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An IFA job involves advising people on how to achieve their financial ambitions in an efficient and suitable way whether they are a person or a corporate business.
For an IFA to be doing his job properly a holistic financial planning approach must be adopted. This kind of approach ensures that clients own the house where they want to live and are able to maintain the lifestyle both in sickness and in health without worry of debt.
IFA jobs are regulated by the FSA alongside all other financial services jobs which advise on any product which carries an investment content. A major part of an IFA job is to “fact find” or talk through a clients situation to determine what is important to the client in terms of lifestyle aspirations, retirement options and needs to protect their family and/or income.
IFAs often work alongside other professionals such as accountants and solicitors who come across and are able to identify people with financial planning requirements.
An independent Financial Adviser (IFA) has access to 30,000 financial products across the market place and needs to recommend the correct product, which meets the individual clients requirements.
The entry level qualification for an IFA job is the certificate in financial planning but the majority of IFA jobs require the candidate show some commitment to professional development in the form of additional qualifications.
There are around 38 different advanced financial planning qualifications from a number of different examination and awarding bodies. Often, to be considered for the top IFA jobs a candidate should hold AFPC modules or be on their way to achieving the diploma level qualification.
An IFA job can lead to a multitude of different career opportunities within the profession. Often an IFA runs their own small (or large) business and this can be a rewarding and challenging role. In a larger IFA organisation the career path may well be available to move into a managerial capacity which involves supervising other IFAs.
Often an IFA firm will have a specialist "business development manager" who will be responsible for generating new business enquiries through a variety of methods including professional connections, seminars and corporate connections. Some professionals move from an IFA job in to a preplanning or paraplanner job because they enjoy the more technical nature of the work.
IFA jobs are changing because the Financial Services industry is changing and way advice is given has to change with it. The retail distribution review (RDR) is changing the IFA jobs market as IFA move away from a transactional method of doing business and into a fee based or new model adviser type business model.
Whatever happens there will always be a need by the public for sound, honest IFA advice and there will also be a need for top IFAs who can provide that advice, generate new clients and strive to look after those clients into the future.