Henry Shin Kin-man, Convoy's chief distribution officer and executive director, says he expects to employ 80 fresh graduates and 20 veterans.
To attract graduates, Convoy has held recruitment seminars at the University of Hong Kong (HKU). "We invited HKU alumni who are working for us to share [what it's like to work] at Convoy," says Shin.
"We recruited 40 HKU students [at the seminars] to intern [with us] and hopefully, they will join us after graduation. We organised a tour of [Convoy] and mentorship programmes to let students know more about the industry. There will also be mock interviews to [prepare] the students," Shin adds.
To attract experienced financial planners, Convoy ran a series of advertisements highlighting the benefits of working with the company. "We are a leading brand name offering a wide range of services, including insurance, funds, asset management - there are many choices for experienced financial planners to develop their careers," says Shin.
"We offer an attractive commission scheme for staff who are great at making sales. Financial planners who are good at making sales on their own can earn handsome rewards," he adds.
Shin says Convoy supports high-performing sales staff by helping them build their own teams and train newcomers. "We develop staff according to their talents," he says.
This year, Convoy won in the Best Training and Development category at the Benchmark Wealth Management Awards. "We have a [comprehensive] training system that starts with helping newcomers to gain the licences to be a financial planner, and ultimately, to gain professional qualifications such as [Certified Financial Planner]," says Shin.
He also highlighted Convoy's high compliance standards. "[They] are ahead of the [regulatory] requirements. The aim is to protect our clients and our agents. We believe that in finance, a high level of integrity is more important than high-quality products to win clients over," he says.
Shin says they are looking for high-integrity people who are proactive, team players and willing to learn.
Christine Ng, an assistant associate director at Convoy, says financial markets are ever-changing, so people interested in the industry should be prepared for constant learning.
"Be clear with what's going on in the industry before entering. Financial planners need to be up-to-date. It is a people's job - you have to love working with people, be outgoing and able to communicate with others," she says.
Ng says she worked as a management trainee with a bank before joining Convoy in 2007. She started as a financial planner, before building her own team. "The training at Convoy is great. It is very practical. They provided huge support as I prepared to move up from consultant to team leader," she says.
Ng also likes Convoy's open culture. "Unlike banks where the system is rigid and experience rules over everything else, Convoy promotes strong performers. You can see many young people moving up to management level due to their outstanding performance. In banking, most management people are 40 years or older," she says.
