Smaller advisory practices that are eager to bulk up their teams but unable to set aside the time and tap into the other resources it takes to train them just got a new possible solution.
Financial advisor training firm Amplified Planning rolled out two new subscription-based services last month for registered investment advisory companies to outsource planners' professional development training: "CORE+" ($150/month) and "Accelerator" ($3,000/person). The programs add a further layer of training for recent hires in the field seeking to gain "experience hours" toward their certified financial planning designation and boost skills as part of their transition to full-scale advisor from more entry-level or intermediate roles. In addition, they add to available services from Amplified, which has trained over 4,000 aspiring planners and other professionals over the past four years through its summer "Externship" program.
The industry is facing a succession challenge from expected advisor retirements even as it creates new paths for young people and career-changers to go directly into the RIA channel rather than taking the traditional industry route via wirehouses. That trail into the profession often entails difficult barriers to entry with high failure rates, along with a "very sales-based" approach and training that is "only available at big shops," said Hannah Moore, the founder of Amplified and Richardson, Texas-based RIA firm Guiding Wealth. Many of the smaller RIAs that predominate in the industry don't have the teaching skills and other training infrastructure, which makes it difficult to attract and retain incoming future advisors, she said.
"They don't have the capacity. They don't have the resources to build out those training facilities," said Moore, who's one of Financial Planning's "20 People Who Will Shape Wealth Management in 2025" and a past winner of FP's "Visionary Leader Award" after the launch of the Externship. "It's a plug-and-play resource for them to be able to send their folks to in order to get that training."
Hannah Moore is the founder of advisor training firm Amplified Planning and Richardson, Texas-based registered investment advisory firm Guiding Wealth
Hannah Moore
In addition to the technical knowledge and practice, the smaller advisory firms must ensure that the trainees have "a balance of the general foundation with, then, the specifics of our team" to get the new hires to be "key pieces of your puzzle," according to Julie Genjac, an advisor coach who is the vice president of applied insights for Hartford Funds. To be successful with the outsourcing of training, they'll need to ensure that any providers fit into their approach to serving clients and working as a team, she said in an interview.
"Capacity is always a challenge, especially for smaller teams," Genjac said. "Creating a curriculum and a plan that is in alignment with the values and the culture of the firm is the most important part."
The new CORE+ program provides 50 hours per completed course toward CFP requirements through webinars, small-group calls, a community of fellow students and a library of videos of client meetings for the aspiring planners to take notes about and discuss with an instructor. The Accelerator service is an intensive four-month course designed "to turn new planners into experienced ones — fast," with the first cohort beginning in February. New entrants to the profession often see a "disconnect" in that they anticipate that the firms where they land will be able to train them up further, Moore said.
"What they're looking for and what they're expecting in firms is that they're going to have a training program," she said. "The firms don't have these core training pieces. They don't have the inhouse ability to do that, and we think we can help solve that problem and bridge that gap for them with Amplified Accelerator."
"Supporting your staff, supporting your new planners, developing them is one of the highest ROI activities that you can do," she said. "We want this to be such a win-win for advisors and their staff and everyone involved."
Cerulli Associates reports that retail direct investor platforms grew faster than all other distribution channels from 2022 to 2023, while wirehouses have lost ground.
Amplified Planning is expanding beyond the Externship into a new four-month course and a monthly subscription service for outsourced professional development.
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