Sesame Bankhall Group’s IFA School to open its doors to the next generation of professional financial advisers

Sesame Bankhall Group is launching The IFA School to help attract and nurture the next generation of modern professional advisers.
The school is planning to open its doors next year with the first phase of the programme looking to attract 15 trainee advisers. This will include people who are new to the profession, along with some with previous experience in financial services.      
Trainees will have a clear career path and will be equipped with comprehensive virtual and face-to-face learning support in order to help them achieve the technical competence required. Importantly, trainees will also receive the practical skills training to help them acquire the business acumen and people skills to be a successful and well rounded professional.  
Students will go through an 18-month programme that will develop them to full competent adviser status. This will include investments, mortgages and general insurance permissions. The programme is aiming for students to be able to undertake basic protection advice cases within six months. 
Sesame Bankhall Group is aiming to develop The IFA School beyond the pilot phase to a position where significant numbers of new advisers can be recruited and trained in future years.
The IFA School launch follows detailed analysis of adviser attitudes to taking on trainee advisers, as well as research into the current academic entry routes through schools, colleges and universities.
Ivan Martin, Sesame Bankhall Group’s Executive Chairman, commented: “New people are the life-blood of any profession and, at a time when overall adviser numbers are falling, the need to train and nurture a new generation of IFAs is more important than ever. We want to provide talented individuals with the career path and opportunity to become the IFAs and entrepreneurs of the future. We are also offering our members a route to help grow their businesses, without them having to spend significant amounts of time and money on recruitment.
“This is the beginning of a long-term initiative and we will be working closely with adviser firms to build a vibrant and prosperous future for our profession. The IFA School has been founded based on our fundamental belief that professional advice can make a real difference to people’s financial well being. It is imperative we have a strong profession that can meet future consumer demand. This will in turn ensure that people continue to benefit from access to impartial and expert financial advice for generations to come.”  
Sesame Bankhall Group has been working together with IFA firm The Chester Partnership in the development of The IFA School, reflecting the pivotal role of adviser firms in the training of recruits and future success of the programme.
Steve Riddiough, Director of The Chester Partnership, commented: “The IFA School presents a wonderful opportunity to attract, train and develop new advisers – and the timing by Sesame Bankhall Group could not be better. Our experience of the support currently available in the market is that it is either focused purely on helping existing advisers to achieve the RDR exam deadline, or it covers bits of the adviser’s role in a disjointed way. The IFA School for the first time brings all the constituent parts together in a joined up programme that takes a new person all the way through to Competent Adviser Status (CAS).
“Our industry, and the bright ambitious talent that is out there, have been crying out for just such an initiative and it is good to see Sesame Bankhall Group stepping in to help. The Chester Partnership is delighted to be involved in developing the next generation. We, like many other firms, are keen to see The IFA School succeed, as it will provide us with a solution to our long term succession planning. The role of a professional financial adviser is becoming ever more demanding and complex, but it remains a fantastic career opportunity for bright and talented people.”