Training is an integral part of an advisers' professional development, but with little spare time and much to learn, choosing the best option is not easy, says Johanna Gornitzki
Only a fool would ever suggest that they have nothing more to learn.
And for intermediaries who constantly need to keep a finger on the industry pulse, there was never a truer word spoken.
In a market where providers contin uously try to revamp, relaunch or create new products, advisers do not have much choice other than to keep on learning and continue to ensure that the knowledge they have is up-to-date.
Although there are numerous professional examinations that intermediaries have to sit in order to practice, these do not cover the more day-to-day market developments, such as minor regulatory changes or more specific things such as product launches.
It is therefore necessary for advisers to turn elsewhere to obtain that information.
While larger advisory firms may have their own training departments, many smaller players tend to rely on insurers to gain sufficient training.
Luckily, the majority of product providers offer a vast variety of training sessions.
The level of training offered by a provider is usually in direct proportion to its size - the bigger the insurer, the bigger the training budget.
Market needs often guide the type of training on offer.
Typically, a large proportion of provider training is focused on products.
However, it does not stop there.
Reaching out "We also offer skills training such as business planning sessions and other non-product related training. Furthermore, we educate advisers on regulatory and industry developments," says Sue Wilkinson, head of life and health propositions, at Scottish Provident.
There is certainly demand for more generic educational topics and providers have picked up on this.
"There is an increasing desire to not have presentations based on providers' specific product pushes. The major networks, for example, tend to request more generic and truly educational topics," says Rod McKie, marketing manager at Scottish Equitable Protect.
In response to this, Scottish Equit able Protect is currently running a series of presentations to a large network on claims and non-disclosure - a key issue in the current market.
There are several different ways in which insurers provide training.
Traditionally, a company wishing to educate intermediaries used to run a series of roadshows, seminars or workshops on a particular topic.
While this way of reaching out to advisers is still very popular, technology has enabled life offices to spread their messages through a new medium - the internet.
Online training facilities are now becoming more common.
There are a number of reasons for this.
Not only is it more cost effective for providers, but from an adviser's point of view, it is also more time efficient to learn online as it can be done whenever an adviser can spare the time.
Taking online learning one step further, Royal Liver, the first webonly protection company, recently launched an online protection college, Progressive Learning, which offers training tools for IFAs.
The service is free of charge and can be accessed from the provider's extranet.
Selective The surge in the amount of online training offered by providers has prompted many to provide training on how to use online facilities.
Scottish Provident, for example, has a specialist team called E-Biz, which trains advisers on how to submit business online, how to use the firm's quote disks and how to manage the functions on its website.
In order to ensure advisers acquire up-to-date training on changes, insurers try to visit IFAs.
Smaller IFA firms are, however, usually left behind.
Providers say this is because the sheer number of advisers in the market has rendered this an impossible task.
"It is not physically possible to get around every single adviser," says McKie.
Advisers, however, believe this has more to do with the fact that smaller IFA firms bring in smaller amounts of business.
Dale Tranter, research manager for protection & pensions at Sesame, one of the largest IFA firms in the UK, says providers usually consult them when making changes.
"Providers are very anxious to get our opinion.If we do not like a product, it can have severe effects. Therefore, if it is a big launch we often get involved," he says.
"But smaller IFAs, would not be consulted as they produce smaller volumes of business," he adds.
Agreeing, Alan Cole, distribution training director at Bright Grey, says: "Product providers will always focus their efforts on the adviser company that can produce results." Indeed, the main reason insurers offer training sessions is because they believe it will help to get extra business coming their way.
However, treating smaller IFAs differently could negatively affect sales figures, says one-man band IFA, Alan Lakey, of Highclere Financial Services.
Long-term gain "If a company is worth using, I will use it regardless of whether it pays me a visit. However, a training session could be the difference between whether I will use a company or not, as a meeting could enlighten me on things that I previously did not know," Lakey adds.
That said, the quality of the training offered by providers differs immensely and sometimes attending a particular session could be seen as a waste of time.
"Sometimes I come away none the wiser," Lakey admits.
Perhaps this is due to the fact that while life offices want to try to make the sessions informative, the aim is also to sell products.
But there is a fine line between running an informative seminar and a full-on promotional tour.
"Some providers are still focused on doing a stand-up advertising campaign, which is not really what advisers want," says McKie.
Understandably, this poses a dilemma for providers that want advisers to attend sessions but do not want to waste an opportunity for brand promotion.
For advisers, this means being selective in picking provider training if they want to use their time effectively, as time is something IFAs do not have too much of.
In fact, lack of time is often stated as the major barrier when it comes to advisers being unable to attend training sessions.
To address this problem, it has been suggested that advisers should be offered an incentive to encourage them to become more proactive when it comes to learning new things.
However, providers do not agree, and suggest that the gained knowledge should be incentive enough.
"While some advisers see training as unnecessary, the majority can see the advantages of ongoing support of this nature. Effective training should also allow them to increase their value to clients and therefore any short-term pain can be outweighed by long-term gain," says Cole.
Lakey does not deny this.
"Of course training is crucial. However, often the training I have to attend is not so much about what I need to learn, but more to do with what the Financial Services Authority thinks I need to learn, and what the regulator wants me to know," he says.
If this is true, this leaves little time for IFAs to pick and choose the training sessions they really need to attend.
It is therefore key for advisers to opt for training that will give them real benefits, instead of just a break in their busy schedule.
Royal Liver has six strategic account managers who try to see half of the 7,000 advisers it targets on a regular basis.
On average, they try to visit their main IFA firms on a quarterly basis.
Before a visit,Case study Royal Liver gathers a number of changes it has made recently.
On the training day, the strategic account manager first explains the various changes that have been made by showing slides and answering questions.
After that, the advisers are shown how it works in practice by watching a film of 'live' examples.
The training session takes approximately 30 minutes and handouts are provided for reference.
COVER notes
Most providers offer some sort of training for intermediaries.
The training varies greatly from insurer to insurer.
It can range from roadshows, seminars, one-to-one visits to online training sessions on everything from generic subjects to more specific product changes.
Lack of time is the biggest single barrier when it comes to attending training sessions.
