New entrants to financial advice don’t always know what they’re in for, whether they’re swapping barbells for bar charts like Joel Perryman or moving from building pools to helping clients finance pools like Joshua Merritt.
But the Emerging Professionals Committee (EPC) is all about changing that – with a re-energised committee ready to make a new member feel more welcome in the profession with webinars, meetings, and connections to ease their journey into advice.
Activities have ranged from attending careers events, to partnering with other career providers, running webinars to educate students on sitting exams, getting ready for the Professional Year (PY) as well as sessions on what to do after completing the PY.
Joel Perryman became chair of the EPC earlier this year and has been an active member since he was introduced to it after becoming a finalist in the University Student of the Year award in 2022.
He became involved in the community as he saw it as a good way to build up the profession with new entrants and help bridge the knowledge gap with students who didn’t know much about financial planning.
“I became a committee member in 2023 and since then, the committee has gone from strength to strength. Even in the face of declining adviser numbers since the Royal Commission, the committee has made some huge strides through creating a professional year webinar (look out for the next one this year!), attending university open days and also going to high schools to create better financial literacy through the financial literacy workshop created by a great panel of advisers and the FAAA,” Joel said.
“Students had no idea what the professional year was and how to go about doing it. They didn’t know how to start a conversation with employers.
“When I started, I was given information by other advisers, although mostly instigated by myself, as I was studying online.
“I had to do it off my own bat but with the EPC we can plug the gap in that knowledge.”
Joel entered the profession as a career changer, previously owning and running his own gym for 10 years. But over that time a lot had happened in his family. His parents had divorced, and he saw his mother struggle financially. Finally, she managed to get some financial advice, and Joel saw the benefits of having a plan and process to get on track.
“And that’s how I got into advice,” he says.
This story is not unusual as many advisers enter the profession after witnessing an experience of parents or family or friends where they see first-hand the value of the advice that has been given.
Joel later discovered he had family members who were financial advisers, but he had no idea when he was running the gym.
Because he sees the value of advice, he and his committee are keen to build the ranks of advisers – and because there are currently not enough people wanting to become advisers, the Emerging Professionals committee wants to spearhead activity to attract young people into the profession.
To help with that, the EPC is working closely with the FAAA student engagement team to meet with students at expos and other events.
On 1-3 May, the team attended the VCE And Careers Expo in Melbourne – Australia’s largest education and careers event.
The team is also working closely with Brimstone to secure tickets for student members of the FAAA.
Members of the EPC are all FAAA members and are a mix of students, PY candidates and recent graduates.
There are currently 13 Emerging Professionals committee members from around Australia:
