effort to help other students and young advisers learn from some of their peers’ successes, and to give seasoned advisers a feel for where the younger generation sees their careers taking them, InvestmentNews spoke with four students graduating from financial planning programs this year. Each has achieved his or her first career goal — securing a job to begin this summer. Here are the stories of how they found their positions and how they envision their careers unfolding.

Mark Cecchini, 22, will begin as an associate financial planner at Sullivan Bruyette Speros & Blayney Inc. in McLean, Va., after attaining a bachelor of arts degree in finance from Virginia Tech this month.

The Allentown, Pa., native will be creating financial plans, helping with tax preparation and other tasks — such as investigating the cost basis of investments — as part of a team of advisers. The job, which was announced through Virginia Tech, required submission of unofficial transcripts, a résumé and a sample case study, as well as making it through an on-campus interview and three more hours of interviewing at the McLean offices.

Mr. Cecchini appreciated the clearly defined career path at this particular advisory firm. His goal is to continue on to be a senior financial planner, manager, director and then managing director.

“I can see myself here in 10 years, maybe my whole career,” Mr. Cecchini said.

Clinton Miller, 22, will become a financial analyst for Goldman Sachs Private Wealth Management in July, and the move to the firm’s office in Philadelphia will be his first without Mr. Cecchini. The roommates at Virginia Tech grew up together in Allentown, where Mr. Miller witnessed people suffering because they didn’t know how to take care of their own finances.

“At a young age, I was interested in my own personal finances,” he said. “I saw others in need of someone with the skills and expertise to do that.”

Mr. Miller will graduate this month from Virginia Tech’s financial planning track with a bachelor’s degree in finance. He secured his job after a previous graduate of the school put him in touch with Goldman’s Philadelphia and Washington recruiters. He also completed an internship with the Philadelphia office the summer after his junior year.

He likes that Goldman lets people be creative in their career paths, including working in different geographic regions. Mr. Miller envisions working on a team of advisers for a few years, gaining appropriate certifications, including possibly the certified financial planner mark, going through the adviser training program and becoming an adviser several years down the road.

April Peterson, 23, earned a bachelor’s degree in hotel management but then sold herself on the idea of a financial planning career.

The Houston native was a recruiter for Texas Tech University’s College of Human Sciences, where she convinced many prospective students that the financial planning degrees offered through the school would open up great career opportunities. After three years as a recruiter, she enrolled herself in the personal-financial-planning master’s program at the school.

Due to graduate this month, Ms. Peterson will begin her career soon after at USAA Investment Management Co. in San Antonio as an investment service representative.

Ms. Peterson, who was offered the job after interning with the firm last summer, will be talking with clients over the phone about different investment opportunities. USAA sells insurance and other financial products to members of the military and their families.

“The main thing I want to do is educate, and I’m especially interested in helping the middle-class investor,” Ms. Peterson said. “There are a lot of people out there who are not knowledgeable about what there is out there for saving.”

Ms. Peterson wants to complete the certified financial planner certification by the end of 2014, around the time she expects to move into a management position. She envisions staying at USAA for at least five years, then perhaps moving to a smaller firm to learn about that business environment. Eventually, she’d like to have her own registered investment advisory firm, she said.

Nathan Bowen, 32, is also graduating this month with a master’s degree in personal financial planning from Texas Tech University, but that’s just the start of changes in his life.

Eight days after graduation, his wife is due to have their first baby, and less than a month after that, he’ll be moving the family to Houston to become an associate financial adviser at Financial Advisory Group Inc.

Mr. Bowen secured his job after interning at the firm last summer, and since then, he’s been doing remote work for the company, helping put together personal financial profiles and doing some planning work. The Utah native is looking forward to meeting with clients as part of a team and putting together financial plans for new clients.

He found his calling in financial planning after life experiences, such as a two-year mission for his church and stints in the financial services and logistics industries, made him realize he had a desire to help people. A few of his cousins were enrolled in the two-year program at Texas Tech, which encouraged him to move to Lubbock, Texas, and do the same.

Mr. Bowen is taking the CFP exam in November and would like to pursue other credentials, including the accredited estate planner and accredited investment fiduciary designations. In a few years, he expects to have his own clients, while still acting as a “right-hand man” to a main wealth manager at the firm. Eventually, he envisions being an adviser with his own book of business, but he doesn’t have plans to set out on his own.

“I don’t necessarily see wanting to be an entrepreneur, as I’ve been told it’s kind of difficult to get into the industry these days with all the regulatory things,” Mr. Bowen said. “I want to do what my boss does — he takes care of his clients.”