A financial adviser, also known as a financial planner, works primarily with clients to help them manage their finances and to develop and meet their financial goals and aspirations.  Working as a financial adviser can be a very rewarding, interesting and varied career.  

To practice financial advice, you will need to have a recognised level 4 qualification, approved by the Financial Conduct Authority and the skills to provide insightful, goal-driven client advice.  Anyone can apply to study as it is equivalent to a first year degree programme and there are different routes available to achieve this. 

Firstly, you could get one of the following qualifications:

• Diploma for Financial Advisers (DipFA) at level 4 – this is offered by The London Institute of Banking & Finance
• Diploma in Regulated Financial Planning (DipPFS) at level 4 – this is offered by the Chartered Insurance Institute.
• Investment Advice Diploma (ACSI) at level 4 – this is offered by the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment.

You could study for this qualification part-time alongside work and many people do. Alternatively, you could complete a degree, or higher apprenticeship, that will enable you to get a role in a financial services company who may sponsor you through the qualification. However, you don’t need a degree to become a financial adviser.

If you applied to study for the qualification yourself you can expect to pay around £1,000 but do bear in mind that you might need to pay more for additional study resources and any exam retakes. An employer may pay these fees for you depending on your role and career progression plan.

The level 4 qualification takes on average between 9 - 24 months to complete. Depending on your previous experience and whether or not you have a related degree, you could land a financial adviser role straight away after completing the course. However, if you’ve never worked in financial services, you’ll likely need to build up some experience first by doing other roles, such as an administration or paraplanner role within a financial firm.

Looking further ahead the ability to be self-employed is one of the advantages of a career in financial advice, so a great many independent financial advisers (IFAs) are self-employed and can even build their own practices and become employers themselves. Others may work in small firms of as few as two people, for a similar feeling of professional freedom. However, it’s usually worth cutting your teeth in a larger firm first, both to gain experience and attract a client list who may choose to stay with you when you go it alone.

At Future Financial Adviser our Partners each offer a training and qualification route to becoming a financial adviser and can also place you in work at the end of it.  Please visit our Develop your career – connect with our partners channel.