Page 3 Profile
Peter Gordon
Tailor-made career
The challenge to effectively recruit advisors into the financial services career has never been an easy one. From the career system to the independent brokerage model, the trick has always been to provide the best environment for success in an industry that has forever promised an endless supply. The problem is, everyone has a different definition of success.
Peter Gordon is president of John Hancock Financial Network, the career agency division of John Hancock Financial Services. His company, responsible currently for about 15 percent of Hancock's overall revenue, will implement an innovative new business model that will provide financial professionals a choice of three types of affiliation, based on the level of independence and support they desire. Using a traditional career model, an independent producer model and a producer group model, the company will attempt to offer a career entry point to advisors from all walks of life and any level of experience, including new advisors.
Gordon spoke with LIFE&Health Advisor about the changing demographic landscape within financial services, the growing need for more comprehensive financial planning and his company's plan to try to bridge the two.
L&HA: If I didn't know any better, I'd say you we're custom-fitting a career-training program to the individual prospective advisor. How do you do this?
PG: When you look over today's recruitment landscape, you see two distinct models being employed. Many companies have retrenched to the old career model, train agents from the bottom up and fit them into a career mold. And then there is the 100 percent independent model on the opposite end. The space we're targeting is probably somewhere in between, where you can enter into a career setting that doesn't necessarily lead to a completely independent career.
L&HA: Where does Hancock fall in between these two models?
PG: For my division, I guess you could say that we've always been somewhere in between them, in that middle ground. But I think we never fully focused on it. We had always strived toward a more independent style career but never really aligned all the resources of the home office to fully embrace it.
L&HA: What then led you to establish your new model?
PG: It may be the last step in blending the cultures of Manulife and Hancock; the purely independent distribution model with a more traditional career environment. The impetus comes from this. We believe that developing a hybrid system is the natural evolution of these two distribution cultures.
L&HA: So, what does the hybrid look like?
PG: It offers a flexibility in how an advisor's business can grow and the extent to which it relies on the company. It manifests in such things as whether or not the independent business owner carries the Hancock name, or whether or not he sells a variety of products instead of just proprietary products. The problem with retrenching back to the old career model is that the same issues arise when the individual broker reaches a level of maturity in his business. He invariably needs to be more independent to best serve his clients. He needs more control. In the past, these well-trained brokers would simply move on, they'd leave the company. We believe that we've developed a way to make it more viable for them to stay.
L&HA: But why not simply employ the independent brokerage model?
PG: We certainly have that model covered within the Hancock domain, but this offers a complement, if you will. Moreover, with basically three different levels, we can recruit from either end. We can attract new brokers who want to learn the business from the ground up, but we can also recruit experienced advisors who are seeking a different value proposition.
L&HA: Who are your prospects? And in turn, what is the business that they will pursue?
PG: There are quite a few to choose from. For example, there are those who are already working in the career stream, with perhaps three to five years in, who have hit a wall; they've become frustrated with the limitations of their career growth. Our value proposition addresses this sense of being stifled and provides an avenue for them to grow their business their own way. They have to want to be quasi-independent, but with a super-structure behind them to rely on. There are some extremely successful people out there who are totally independent, and should be. But there are just as many who would prefer to step back. They like the idea of being independent but just don't want to do everything.
L&HA: What does their success look like, then, compared to the possibilities of working completely on your own?
PG: As we speak, we're bringing in many of the people who we've just described, so I think you can infer that the value proposition is making sense. They believe in the power of their own business creativity at the local level, but welcome the resources that the company can provide. More importantly, the age-old appeal of this business, access to greater income potential, still remains.
L&HA: What are the trends in the marketplace that have helped move you toward this new model?
PG: The realities of being your own boss are such that it isn't always everything it was cracked up to be. These advisors, who are otherwise quite competent, well trained and extremely motivated, come to a realization that they wouldn't mind having a partner; that they wouldn't mind having the resources of a large company to rely upon. The financial services distribution marketplace shifted away from this and is now shifting back.
A greater trend that is only now emerging has everything to do with what consumers expect from an advisor. For years, companies have attempted to blend the protection industry, insurance, with the wealth management industry, with varying degrees of success. Today, more than ever, people truly want advice on both of these things and would prefer to get it from the same advisor. We see this as big opportunity.
L&HA: Would you say then that JHFN presents a solution for attracting more younger people into the business?
PG: I think so. Looking at the pure demographic profile of the marketplace, more and more people are looking for financial and investment guidance. They want an advisor, and yet there is a shrinking pool of available advisors out there.
P.E. Kelley