Financial Advisor, Entry Level (Sanlam Connect)

About the role

Sanlam, one of the largest financial services groups in Africa and a domestic systemically important financial institution in South Africa, is recruiting entry level Financial Advisors through Sanlam Connect, its franchise based advisory network. This role gives new entrants to financial services a structured, supported route into a career in financial advice, working within a well supported, high performance franchise environment rather than starting out entirely independently.

Sanlam has been creating value for stakeholders since 1918, spanning life insurance, investment, and broader wealth management services across South Africa and a number of selected global markets. The Sanlam Connect franchise model gives new financial advisors access to Sanlam's established brand, product range, and training infrastructure, while operating within a franchise structure designed specifically to support advisors as they build their own client base from scratch, an area many new entrants to advisory work find genuinely challenging without strong backing.

As an entry level Financial Advisor, the core of the role involves meeting with individual clients to understand their financial needs and providing advice across life insurance, savings, investment, and retirement planning products. New advisors spend their early period building product knowledge and honing their advisory approach under the guidance of more experienced advisors and franchise leadership, gradually taking on more independent client relationships as their confidence and track record grow. Because the role is fundamentally built around building and managing a personal client book, income is generally structured around commission and production, with the franchise environment providing structured support, leads, and mentorship to help new advisors get established more quickly than they might on their own.

To qualify, candidates generally need a Matric certificate as a baseline, strong communication and interpersonal skills, and a genuinely self-motivated, target driven mindset, since success in this role depends heavily on an advisor's own initiative in building and maintaining client relationships. A valid driver's licence and access to a vehicle are typically required, since client meetings often take place outside a fixed office setting. Formal regulatory requirements under the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act are generally completed as part of structured onboarding and training rather than being expected before someone applies.

This role is well suited to candidates who are drawn to sales and relationship based work, comfortable with a commission based income structure, and specifically interested in financial advisory as a genuine long term career rather than a short term role. It particularly suits people who want more structured support than a fully independent advisory role would offer, since the franchise model provides a built in support system, from product training through to lead generation assistance, that can meaningfully shorten the typically difficult early period most new advisors experience.

Because Sanlam Connect operates as a franchise network across the country, specific openings and locations vary depending on which franchise offices are actively recruiting at any given time. Applicants should visit the official Sanlam careers portal, search current openings for "Financial Advisor" under the Sanlam Connect franchise listings, and select a location realistic for building a local client base. As with any commission based advisory role, apply only through Sanlam's own official careers platform, and treat any request for an upfront payment as a red flag regardless of how it is framed.

Requirements

• Matric certificate
• Valid driver's licence and access to a vehicle
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills
• Self-motivated, target-driven mindset
• Willingness to complete FAIS related training during onboarding