News and Blogs What it takes to be a financial adviser: Adam's career story

The FCA wants the financial advice sector to “thrive, serve clients at all wealth levels…and support investment and job growth”. So, no pressure. But what does it actually take to be a financial adviser? Technical knowledge and passing exams are, it turns out, only part of it.

Adam Tebbutt, who is a chartered financial adviser running his own practice, had no plans to enter financial services when he was at school. He wanted to work in professional sport. Then, in his mid-teens, he shifted to focus on his other interest: business and finance.

“My parents had a small business in the 90s and I worked in hospitality on the Norfolk coast. During my time at college, I did a lot of work with small businesses, so I got used to seeing it first hand,” he says.

Working in hospitality requires great people skills and Adam Tebbutt found that came naturally to him. “For whatever reason, I was always given responsibility. When I was nineteen, working alongside my studies, I was running a bar. I think I enjoyed that autonomy and feeling I could make a difference.”

His initial studies were in pharmaceutical science. That demands the ability to ensure precise technical details are correct and engage well with others, many of whom may be stressed. All of that spoke to what Adam could do well. What it lacked, though, was autonomy

“After a bit more time to think about a career in hospitality, I joined Aviva,” he says. “That was in the early 2000s, the very early days of the internet, and if somebody had problems placing a share deal, they would call me and my team. Once they were on the phone to us, though, they couldn’t use their dial-up because they were on the phone...” He smiles. Wrangling the problems of panicked small investors led to a deeper interest in financial markets and investments. “It lit a fire and I thought ‘that’s what I want to do’,” he says.

What he particularly likes about financial advice is that it’s a people business. “Without wanting to sound corny, it’s a people business providing financial products rather than a financial business working with people. It is about building relationships and making a tangible difference. I think it is a really important role within the industry and the wider world. A big part of that is to really make sure that consumers stay safe.”

Adam Tebbutt works with clients right across the spectrum of advice needs. “They may have gone a bit astray, or they’re going through a difficult situation such as a divorce or a bereavement, or you may have the responsibility of looking after a family’s finances and growing that capital over the years,” he says.

And it doesn’t have to be the big things that really help the client and provide career satisfaction, he says. “Sometimes, it can be as simple as the ongoing service and the reassurance that you’re providing. Being able to help somebody with a spectrum of things really. For example, I made sure that a client who was relocating from Hong Kong to the UK understood the state pension and the NHS pension, as well as structuring her finances in the UK and making sure that her capital worldwide was positioned in the right place. It was just as important to help her with her NHS scheme and the state pension as the other aspects of her finances.”

Like any career, though, being a financial adviser also brings challenges. What are the hard parts?

“Running my own business gives me a better work-life balance than being employed but equally you never really properly get a day off because there’s always something going on,” he says. “I predominantly look after investment capital for individuals, so there’s a great deal of responsibility that comes with that.”

Another challenging part of being a financial adviser, he says, is that it demands both people skills and very good attention to detail. “People tend to be better at one than the other. If you find that you are good at both, that’s a great skillset to have. There is always that pull of regulation and requirements, which is right because it keeps individuals safe and upholds ethics, but it’s quite a big part of the job.”

What is it like acquiring the in-depth knowledge of regulation and technicalities that the role requires? After all, being a financial adviser is a regulated activity and the exams are not optional. “I took my initial exams in a fairly supported environment at Aviva,” he says. “Beyond that point, you get less support and the exams get tougher at the same time as your workload gets greater, so it can be hard going, particularly alongside other responsibilities.”

But taking exams is not all bad.

“I started my own business in 2020 and though that in itself is a really, really tough thing to do, I found that doing some exams at that point was also quite useful,” says Tebbutt. That was partly because I had the time to do that whether I liked it or not, but also because it allowed me to think in a different way.”

The advice that he would give to others who want to take the route to chartered status is to try to identify the appropriate time to study and then dedicate yourself to it. But it’s also good advice for financial advisers at any point in their career because they have to demonstrate at least forty hours of continuous professional development each year.

“It’s part of the day job really to be continuously learning and that is how it should be because financial services environment of five or ten years ago is quite different to what it is now. So, if somebody didn’t have any of that continuous learning, you know, I’d be concerned for the clients.”

What if you’re really technically minded and interested in financial services, but don’t particularly enjoy dealing with people? Could you still be a financial adviser? Adam Tebbutt suggests that a better way forward might be paraplanning, dealing with technical report writing and data gathering for financial advisers. People can also decide to specialise with the complexities of specific areas, such as insurance. “If you’re doing lots of exams and you’re not really enjoying your day job, then I’d question why you’re doing it,” he says.

What is the biggest challenge that he has had to overcome? “I’m the type of person who quite likes a challenge, but I think the biggest hurdle for me was when I started my own business in 2020 and we quickly went into lockdown. At the time, it felt pretty terminal. But whenever there is a challenging situation, there are always going to be opportunities as well, like the ability to meet people via TEAMs. It became the normal way to do things for twelve months or so and that opened a lot of doors. I could meet people from across the country and a lot of business people suddenly had the time and the need to sit down and get on top of their finances.”

And the future of financial advice? Will GenAI take over? “There’s going to be a lot of change over the next five to ten years driven by AI and the way clients and consumers deal with financial advisers,” he says. “Real digital natives will have a huge advantage over someone like me. That said, I see the opportunities in it, I think there’s a lot of opportunity and that there will be lots of jobs created. Part of that is that cutting down on those administrative tasks that otherwise take up a lot of time means that the servicing can be enhanced and the servicing can look different.”

Is there any one thing that Adam Tebbutt would like to see done in a highly regulated industry that is currently reconsidering its rules? “Keeping people safe from online and web-based portals and platforms that are masquerading as something they are not,” he says. “People think they understand technology like blockchain or cryptocurrencies because they’ve watched a couple of YouTube videos, and it’s easy for people to click on a link and be parting with capital.”

There is also an education piece to this, he adds, which starts in schools. He himself volunteers in local primary schools to help children learn about finance. “Without regulation crypto and regulation could represent a big problem within the next five years or so,” he says.