The Baby Boomer investors aren’t the only ones looking to retire within the next few years. Unfortunately, their financial advisors are also Baby Boomers and looking to retire.

Where does that leave the next generation and beyond? Veteran advisors are having difficulty finding new talent to help takeover their book of business once they retire.

Many firms like Morgan Stanley Smith Barney are adding plans to help experienced financial advisors with their succession planning. According to Talent Shortage Grips Firms As Financial Advisors Age, the company reported, “(it) created a retiring advisor program that assists those producers who are planning for and changing their businesses over a suitable length of time before their expected retirement.”

But what about acquiring new talent? What plan do firms have in place to find this new talent for these veteran advisors? Apparently, some firms are looking for younger financial advisors to come in and learn the experienced advisors’ business and eventually take over their book of business.

I still believe most financial job recruiters are going to go out and find experienced advisors with a large book of business rather than spend their time hiring young advisors who have no book of business. Many FAs don’t get paid if the book of business isn’t reaching the firm’s minimum requirement. Where is the incentive for financial recruiters?

Mindy Diamond, a financial industry recruiter, states,

“Recruiting advisors without real life experience can pose a serious problem for the firm. The lack of life experience and lack of a rolodex of connections sets these young kids up for failure.”

While this may be true, why can’t firms set up a program to help younger advisors? After all, they are the future.

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I was scoping out some blog material over the weekend and something really caught my eye and stuck in my gut… (maybe it was because it validated some anal habits of my own?).

But I think it is worth sharing and reflecting on during stressful and uncertain times, so thank you Katherine Vessenes for your scenario in AdvisorMax coaching session on April 10…

“Going into every meeting your mindset should be to assume the sale.

Very few advisors understand that the financial services business is really a lot like theatre. Your stage is your office and needs to be very tidy and professional looking…you need to create a “wow” experience and think of your client as your audience.

You are playing the role of ???, viewing yourself as confident, in charge, powerful and about to nail your role. Your mindset should be to assume the sale.

Go into every meeting thinking that of course they will do business with you because you know you are really good at what you do and you have your clients’ best interest at heart.

When you put these two things together, that’s a killer combination…”

Ok, I don’t know if my office could be described as “tidy and professional looking”, but it does create that “WOW” feeling… (I think I have mentioned before my obsession with sports and their motivational effect on me?).

I do most of my recruiting “in the field” anyway, but I will agree that confidence and creating the right “stage” is crucial in closing more sales.

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Whoa…there has been lots of talk on the block about bonus “caps” for top executives, or even outrage at the disclosure of huge bonus payments to executives whose companies have failed or have sought government bail-out funds, but who would have thought even two months ago that the federal government would be so direct in its meddling in the private sector as to set forth the $500,000 cap for financial firms using TARP funds?

Certainly didn’t enter my realm of thinking. Taking this a step further (and in my opinion, the real crux of the issue) if the bail-out funds are to act as a stimulus to the economy, what is the chance that this will create a disincentive for financial firms who might be thinking of asking for bail-out money to stay afloat?

So then, do we have a successful or failed stimulus? And where does the regulation end? Is the next step government regulation on our recruitment hiring packages?

Financial Advisor Recruiters - Recruitment Firm for Financial Advisor Jobs