The next step on your career ladder

By: Gerrie van der Merwe, HOD: Financial Planning –  School of Financial Services

There are many ways to start a career in the financial services industry: in telesales, as part of a learnership programme, as an administrator, or by joining an internship programme hosted by a financial planning practice. Regardless of how you begin, you will reach a point in your career when you become aware of a deep void that cannot be filled by earning more money.

This innate human need for fulfilment can be satisfied in various ways, such as becoming involved in a charity, pursuing a personal goal like running a marathon, or simply by spending more time with your children. But to achieve a sense of fulfilment and greater happiness, you also need to develop professionally. For someone in the financial services industry, this will most likely mean wanting to become a financial planner.

The Financial Planning Institute (FPI) has set rigorous academic, experience and ethical standards that must be met before qualifying for the prestigious Certified Financial Planner® (CFP®) designation. Although it is fulfilling to achieve CFP professional status, its main benefit lies in an individual’s metamorphosis into a true professional with a wide set of skills that are used to meet the needs of others. The role of experience and ethical standards in an individual’s transformation is apparent, but the academic component is less easily understood. Its usefulness is sometimes questioned, as the naysayers claim that it does not prepare you for industry work and that software does most of the analysis for you. Such sentiment ignores the continuous development of the academic learning process by tertiary institutions and standard-setting bodies to remain relevant and practical.

Besides that, academic study is also a faster way of gaining competence, and it protects clients from the errors inherent in a purely experiential learning process. Imagine if Christiaan Barnard, the South African cardiologist who performed the first heart transplant, had to develop his technique through trial and error. Many people would have suffered and died until he found the optimal way to carry out the operation. Academic (not practical) study informed his learning, until he could carry out the operation without loss of life. Similarly, by studying financial planning, you can transform into a professional with the ability to safely treat your clients well, without putting them at risk of financial ruin.

The often-overlooked fact about academic study is that deep insight into the nature of the financial process is gained by wrestling with the underlying knowledge base, like a complex calculation. It helps the financial planner to develop an instinct and feel for what to expect in the analysis process. Anomalies, such as capturing errors, stand out to someone with the right academic background. And this deep understanding of financial planning also enables a financial planner to develop bespoke solutions to meet the unique needs and circumstances of their clients.

Lastly, the academic learning process changes you as a person. In a good way. The rigour needed to develop your thinking skills and understanding, with the goal of better helping others, is a recipe for achieving greater happiness and, ultimately, self-fulfilment. It’s also the reason why so many in the industry aspire to become a Certified Financial Planner® professional.