Industry news and views from Panacea and our partners.
Paul Harper Search
A Guide to Defining Your Career Path
I speak to Financial Services professionals daily about their next career move. Candidates often have thought very little about their future career path and aspirations, even though we spend almost 30% of our waking hours at work.
Unlock Your Career Potential: 8 Pitfalls Every Job Seeker Should Dodge
Struggling to navigate the complex job market landscape? Join us for an enlightening webinar presented by Derek Bradley, CEO Panacea who will be speaking to industry expert Paul Harper, Founding Director of Paul Harper Search, one of the UK’s longest established Financial Services Executive Search specialists. Paul will be providing invaluable insights to propel your career forward.
Unlock Your Career Potential: 8 Pitfalls Every Job Seeker Should Dodge
Struggling to navigate the complex job market landscape? Join us for an enlightening webinar on 30th April at 11:00am, presented by Derek Bradley, CEO Panacea who will be speaking to industry expert Paul Harper, Founding Director of Paul Harper Search, one of the UK’s longest established Financial Services Executive Search specialists. Paul will be providing invaluable insights to propel your career forward.
BDM Salary Survey 2024: Closing of the gender pay gap
Discover the latest insights on financial services compensation trends in Paul Harper Search's newly released BDM Salary Survey. This year's report unveils significant shifts in the industry, including a 5% decline in mean total earnings for BDMs, stagnant basic salaries with only a marginal 1% increase, adjustments in bonus structures, regional and role-specific disparities, and a groundbreaking revelation of the near-elimination of the gender pay gap among BDMs. Offering valuable insights into the current compensation landscape, this report is essential reading for professionals in the financial services industry.
Paving the Way to a Successful Exit
Once you're ready to sell, the next step is to pull together an initial list of prospective firms that align with your criteria. With over 150 active acquirers in the UK market today, it's crucial to tread carefully, which is why we would advise any seller to engage a skilled adviser or broker to navigate this complex process.
Cultivating Your Own Star Players
While it might seem counterintuitive for someone in my line of work to say this, I wholeheartedly agree with the notion that businesses should focus on growing their own talent as part of a long-term strategy. Cultivating internal talent boosts retention rates, a critical issue for any business.
Ready... Steady... Pass the Baton!
For most people, selling their business is a once-in-a-lifetime event, but in many cases, business owners are unprepared. The idea of selling often gains traction from a phone call from a firm or broker expressing interest in their business or meeting someone at an event. This automatically puts the owner on the back foot.
When the Headhunter calls...
It is a moment that could dramatically affect the rest of your career. In this month's newsletter I explain what to expect if the headhunter should call.
Paraplanners: From Support to Spotlight
In a short period, the role of the paraplanner has become paramount to successful financial planning businesses. A paraplanner's role is to take some of the administrative burden off a financial adviser but has expanded from its origins to incorporate research and report writing.
Financial Planning: 2023 Salary Insights
Our 2023 ‘Financial Planning: Fascinating Facts and Figures’ salary guide offers invaluable insights for both Financial Planning Business Owners / Directors and Financial Planners.
Paul Harper Search - 2023 Financial Planning: Fascinating Facts & Figures
Our annual Fascinating Facts and Figures report offers invaluable insights to Financial Planning Business Owners and Directors about critical industry updates from the FCA and more, assisting Financial Planners in benchmarking their performance.
Seizing the Opportunity: Why Now is the Time to Become a Financial Adviser in Europe
Gone are the days when international financial advisers were primarily self-employed, commission-based individuals who operated in the low-net-worth segment of the market. The industry is now seeing a shift towards highly-qualified advisers on a basic salary, leading to lower turnover rates and a focus on clients that are predominantly high-net-worth.
A Mergers & Acquisitions update from Paul Harper
Digital transformation: The industry is witnessing a rapid shift towards digitalisation, with fintech innovations disrupting traditional business models. As a result, established firms are increasingly seeking partnerships or acquisitions to enhance their digital capabilities and keep pace with the evolving market.
Navigating Regulation: The Power of a Compliance Director
In the wake of the introduction of the transformative Consumer Duty, we're noticing a seismic shift in the landscape, with our clients critically evaluating the strength of their compliance function.
The Emotional Edge: Why High EQ is the Key to Career Success in the Age of AI
We've heard about the power of Artificial Intelligence (AI) over the last few years, but it made headline news in December 2022 with the emergence of ChatGPT. We had fun writing family poems and songs over Christmas and marvelled at the speed and efficiency.
The Game Changer: The Vital Role of Managing Directors in Driving Business Success in 2023
For nearly 24 years, I have been helping businesses attract outstanding Managing Directors to their organisations. But in the last year or so, I have observed a significant shift in the primary motivations driving companies to hire a Managing Director.
2022/23 Financial Planner: Fascinating Facts and Figures salary guide
Paul Harper Search publish their guide year on year, and the statistics and findings are always interesting! The facts and figures are based on FCA data and insights from communicating with clients and candidates on a daily basis. The guide contains:
Interview Tips
Feeling stumped during an interview can be nerve-wracking. But fear not! Here are our top 5 tips on handling those dreaded moments with confidence:
Financial Advice Managers & Directors Salary Survey
Our salary survey report provides detailed insights into the compensation patterns across various types of Financial Advice Businesses, including Banks, Large Advice Firms, Small-Medium Advice Firms, and Private Equity-Backed ‘Buy and Build’ Consolidators.
Consumer Duty - Did you catch this?
As we know that businesses like yours will be taking the new duty seriously, we recently launched our Handpicked Compliance Director service, to help businesses secure top compliance talent, and to help you navigate your way through the new regulations.
Reinventing the Financial Advice Profession
If you're new to the financial advice profession or simply looking to stay ahead of the curve, Paul Harper has recently published his first book ‘Reinventing the Financial Advice Profession’. The book offers a unique and valuable perspective on the evolution of the financial planning industry over the past four decades.
Executive talent update - Hiring tips for CEOs!
Last year was a great year for executive head-hunters. Following the depth of the pandemic, the market came back incredibly strong. It wasn’t only us who had our best year ever in 2022.
BDM Salary Survey 2023: Increase in BDMs Salaries and Total Earnings in 2023
A new BDM Salary Survey report by Paul Harper Search has shown that Business Development Managers (BDMs) have seen a rise in salaries in 2023, with basic salaries rising slightly by 3% and total earnings rising by 18% to an average of £121,438 per annum. 60% of BDMs now have total earnings over £110,000 per year.
Paul Harper Search: Consumer Duty Support
With the Consumer Duty Implementation plan deadline date looming, we have created a few useful documents and tools you may find helpful.
Our Top Tips for producing a top CV
It’s never easy writing a CV, but it’s your first contact with a potential employer and it’s your first opportunity to stand out.
IFA Business Calculator
Are you there yet? Exhausted? Completely burnt out and every day feels like a slog? Are you worried about the risk of another recession? Have you promised your partner that you would start to wind down? Are you dreaming about waking up, not worried about the day ahead, can you smell the freedom that is ahead?
The Consumer Duty
The Consumer Duty (Duty) is being seen as the largest regulatory change for 20 years, even more seismic than RDR, as the firm has to demonstrate value, fairness and customer centricity throughout the advice process and beyond. There are impacts on the senior manager regime accountabilities and conduct rules for all staff (a new one is being introduced).
People – Finding and Keeping them
According to data from Meeting of Minds the biggest challenge that keeps Advisers up at night is ‘people – finding and keeping them’
What is the value of your business and how can you influence it?
Have you ever wondered how you could increase the value of your IFA business ahead of sale?
Top Tips for Financial Advisers starting out in the Financial Services Industry
Kickstarting your career in the Financial Services industry is tough. Here are my top tips for young Financial Advisers first starting out in the industry