Thanks to Hong Kong's rapid development as a financial centre, local awareness of personal financial planning has increased considerably in recent years. People are ready to seek professional services to help them manage their wealth and invest wisely, and demand for qualified advisers is rising quickly. To meet such demand, some financial organisations have launched training programmes for aspiring novices. One of those taking the lead in this is American International Assurance (AIA).
According to Jones Lam Chung-sing, AIA's assistant vice-president and head of financial planner division, agency administration department, recent tertiary level graduates (between 2004 and 2006) in any discipline are eligible to apply for the company's preferred financial planner trainee programme.
The two-month crash course helps trainees grasp the basics of financial planning. These include product knowledge, total protection models, software application, social style drills, and selling and communication skills. There is also field experience and a requirement for the trainees to attain specific professional qualifications. Underperformers may be eliminated any time during the second month.
'We use the first month to help the trainees understand if they are really suitable and up to our expectations. We will assess them closely during the second month, which is on-the-job training. Those not up to speed will have to leave even before the two months are up,' said Mr Lam.
'This is tough. But financial planning is a demanding profession, and we want to make sure that only the fittest remain.'
Last year, 139 out of 177 trainees completed the course. Successful trainees move on to on-the-job training, and normally become an established financial planner after about three years. Outstanding achievers could be promoted to management positions, such as assistant unit manager, within a year and possibly to unit manager in the following six months. Those making it to the top will become district directors who are in charge of the full administration, operation and business performance of a district.
