What Salary Am I Worth?

When looking for new Financial Adviser jobs, a jobLowest average salary by region = £18,517 in
hunter will ask themselves "what am I worth inWales
the current employment climate?"While supply and demand remains a significant
In reality this can be a very difficult question tofactor in the financial services job market, the
answer. Think for a moment about footballers. Isequation becomes even more complicated when it
Cristiano Ronaldo worth £217,000 per week? Iscomes to those who salary can be equated to
Lionel Messi worth £175,000 per week? Althoughperformance. When it comes to IFA jobs and
this income stratosphere defies comprehensionfinancial adviser jobs, salaries have always held
for most of us, the simple answer must besome correlation to business generated in
‘yes'. Why? Because that is what Real Madridprevious years.
and Barcelona were prepared to pay for their"Consider the IFA"
services.Most employed IFAs will earn around a third of
A key equation in this complex problem is supplythe revenue they generate. This of course
and demand. When demand for certain skills andfluctuates from business to business as factors
experience is high but the pool of candidates forsuch as lead supply and level of support become
Financial Adviser jobs with this experience and skillinvolved, however to keep things simple, most
set is low, one way an employer may competefirms work to a validation level of 3 times salary
for their services is by making the remunerationwith 33% bonus paid on revenues generated
package as attractive as possible. Equally, whenthereafter. With this in mind the basic salary level
the demand is low for Financial Adviser jobs (asis often less important than overall earnings
many people have found through 2009) andpotential.
candidates are competing for a small number ofWhen deciding on an appropriate salary offer,
vacancies, they will often find that lowering theiremployers will usually look at an adviser's
salary requirements makes them more attractiveproduction from previous years to set a validation
to employers.level that is realistically attainable while also making
"Consider the paraplanner"sure the adviser is motivated by the prospect of
Traditionally paraplanner jobs have been difficult toadditional bonus.
fill as many paraplanners use the role as aFor example:
stepping stone before moving in to IFA jobs orWayne is an adviser who has generated fees at
financial adviser jobs rendering the candidate poolaround £120,000 for the previous 2 years.
relatively small. As a result, salaries increased yearBased on the prospect that he will generate at
on year and in 2007 the average income for aleast this level again in a similar environment, we
paraplanner with over 2 years experience in thecan safely assume that if we give him a salary of
role was approximately £28,000. In 2009, with£35,000 he should comfortably achieve a
business levels dropping and reduced costs high on£105,000 validation level while remaining
many financial services firm's agendas, a numberincentivised to earn further bonus.
of paraplanner jobs were made redundant andAverage salary for IFA jobs across the UK =
few IFA jobs or financial adviser jobs were£37,142
created. While a number of experiencedHighest average salary by region = £44,654 in
paraplanners were left searching for employmentLondon
in a market with low demand, the averageLowest average salary by region = £31,302 in
income reduced to £25,383.the North East
Average salary for paraplanning jobs across theOnce again, many of our clients are reporting a
UK = £25,383significant increase in business production in 2010
Highest average salary by region = £31,048 inand are confident that the trend will continue
Londonthroughout the year.