We completed our first training sessions in the late 1980’s. These sessions were in line with a company called Merchant Investors. This type of training was heavily sales focused and less technical as it was focused on selling products from just one company. Our partner instructors came from this background of direct selling, before going on to become qualified UK IFA’s, and then eventually moving into the international market.

Over the years the qualifications to become qualified IFA’s have changed with the latest versions being offered by the Chartered Insurance Institute. Over time we have also changed and expanded our training. In the late 1990’s our focus moved solely to the international market, the experience was gathered from already established companies such as EFS, Britex, IFS, Global and many others.

We have used this experience to focus our initial basic IFA training courses on understanding the importance of prospecting and fact-finding. Our students are also trained on the various international product providers, and the role of financial advisers in the marketplace.

Today, our approach to training has been refined, culminating in our IFA Essentials Level 1 fully online course, with unlimited mentoring and a guaranteed trial at one of our partner IFA firms. The course is offered under our Aspel’s brand. Our aim is to take new recruits and allow them to learn from their own homes at their own pace. So that when they arrive at their new job they are able to hit the ground running. Being able to find leads, call them, book an appointment, complete a factfinder meeting, and deliver relevant basic advice in a written report format. The sales side of the IFA role figures highly in our training syllabus.