While at first it might seem unusual to put sports coaches and financial advisers together, upon closer inspection, these two careers have more in common than you may initially have thought.
Both sports coaches and advisers are responsible for guiding individuals towards a goal, whether that goal is financial freedom, or the back of a football net.
Before we can fully dive into the surprising similarities between sports coaches and financial advisers, it is important to start off knowing who is who.
- Sports coaches: People who are qualified to offer advice, instruction or training of a sports team/athlete. Examples: Football managers, personal trainers, fitness instructors and ballet teachers.
- Financial advisers: People who are qualified to offer advice or guidance on an individual’s financial situation. There are a range of services that can be provided by a financial adviser, for example, tax planning, investment management and estate planning.
Here are 6 interesting similarities between sports coaches and financial advisers:
1. Qualifications
Both financial advisers and sports coaches must be qualified before they can offer professional advice. They must study, sit and pass exams in order to gain the necessary level of qualification needed to charge for their services.
- Most sports coaches will require a Level 3 Diploma in Coaching, ideally specialising in their area of interest.
- Financial advisers require a Level 4 Diploma in Financial Advice, of which there are several different types.
The St. James’s Place (SJP) Financial Adviser Academy works with the Chartered Insurance Institute to offer the Level 4 Diploma in Regulated Financial Planning. It is one of the best ways to become a qualified adviser, offering an award-winning, face-to-face and virtual training course, exam support, and has a support network of designated people to guide you through the programme and beyond.
2. Self-employment opportunities
One of the most popular kinds of sports coach is the personal trainers (PTs), 62% of which are self-employed. Many financial advisers also choose to pursue the entrepreneurship, running their own practice. As a result, both PTs and advisers must be good at networking, finding and retaining clients, as well as managing their business.
In the same way that some PTs may choose to join a gym to use the facilities there, some self-employed advisers may partner with organisations like SJP. The benefits include access to the vast support infrastructure, client proposition, investment experts and community.
Think of SJP as a gym where you can train clients using the equipment there instead of bringing your own weights.
3. People skills and communication
Both advisers and coaches need to be able to communicate , understand and support their clients to effectively do their job. Whether it’s helping a client through debt or a life-changing weight loss journey, both situations require more than just technical knowledge; they need empathy and tactfulness too.
People often come to professionals for help when they no longer feel that they can manage alone – advisers and coaches need to be able to understand what’s happening in their clients’ lives to offer the best solution possible, and sometimes this means dealing with sensitive situations.
The SJP Academy offers extensive first-hand experience of client meetings and comprehensive training to help advisers to master the art of supportive client relationships.
4. Building bespoke plans of action
In the same way that a football coach needs to be able to create individual training plans for players, a financial adviser needs to be able to create an individual plan that aligns with their clients’ financial goals. Curating individual strategies and setting goals is an integral part of both jobs, as well as helping to keep people on track when circumstances change.
At SJP, you can use any of our 80+ investment strategies, 40 fund houses and 120 external providers to curate a solution that best suits your clients. It is up to you to select the right plan of action for your client, interpreting people’s needs and responding accordingly, like a coach.
5. Both roles are AI-immune
The face-to-face nature of both jobs protects them from the reach of AI. Financial advice and sports coaching are careers that have been enhanced by technological developments like virtual meeting platforms, but the 1-2-1 human component is one of the most valuable elements of the client-coach relationship.
Having a real life person who can understand your emotions, motivations and experience makes a huge difference to the interaction you have with them. Having a calorie-tracking app or an online investments portal doesn’t compare to the quality contact you get from a sports coach or a financial adviser in person. You can’t take away the human touch, but you can use technology as a tool to help you.
SJP has created the AI Advice Assistant to help streamline adviser processes and allow them to spend more time face-to-face with clients.
6. Lifelong impact
As a sports coach and as a financial adviser, the plans you implement affect your clients for the rest of their lives – and beyond.
Sports coaches help people to build strong bodies that will help them through retirement, keep them around for their grandchildren and independent for as long as possible makes a difference not only for the client themselves, but also for those around them.
As a financial adviser, you also have the power to make a real difference in the lives of your clients and their family: protecting their assets through estate planning, helping them to save to fund their children’s education, and getting people out of debt.
These careers are rewarding in such a vast number of ways; the goal-setting elements of the job, being client-centric, and the ability to make a long-term difference to people’s lives. They require similar characteristics, commitments, and priorities, meaning someone who’s good at one, might also be good at the other. Have you ever thought about becoming an adviser? Are you looking for a new career? Or do you know someone who could make a great adviser?
View our programme page to learn more about the training opportunity at St. James’s Place Financial Adviser Academy.