Finding the right staff and developing their skills are crucial
to the long-term prosperity of a business, and wealth
management is no exception. St. James’s Place has built its
own successful programmes of talent acquisition and skills
development. These programmes operate at all levels, helping
young people to take their first steps in business, through to
attracting high-calibre university graduates and growing its
own advisory talent through the St. James’s Place Academy.
The programmes start with six-week, paid summer
internships, taken up mainly by A-level students and university
undergraduates, predominantly at its Cirencester head office.
The internship programme is now in its 10th year and in that
time the number of interns has risen steadily each year, with
30 young people working in the business this summer. Nicki
Williams, Development Consultant at St. James’s Place, says
that interns work across all areas of the business, from IT to
investment management, with the dual objective of encouraging
young people to consider the financial sector as a career and
supporting the company’s contribution to the local community.
Many of the younger interns go on to apply for an
apprenticeship with the company, working across the business
on a one-year programme, with the hope that most will take
up full-time posts with the company. The fourth intake of
apprentices took place in September with 12 recruits, bringing
the total employed through the scheme to 42.
At every level in the company, there is a large programme of
skills development. Rob Hawkins, Head of Client Development at
St. James’s Place, believes that its MSc in wealth management,
available to both Partners and staff, is at the peak of this
programme and is breaking new ground for the industry.
Developed exclusively for St. James’s
Place by Loughborough University, the
course requires three years of part-time study to earn
the qualification. ‘The aim is to add a new level of
professional qualification and help individuals [within
the firm] broaden their skills and knowledge,’ he says.
The recruitment and development of advisers is crucial
to the business. Regulatory changes and higher professional
standards have dramatically reduced the pool of talent. Adrian
Batchelor, Director of the St. James’s Place Academy, points
out that, since St. James’s Place was founded in 1991, the
number of authorised financial advisers in the UK has
reduced significantly; recruiting solely from within the
industry is, therefore, no longer a viable option.
The St. James’s Place Academy opened in 2007
and operates across four national centres, with the
aim of producing 100 academy graduates each
year. Batchelor says that the decline in the number of
people working in wealth management, and the ageing
nature of the profession, means that ‘if we want to attract the
quality of people we need, we have to grow our own talent’.
Recruits have an average age of 38 and come from
a wide range of professional backgrounds, although
about half have financial services experience. The first
six months is spent in the classroom, acquiring the
qualifications needed to give financial advice. They then work
with one of the firm’s experienced Partners, who mentors
them for 12 to 18 months, and an Academy Development
Manager, who supervises them during this period. They then
graduate and join one of the St. James’s Place offices.
ST. JAMES’S PLACE SCHEMES
THE INVESTOR
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11
ANALYSIS
SKILLS
