Closing Bell Opens Doors for A New Generation of Financial Planners

The job growth rate for financial advisors is expected to be 32 percent by 2020, more than double the rate for all other occupations.² Several factors are fueling the growth in financial planning careers. More than 75 million baby boomers are on the verge of retirement and their need for professional financial advice is expected to rise. Many of those boomers are financial advisors themselves and will retire at a faster pace than younger advisors will enter the business.³ Finally, younger investors in their prime earning years are building and inheriting trillions in wealth, creating job opportunities for future financial planners.⁴

To avert a talent shortage in the not-so-distant future, the industry must find a way to encourage more students to pursue financial planning careers and help more schools develop programs that can educate future advisors. With those goals in mind, TD Ameritrade Institutional will provide $1.25 million over 10 years through its NextGen Scholarship and Grant Program, now in its second year.⁵

“TD Ameritrade Institutional is committed to attracting talented students to the profession and supporting schools that offer innovative financial planning curriculum. With efforts like the NextGen Scholarship and Grant program, we can help fill the pipeline with individuals willing to lead our industry and continue the important work of caring for investors and their families,” said Tom Nally, president, TD Ameritrade Institutional. “Addressing the looming talent shortage head-on, we can help financial advisory firms remain ready to serve the next generation of investors.”

Saved by the Closing Bell

Ten deserving students received $5,000 to help them pursue a bachelor’s degree in financial planning. To celebrate their achievement and put a face on the future of financial planning, this year’s Next Gen Scholarship and Grant winners were invited to New York City as guests of TD Ameritrade Institutional for a visit to Wall Street. The group walked the famed trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange and rang the closing bell to help raise awareness of the career opportunities in financial planning.

A Rewarding Career

TD Ameritrade Institutional’s scholarship winners come from varied backgrounds and hail from all over the United States, yet they all emphasized a desire to use their skills to help their neighbors and families live better lives. Several of the scholarship winners said they had witnessed firsthand the consequences of poor financial planning.

Not only is financial planning a fast growing career, it can be both personally and financially rewarding for new entrants. The median total compensation for a Support Advisor, someone who prepares financial documents, participates in client meetings and completes follow-up work, was $58,000 last year, according to FA Insight. The median Associate Advisor, the next step up the ladder and more actively engaged in client relationships, earned $83,000 a year. ⁶

“For students who may be worried about their job prospects, we encourage them to consider a career in financial planning,” said Richard S. Brown, chief executive of JNBA Financial Advisors and a member of TD Ameritrade Institutional Next Generation Advisory Board. “Serving as a financial planner offers terrific opportunities in a fast-growing business but also the chance to truly help others live better lives.”

Expanding the Talent Pipeline Through Education

Across the country, fewer than 90 schools offer financial planning degrees.⁷ TD Ameritrade Institutional wants to change that by supporting established and emerging financial planning education programs through its NextGen Grant Program. TD Ameritrade Institutional’s 2014 grants went to two schools – University of Georgia and Texas A&M University – to help support the development of innovative programs that not only increase the ranks of talented scholars entering the industry, but also to help ensure graduates are better prepared to succeed in the workplace.

University of Georgia, which received a $50,000 established-program grant, will use its money to build a “Financial Communication & Training Lab,” where students can strengthen their networking, communication, marketing and other workplace skills so that they are more likely to be successful. The award will endow a revolving “practitioner-in-residence,” selected from local financial professionals who will mentor students.

Texas A&M received a first ever $25,000 award designed to help schools with emerging programs. The school intends to launch of a bachelor’s degree in financial planning program, expanding on an Extended Learning program in financial planning it offers to graduate students and career-changers. Grant money also will be used to develop recruiting materials to attract students, with an added focus on women and minorities.

For information about the TD Ameritrade Institutional NextGen Scholarships and Grant Program, please visit http://www.tdainstitutional.com/lp/nextgen-scholarship.page.

For more information, including updates on industry affairs and news impacting RIAs, visit our blog TDA4Advisors, follow us on Twitter @TDA4Advisors and connect on LinkedIn. For more information about TD Ameritrade Institutional, please visit www.tdainstitutional.com.

TD Ameritrade is separate from and not affiliated with researchers, educators, students and other third parties, and is not responsible for their statements, data, policies or content.

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About TD Ameritrade Institutional
TD Ameritrade Institutional is a leading provider of comprehensive brokerage and custody services to over 4,500 fee-based, independent registered investment advisors and their clients. Our advanced technology platform, coupled with personal support from our dedicated service teams, allows investment advisors to run their practices more efficiently and effectively while optimizing time with clients. TD Ameritrade Institutional is a division of TD Ameritrade, Inc., a brokerage subsidiary of TD Ameritrade Holding Corporation.

About TD Ameritrade Holding Corporation
Millions of investors and independent registered investment advisors turn to TD Ameritrade’s (NYSE: AMTD) technology, people and education to make investing and trading easier to understand and do. Online or over the phone, in a branch or with an independent RIA, first-timer or sophisticated trader, our clients want to take control and we help them decide how: We’ve been bringing Wall Street to Main Street for more than 39 years. An official sponsor of the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team, TD Ameritrade has time and again been recognized as a leader in investment services. Please visit TD Ameritrade’s newsroom or www.amtd.com for more information.

Brokerage services provided by TD Ameritrade, Inc., member FINRA (www.FINRA.org) / SIPC (www.SIPC.org) /NFA (www.nfa.futures.org)

TD Ameritrade is separate from and not affiliated with researchers, educators, students and other third parties, and is not responsible for their statements, data, policies or content.

¹ National IPEDS database, U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics, 2013 Financial Planning and Services Program completions.
² Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, 2014-15 Occupational Outlook Handbook, http://www.bls.gov/ooh/business-and-financial/personal-financial-advisors.htm
³ Cerulli Associates, the Cerulli Report, Advisor Metrics 2013: Understanding and Addressing a More Sophisticated Population
⁴ Advent Software, Three Ways to Reach the Next Generation of Investors, November 2013. Millions of Americans 49 years and younger are expected to amass $28 trillion in assets by 2020, up from $2 trillion, through inheritance and their own wealth-creation.
⁵ TD Ameritrade Institutional is a division of TD Ameritrade, Inc., a brokerage subsidiary of TD Ameritrade Holding Corporation.
⁶ FA Insight, The 2013 FA Insight Study of Advisory Firms: People and Pay
⁷ National IPEDS database, U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics, 2013 Financial Planning and Services Programs.

Source: TD Ameritrade Holding Corporation