Squeeze on financial recruitment

A tough hiring environment may force banks and other financial institutions to take a broader approach to finding financial advisers this year.

Thursday, January 11th 2018, 6:00AM 2 Comments

by Susan Edmunds

A survey from recruitment firm Robert Walters shows there is a growing skills shortage in New Zealand, and the potential tightening of immigration laws could have a significant impact.

ASB general manager of wealth, Jonathan Beale, said it had been tough to recruit good financial advisers for some time.

"If you go back 10 years, there was a flood of people from overseas," he said.

Beale said he used to get frequent calls from people moving from Britain to New Zealand, with a background in financial advice and banking.

"That's completely dried up. That's been a major change in quite a short period."

ASB had tried a different approach, employing people who were not financial advisers but who had the right skillset.

Beale said it was harder to teach things such as relationship management or an interest in helping people, than it was to train people in how to give advice.

"We've had real success in that."

He said that matched the survey's suggestion that more people would need to be developed into roles, rather than recruited directly.

Young people were increasingly interested in careers in the wealth division, he said.

Joe Whitfield, of Robert Walters, said demand well outpaced supply for candidates in risk and compliance roles, since the introduction of AML/CFT legislation.

Many employers had responded by adding a compliance element to existing positions, such as front-line staff dealing with clients.

"They now have risk responsibilities as part of their make-up."

He said there was sometimes reluctance to some of those role changes but it was a necessary part of doing business in the modern financial services environment.

Tags: AML ASB compliance financial advisers recruitment risk

« Cryptocurrency fund open to New Zealand investorsMann on a mission to diversify financial advice »

Special Offers

Comments from our readers

On 11 January 2018 at 12:01 pm Pragmatic said:
Unsure why any large financial institution is actively seeking credentialed qualified advisers, when there is an abundance of existing staff within, who are willing to flog the "good oil" as RFAs (or whatever the new acronym for sales folk will be...)
On 12 January 2018 at 8:02 am smitty said:
I think what he is saying is that there is a lack of "sales people" with the right skill set ie - sell, sell, sell. Either that or they dont want to wear the ASB polo shirts anymore.

Sign In to add your comment

www.GoodReturns.co.nz

© Copyright 1997-2024 Tarawera Publishing Ltd. All Rights Reserved