Associate Financial Planner (Executive Client Portfolio) (Pretoria) at BDO South Africa

Purpose of the role

• The Associate Financial Planner | Executive Client Portfolio works alongside the Executive Director, Financial Planning in delivering comprehensive financial planning advice to an established and complex portfolio of predominantly high-net-worth client relationships.
• Unlike a traditional Financial Planner role, the position is not initially responsible for building or independently leading a separate client portfolio. Instead, the successful candidate will operate in a co-financial planning capacity, working alongside the Executive Director across client meetings, advice development, financial planning strategies and implementation.
• The role requires an experienced and technically strong financial planning professional who can take direction on a client's needs and independently carry the resulting advice and implementation work forward. The Executive Director will continue to lead the overall relationship, with the Associate Financial Planner providing the technical depth, execution capability and continuity required to service a large and complex portfolio effectively.
• Over time, the role provides the opportunity for the successful candidate to assume greater responsibility for selected client relationships as part of the longer-term transition and succession of the portfolio.

Key responsibilities

Co-financial planning and client advice

• Work alongside the Executive Director in managing and advising an established portfolio of complex client relationships.
• Participate in client meetings and engagements as a co-financial planner.
• Translate identified client needs into appropriate financial planning strategies, recommendations and actions.
• Take ownership of delegated financial planning work and carry it through from analysis and advice development to implementation.
• Provide technically robust financial planning support across the client relationship.

Complex and high-net-worth financial planning

• Apply strong technical financial planning capability in servicing complex and high-net-worth clients.
• Understand the interrelationship between different aspects of a client's financial affairs when developing advice.
• Apply appropriate knowledge of taxation as it relates to financial planning, recognising that specialist tax expertise can be developed further internally.
• Work effectively on more sophisticated client circumstances where sound judgement, experience and technical competence are required.

Advice implementation and delivery

• Convert the Executive Director's strategic direction and identified client needs into clear financial planning actions.
• Coordinate and drive the implementation of agreed advice.
• Work closely with the broader financial planning team, including paraplanning and client service resources, to ensure effective delivery.
• Take sufficient ownership of delegated matters to allow the Executive Director to remain focused on client relationships, complex advice and new client opportunities.

Client relationships and continuity

• Build trusted professional relationships with clients alongside the Executive Director.
• Develop a thorough understanding of individual client and family circumstances.
• Provide continuity across advice, implementation and ongoing client engagement.
• Develop the capability and credibility over time to assume responsibility for selected relationships as these are transitioned.

Collaboration

• Operate as part of the wider financial planning team structure.
• Work collaboratively with the lead Financial Planner, Paraplanner and Client Service colleagues supporting the portfolio.
• Engage effectively with other professionals where client circumstances require broader expertise.
• Contribute to a consistent, high-quality client experience.

Requirements
Minimum requirements

• CFP® professional status.
• An appropriate financial planning qualification.
• A minimum of five years' relevant experience in financial planning.
• Demonstrable experience working with complex financial planning matters.
• Experience dealing with high-net-worth or similarly complex client relationships.
• Strong technical financial planning knowledge and practical implementation capability.
• The ability to understand an identified client need, develop the appropriate advice and take responsibility for implementing it.
• Strong interpersonal and client relationship skills.
• The ability and willingness to travel regularly between Pretoria and Johannesburg.

Key attributes

• Technically confident: able to work through complex financial planning situations with limited supervision.
• Client-centred: able to build credibility and trust with sophisticated clients and families.
• Collaborative: comfortable working alongside a senior Financial Planner rather than needing immediate ownership of a standalone portfolio.
• Execution-focused: able to turn strategy and advice into action and follow matters through to completion.
• Commercially mature: understands the dynamics and expectations associated with complex client relationships.
• Low ego, high ownership: comfortable contributing significantly behind a lead adviser while taking real accountability for the quality of the work.
• Growth-oriented: motivated by the opportunity to develop into greater client relationship responsibility over time.