The academy will offer face-to-face and online training sessions, while SimplyBiz will have its first intake in June after hosting induction seminars in April.
SimplyBiz Group will launch a corporate advice training service called Workplace Academy in a bid to close the advice gap.
The academy will offer face-to-face and online training sessions, while SimplyBiz will have its first intake in June after hosting induction seminars in April.
The compliance and business support provider will host seminars on operating profitably in the corporate market, identifying and approaching SME clients and leveraging professional connections.
Matt Timmins, joint managing director of the SimplyBiz Group, said: “Advisers are always looking for innovative ways to grow their client bank of retail clients, and we have been focussed on supporting that approach for many years.
“What has been missing is the necessary training and technology to help advisers succeed in this market. The Workplace Academy will help equip advisers with the knowledge and skills needed to serve SMEs.”
The academy, which is a subsidiary of SimplyBiz Group’s New Model Business Academy, is accredited by the Pension Management Institute and will include training on group risk, health and wellbeing products, salary exchange benefits, auto enrolment, credit broking and business protection.
It will also cover building, marketing effectively, workplace propositions and soft skills needed to engage and deliver propositions.
Tom Nall, workplace solutions director of SimplyBiz Group, added: “We know that the corporate market has a huge advice gap; there’s a real need and increasing demand, and yet many advisers are still reticent about entering the workplace market, viewing it as too difficult a market to penetrate.
“The FAMR Final Report and the recent Budget reinforced the role of the workplace as a major way of distributing financial services to the UK population and the role of advisers in ensuring this delivers positive outcomes. Undertaking the Workplace Academy’s programme allows advisers to position themselves as specialists in this area.”
