Your journey to becoming an Independent Financial Adviser starts here
Welcome to AFH, where our vision is to enrich our clients' lives by providing best-in-class advice and services delivered by our independent financial advisers. With over 200 experienced advisers in the UK, we are committed to caring for our clients over the long term.
A comprehensive programme
At AFH, we believe in nurturing talent and building a team of highly skilled professionals. That's why we have designed a 24-month Associate Adviser Programme to help aspiring advisers develop the technical and personal skills necessary to become a fully-fledged Independent Financial Adviser at AFH.
Our programme is comprehensive and covers all aspects of financial planning, including investments, pensions, and protection. You'll receive in-depth training on technical skills such as financial analysis, risk management, and portfolio construction, as well as soft skills such as communication, relationship building, and client management.
Being an excellent financial adviser is about what you do and how you do it. At AFH, we offer a supportive and rewarding career for advisers who understand this and truly care about their clients.
Associate Adviser
As an associate adviser at AFH, you'll have access to a supportive and collaborative team environment, where you can learn from experienced advisers and work with clients to help them achieve their financial goals. You'll also have access to in-house tools and systems.
If you're passionate about making a difference in people's lives and want to build a career in financial planning, then join us at AFH and start your journey towards becoming a fully-fledged Independent Financial Adviser.
Qualification, experience, and ongoing training
Our comprehensive and rewarding programme will help you achieve a Level 4 qualification through our partner provider, Skills Edge. With ample time given to study and revise, you'll get to explore various topics, including customer relationship management and investment strategies, among others.
Our programme is designed to equip you with valuable experiences in the workplace, where you will work across multiple departments with the support of your line manager and designated mentor. With their guidance, you'll be fully confident and prepared to become an Employed Independent Financial Adviser.
Our development programme doesn't stop there. Once you become an Independent Financial Adviser, our Advice Support Team will deliver regular training sessions to keep you updated with the latest industry knowledge. Plus, our People Development Team offers a broad range of virtual and face-to-face opportunities to help you advance your career further.
A cornerstone of the programme is to create a safe environment for you to be your authentic self, as you cannot be the best if you’re not being genuine.
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Gemma's story
With a successful career in medical sales, Gemma didn’t see herself following in her father’s footsteps and becoming a financial adviser. However, that changed when she began to understand how investments worked while planning her own financial future.
“Helping people is a key driver for me,” she says, “and I realised that my interest in finance and my desire to help people could be brought together as an adviser.”
Gemma also knew that starting on a self-employed basis would be difficult. Building up a client base from scratch takes time and can be stressful, which is why she was keen to work for an established financial advice company that could provide clients but also shared her commitment to excellence. But being provided with clients wasn’t the only consideration.
“For me, it was important to get the right level of training so that I would be able to offer high-quality advice to my clients,” she explains.
“That’s why I chose the AFH Associate Adviser Programme, as it allowed me to obtain my qualifications while learning how the role actually works. One way this was made possible was by placing me in different departments so that I could understand the processes involved behind the scenes.” This, together with the ability to attend client meetings with experienced advisers, allowed Gemma to understand the adviser’s role in practical terms.
“Because of this, I didn’t start out as an adviser with all the right qualifications but no idea of how to apply the knowledge.”
As a result, Gemma is now enjoying her role every bit as much as she hoped she would. “I enjoy the job most when clients thank me because my input has helped them, something the programme helped to make happen,” she adds.
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Sheena's story
After 18 years working in a variety of roles within the banking industry, Sheena decided she wanted to become a financial adviser. As she explains.
“I used to talk to financial advisers while working at the bank and really enjoyed the conversations I had with them. I realised that I wanted to have the same conversations with clients so that I could help them
to make wiser decisions with their money.”For that reason, Sheena funded her own studies and started working her way through the necessary qualifications to become a financial adviser. She also gained the qualifications needed to become a
mortgage adviser and worked as one for 18 months.However, she left the role to have her second child and take time off to be with her family, although by early 2023 she knew it was time to fulfil her ambition. That’s why she joined the academy in September.
Before deciding on AFH however, Sheena also considered similar training schemes with other wealth management companies.“I felt AFH was more interested in me as a person, and not just what I can do,” she says.
“Other training schemes left me feeling as though they were geared towards getting you through the training as quickly as possible, and then out in front of clients, which didn’t align with my values. For me, the fact that the AFH Associate Adviser Programme is longer and provides a deeper understanding of the adviser’s role is critical.
“I know I’m gaining a very strong foundation from which I can become a great adviser.”