Mismatch
The advisory space is in the sweet spot of the financial services industry. Baby boomers by and large will be the wealthiest and longest-living generation in U.S. history, and that combo of wealth and longevity means people need financial guidance more than ever so they don't outlive their money.

And the growing number of companies ditching their pensions and putting more employees into self-directed defined contribution plans, such as 401(k)s and IRAs, also boosts demand for professional financial advice.

But the advisory space has an image problem. Namely, what exactly is a financial advisor? That handle is used by a range of professionals, from the sales-oriented, commission-based models of insurance companies and traditional Wall Street brokerages to fee-based models practiced by registered investment advisors (RIAs), wealth managers and others under the financial planning umbrella. It confuses the public, and doesn't provide a clear message on par with, say, lawyers or engineers, to college students charting a career path.

"That speaks to differentiating between the really broad label used for financial advisors and the narrower label we use for financial planners," says Michael Kitces, research director at Pinnacle Advisory Group in Columbia, Md.

Kitces, 33, an influential industry voice who's actively engaged in issues relating to younger advisors, sees contradictory trends. On the one hand, it's clear the overall financial advisor space is having problems attracting young people. On the other hand, the fee-based and fee-only financial planning models are a growing subset because it attracts people turned off by the sales- and commission-based model. That includes both seasoned, disgruntled brokers looking to change jobs and graduates from college financial planning programs.

But here's the rub: There aren't enough RIA firms to hire those people, particularly the college grads attracted to the consultative side of the business. "One of the challenges we're seeing now is that people want to enter the industry but are having difficulty finding jobs," Kitces says. "It [the RIA space] has a fast growth rate, but it doesn't have a huge base of people. Are there enough RIAs to absorb the college grads? That's not entirely clear."

And it works both ways, Kitces says. "We're talking to firms who are struggling to find good people."

Financial Planning U.
There are 96 bachelor's, 39 master's and 5 PhD programs at colleges and universities in the U.S. that teach financial planning curriculum that satisfies the education requirements of the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Inc. These CFP Board-registered programs provide the coursework needed to take the certified financial planner (CFP) exam.

The CFP Board says the number of four-year schools incorporating CFP Board-registered programs into their studies is growing, but not all schools embrace it.

Janet Briaud, CEO of Briaud Financial Advisors in Bryan, Texas, has sat on the advisory board at Texas A&M's finance department for four years and has long pitched the idea of creating a financial planning or wealth management track within the department. "That went over like a lead balloon," she says.