Young Advisers Report High Job Satisfaction

The “Young Advisor Snapshot” report is the first in a LIMRA research series that covers the experiences of young advisers. LIMRA says the forthcoming series will focus on all stages of adviser career development, from early recruitment stages to building a successful practice.

When polled on their satisfaction with current and future work prospects, 91% of young advisers responded positively, according to LIMRA researchers.

“Young advisers expressed these high satisfaction levels because they feel the career has met their expectations in areas such as income potential, flexibility in work schedule and the opportunity to make a difference in people’s lives,” notes Mary Art, research director for LIMRA.

She adds that satisfaction actually increases over time from these high starting levels: While 91% percent of advisers with fewer than eight years of tenure responded positively to questions about career satisfaction (45% somewhat satisfied and 44% very satisfied), fully 93% with more than eight years of tenure had this reaction. Strikingly, 60% of these older advisers with more than eight years of tenure were “very satisfied” with their career outlook—a 16% increase over younger advisers.

When asked why they chose the career, six in 10 young advisers said “to make a difference in people’s lives,” LIMRA reports.

“Making a difference was second only to income potential in our survey,” Art adds. “In fact, among Generation X advisers, making a difference in people’s lives was the number one response.”

LIMRA says the study also revealed that today’s young advisers value both independence and collaboration. For many years, financial services recruiters have emphasized independence and “being your own boss” as key benefits to the advisory career path. While those qualities are still desired by today’s young advisers, LIMRA finds young people entering the advice field also put a high value on collaborative efforts, such as having a mentor and engaging in partnerships.

Three-quarters of the young advisers surveyed by LIMRA said they had a mentor. In most cases, the mentoring relationship developed naturally, LIMRA notes, with only 18% of advisers reporting they were part of a formal mentoring program. More than 8 in 10 advisers said the main advantage of mentorship was having someone to turn to when they have a question.

“The challenge of recruiting and retaining new advisers to replace an aging financial services sales force is widely known,” Art concludes. “We conducted this research because our industry understands the importance of developing a sales force that can relate to future generations of consumers.”