Financial advisors across all channels of the financial services sector look to their firms to provide the necessary training to keep advisors’ knowledge and skills up to date. Yet, the results of this year’s Report Card series were mixed: although some firms are doing a standup job, other firms are having difficulty meeting the expectations of their advisors.

The overall average performance rating that advisors gave their firms in the “ongoing training” category remained steady year-over-year at a solid 8.0. But advisors still had some gripes regarding their accessibility to training and the quality of the content that’s offered. Firms also have stumbled in meeting the training needs of their advisors at varying career stages.

Still, the firms lauded by their advisors take a head-on approach to training and make it a regular part of an advisor’s workflow.

“[The training] is consistent,” says an advisor in Ontario with Waterloo, Ont.-based Sun Life Financial (Canada) Inc. “There are many different topics we have to know. There’s also training every week for new advisors. There are lots of webinars, guest speakers and conferences. There are a number of ways to tackle training.”

Mississauga, Ont.-based Edward Jones stood out, garnering a 9.0 rating in the category for offering its advisors timely training at varying levels of seniority.

“We treat training as an investment and not an expense – and that mindset is very fundamental,” says an Edward Jones advisor in Ontario. “We don’t cut corners. We have training geared for every level in the business, whether you’re starting out or a veteran.”

Edward Jones advisors also were impressed with both the online tools available and the convenience these programs offer.

“There are a lot of resources you can access on demand,” says an Edward Jones advisor on the Prairies. “We have a learning site [on which] I can go and do training there.”

Advisors with Winnipeg-based Investors Group Inc. also gave their firm a rating of 9.0 in the ongoing training category. Many advisors praised the firm’s commitment to providing robust training platforms.

“There is weekly face-to-face training and dial-in sessions,” says an Investors Group advisor in Ontario. “[The firm] pays for our [certified financial planner designation] and is very supportive of continuing education.”

Adds a colleague in Atlantic Canada: “We have tremendous access to educational programs.”

Still, not all advisors were as positive about their firms’ ongoing training efforts. There were several reasons for this, but many advisors cited geography as a factor. In particular, many advisors felt excluded or at a disadvantage if they live outside of Canada’s major cities.

As an advisor in Ontario with Toronto-based Bank of Montreal said: “Training is centralized to urban centres and not spread to the whole sales force.”

Some firms, in an effort to address this issue, provide training at their annual sales conferences. However, advisors weren’t happy about the timing of these conferences or the costs incurred in order to attend and receive the desired training.

For example, advisors with Calgary-based Portfolio Strategies Corp. gave their firm a rating of 6.5 in training for this very reason. Says a Portfolio Strategies advisor in Alberta: “[The firm] only has one conference a year, and it’s expensive to go.”

Adds a colleague in the same province: “Training is lacking; I want more. There’s only one conference a year, and it’s usually out of town. I prefer [other firms’] models, with regular, quarterly events.”

There were other complaints about firms’ training efforts. Several advisors said their firms’ training programs haven’t adapted to meet advisors’ changing needs as they advance in their careers.

“[The firm] can improve ongoing training and support in providing business-development ideas once a person is past the rookie stage and before [being]in the top 500 of a firm,” says an advisor in Ontario with Toronto-based RBC Dominion Securities Inc. “The firm could help these advisors get to the top 500. The middle gets ignored and has to sink or swim.”

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