Exams and qualifications are only part of the journey into advice. Evie Beaumont, IFA at Lincolnshire Independent Financial Advisers Ltd, shares how experience, confidence and saying yes to new opportunities helped her make the transition.
Nine years ago, Evie was helping in a financial planning firm during her college holidays.
The work was far removed from advising. There was paperwork to organise, phones to answer and plenty of administrative tasks that just needed doing.
At the time, her future appeared to be heading in a very different direction.
Having studied health and social care at college, followed by a social work degree at university, financial services was never part of her plan. But after completing her degree, an opportunity arose to return to the firm on a more permanent basis while working out what to do next.
The thing is – she never left.
Today, Evie is an Independent Financial Adviser at Lincolnshire Independent Financial Advisers and very much a part of the firm’s longer-term succession plans.
While every route into advice is different, there are several aspects of her track to advising that may resonate with paraplanners thinking about taking that next step themselves.
One of the first, is that progression doesn’t always need to happen overnight – something Professional Paraplanner’s Future Adviser articles have explored before. We think Evie’s steps demonstrate this brilliantly.
Evie started in administration before moving into paraplanning and eventually into advising. Looking back, she believes that gradual progression gave her a far broader understanding of how the profession works than she might otherwise have developed.
“You learn how everything works in the background,” she explains. “Not just the technical knowledge, but how processes work, how providers work and how the business itself works.”
That understanding has become invaluable when dealing with clients.
While clients naturally focus on outcomes, advisers need to understand what happens behind the scenes to deliver those outcomes. Having experience of administration and paraplanning gave Evie a practical understanding of the moving parts that support good advice.
It can be tempting to view administration or paraplanning as stepping stones to move through as quickly as possible – or miss out entirely. Yet those roles often provide knowledge that becomes increasingly valuable later on.
Just as significant was the visibility those roles gave her with clients.
Long before she became an adviser, she was already communicating with clients, handling queries and helping solve problems. By the time she began taking on her own advice relationships, many clients already knew who she was.
That made the transition feel far more natural.
As a relatively young adviser, Evie believes those existing relationships helped overcome some initial scepticism.
“If I’d gone straight in as an adviser, I think there would have been more resistance from some clients,” she says. “Because they’d already dealt with me and knew me, they were happy to work with me.”
The interactions with clients in this local Lincolnshire firm, really helped establish the trust with clients that had only ever dealt with the firm’s Director previously.
It’s another useful lesson for paraplanners considering advice. Developing client relationships doesn’t have to begin on the day you achieve competent adviser status. Opportunities to build confidence and visibility often exist much earlier.
Evie’s development has also extended well beyond her day-to-day role and bubble of her firm.
In recent years, she has become involved with the PFS financial education programme, delivering sessions in schools and colleges. She initially became interested through separate financial education work focused on credit reports before volunteering with the PFS initiative.
The experience has proved valuable for the students she meets, but it has also accelerated her own development.
Standing in front of classrooms and assemblies was not something she would always have felt comfortable doing.
Evie talked about how years ago, public speaking would have been one of her biggest fears. Now, she regularly delivers sessions to young people and answers whatever questions happen to come her way.
“It’s definitely built my confidence,” she says.
Evie also told us that the questions themselves have also been useful. Young people tend to ask whatever is on their minds, often without filtering it!
That really forces you to think on your feet. Just as importantly, it teaches you that not having every answer immediately isn’t a problem.
“If I don’t know something, I’ll say I don’t know and I’ll find out.” There is a lesson in that for many aspiring advisers.
One of the biggest concerns people have about moving into advice is the fear of being asked something they cannot answer. Experience often teaches you that clients don’t expect advisers to know everything instantly. They do expect honesty and actually, they really value it.
Alongside her advisory role and educational work, Evie has gradually become more involved in the operational side of the business. Discussions around investment propositions, business planning and future direction now form part of her role.
Again, the transition wasn’t sudden, responsibility arrived in stages. That gradual approach is something Evie has realised really suits her preferred way of learning and she said that a piece of advice she’d give aspiring advisers is to figure out what works best for them – then seek it out!
Reflecting on her own development, she believes one of the biggest advantages has been having the time and space to build confidence before taking the next step.
“I don’t feel like I’ve been pushed before I was ready,” she says.
This is perhaps the biggest takeaway of all. Many paraplanners spend time wondering when they should move into advice and whether they are progressing quickly enough. Evie’s experience suggests there isn’t always a perfect timeline.
Sometimes the most effective route is simply continuing to learn, saying yes to opportunities as they arise and allowing your confidence to develop alongside your experience.
After all, her steps towards advice started with a college holiday job, a bit of paperwork, answering the phones – but it turned out to be exactly the right place to start.
Main image: light bulb, idea, thought, alexander-jawfox-ng7Yynar8Hw-unsplash
