The recruitment scheme will be available to firms hiring people from outside the industry and will help to fund each new employee in gaining their QCF Level Three CeMAP from the ifs School of Finance.
Richard Adams, managing director of Stonebridge Group, said it wanted to support its ARs with the cost of training the next generation of advisers, as the pool of qualified intermediaries continues to get smaller.
Prospective mortgage advisers will pay for the first module of their qualification, with Stonebridge then funding the second and third modules of the course.
After qualification, Stonebridge will monitor the new mortgage adviser and check the quality of their advice until they are deemed able to advise without supervision.
Adams said: “It’s quite clear that the number of qualified mortgage advisers is dwindling. Therefore, firms that want to expand their propositions are having to look outside the mortgage industry to find new recruits, meaning our AR members will need to fund and resource new candidates as they work towards their qualifications.
“In order to ease this burden and to ensure a growing pool of advisers within the Stonebridge Group, we have decided to launch this recruitment programme and to help fund new candidates through the qualification process. There must be a commitment from the individual and the AR firm but, where this is in place, Stonebridge will do all it can to support recruitment.”
Adams added: “There is a whole generation of advisers who will be leaving the industry in the next couple of years and we need to make sure we are replacing these with quality, well-qualified people.”
