JERSEY CITY, N.J., July 23, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Being a professional financial planner requires more than just being good with numbers. Today's advisors must develop skills that can help them build personal ties with clients, understand their needs and create a strategy to help families pursue their goals.
TD Ameritrade Institutional Honors Scholarship and Grant winners at the NYSE
Tom Nally, President, TD Ameritrade Institutional (Center) joins future financial planners in ringing the Closing Bell at the New York Stock Exchange
TD Ameritrade Institutional supports a new generation of financial professionals, hosts RIA Next Gen scholarship and grant winners on Wall Street
Eager to produce "job ready" graduates, many universities and colleges are teaching the real world skills young advisors need in the workplace. And to help more schools take their programs to the next level, TD Ameritrade Institutional1 has awarded its third annual Next Gen Financial Planning Grants: a $50,000 grant to the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas, to expand an existing financial planning degree program, and $25,000 to Temple University in Philadelphia to foster development of a new program.
TD Ameritrade Institutional wants to help the registered investment advisor ("RIA") industry remain vibrant for years to come by encouraging more colleges and universities to expand and enhance their financial planning degree programs, increasing the number of graduates produced each year. According to U.S. Department of Education data, roughly 700 students completed bachelor's degrees in financial planning in 2013, while just 90 U.S. schools offered degrees dedicated to financial planning.2
And as part of a broader effort to encourage more undergraduates to pursue financial planning careers -- and avert a talent shortage when thousands of baby boomer-era advisors leave the business -- TD Ameritrade Institutional is awarding its third annual Next Gen Financial Planning Scholarships to 14 deserving students.
"Independent financial planning is one the fastest-growing areas of the financial services business3 and may offer some of the brightest career prospects in the marketplace, but advisors need more than financial expertise -- they need a strong desire to help people and a talent for building strong ties with clients," said Tom Nally, president, TD Ameritrade Institutional. "Schools like University of North Texas and Temple are helping educate and train a new generation of advisors so they can enter the workplace well-prepared for solving real world challenges."
University of North Texas, for example, says students that complete its program are qualified to register for the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ comprehensive examination. UNT will use its grant money to fund internships at its Student Money Management Center, which provides individual financial consultations and planning services free of charge to all UNT students. Interns will work side by side with counselors to get hands on experience in how students, staff, and alumni manage their financial lives.
Temple University, meanwhile, will launch the school's first-ever financial planning program this fall. Grant funds will help fund scholarships to attract top-tier students, underwrite a weekly "seminar series" that brings the workplace to campus, engaging financial planning practitioners in the Philadelphia area to speak with students providing insights into the profession's challenges, trends and potential opportunities.
Students: You Do the Math
For undergrads looking for career with long-term growth prospects, the personal financial planning may have a lot to offer. Demand for financial advice is strong and expected to grow even stronger over the next 20 years4, at the same time industry research forecasts a shortage of young people entering the business to fill the shoes of advisors getting ready to retire.
Registered investment advisors on average are 55 years old, while about a third are near or at retirement age. On the other end of the age spectrum, just 6 percent of advisors are under the age of 30, according to Cerulli Associates research.3
The U.S. Department of Labor forecasts a 32 percent increase in personal financial advisor jobs by 2020, more than double the rate for all other occupations,4driven by rising demand as millions of baby boomers reach retirement age and seek professional financial advice.
With solid job prospects and "an above average work-life balance" U.S. News & World Report recently ranked financial advisor No. 5 among the best business jobs and the 25th best career overall.5
And contrary to all the hype, the emergence of technology-based "roboadvisors" may not be likely to derail career prospects in the financial advice industry. Indeed 85 percent of people wish they had more human interaction, not less, when dealing with companies, institutions and organizations, according to a recent TD Ameritrade survey of investors.6 Moreover, just 30 percent believe advanced technology alone could fully replace the role of humans in helping them achieve financial goals.
Scholarship Winners
This year, 14 talented and deserving undergraduate students each received $5,000 scholarships to help them pursue a bachelor's degree in financial planning, including three awards going to students from demographic groups that are under-represented in the industry. This year's winners are:
Tom Annin
Rodger Isom
Jack O'Donnell
Christian Vardaman
Virginia Polytechnic
Virginia Polytechnic
Virginia Polytechnic
Louisiana State
Institute
Institute
Institute
University
Haley Burgin
Junghyun Lee
Anthony Radice
Thomas Weaver
Western Kentucky
Utah Valley University
William Paterson
Virginia Polytechnic
University
University
Institute
Madison Nixon
Nicole Dunn
Louisiana State
Rachel Rogers
Daniel Wendt
Texas Tech University
University
Butler University
Louisiana State
University
Shelby Huber
Martha Tullis
Texas Tech University
Utah Valley University
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 VIP visit to Wall Street. The group walked the floor of the New York Stock Exchange and rang the closing bell to help raise awareness of the career opportunities in financial planning. Participants in the event shared their experiences via Twitter using the hashtag #RIANextGen.
Through grants, scholarships and other student programs, TD Ameritrade Institutional has committed to investing more than $2 million over a decade to support the professional development of next gen talent for the industry. And to help graduates land that first job, TD Ameritrade Institutional launched the RIA Intern Network, an online community of more than 600 advisory firms can connect with aspiring planners, as well as RIA NextGen Career Exchange, the only free career site focused on the RIA industry.
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 40 years. An official sponsorof 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)
CFP and CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER are certification marks owned by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc.
1 TD Ameritrade Institutional is a division of TD Ameritrade, Inc., a brokerage subsidiary of TD Ameritrade Holding Corporation 2 National IPEDS database, U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics, 2013 Financial Planning and Services Program completions. 3 Cerulli Associates, the Cerulli Report, Advisor Metrics 2014:Capitalizing on Transitions and Consolidation 4 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 5 U.S. News and World Report, "The 100 Best Jobs,"http://money.usnews.com/careers/best-jobs/rankings/the-100-best-jobs?page=3 6 TD Ameritrade investor survey, "Technology Progress and the Retail Investor,"April 2015
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