Amplified Planning's Externship sees biggest class ever, with aspiring planners seek clearer entry paths

Amplified Planning’s 2025 Externship has reached a new milestone, with over 2,000 participants joining the program this year – its largest turnout since launching in 2020.

From the beginning, the eight-week virtual experience was designed to introduce aspiring financial planners to the practical realities of the profession through exposure to client meetings, software tools, and industry mentorship.

With the program now halfway complete, Amplified Planning has released data highlighting both the composition and motivations of its current class of 2,078 externs.

According to founder Hannah Moore, who also had a hand in creating a new competency model for the Financial Planning Association, her program’s rapid growth reflects increased interest in careers with purpose and impact.

“This year’s growth signals something bigger than numbers. It shows that new talent entering the space is hungry for training, as well as purpose-driven careers in financial planning,” Moore said in a statement unveiling the findings on Monday.

The 2025 edition introduced new client case studies that participants follow through all stages of the financial planning process, including investment and estate planning. Externs also work with tools such as eMoney, Morningstar Advisor Workstation, EncorEstate Plans, Redtail, and Asset-Map, while receiving guidance from more than 60 industry speakers.

Forty-four percent of participants this year have never observed a financial planning meeting before, and 83 percent are new to the program.

Demographic data from the newest extern cohort point to an increasingly vibrant pool of future financial planners. Nearly 40 percent are career changers, and almost half of the group is between 25 and 44 years old.

Roughly 41 percent identify as people of color, including 10 percent who are Black and 10 percent who are Asian, easily above the current industry representation averages counted by the CFP Board as of December 25, 2024.

Additionally, 30 percent of externs identify as first-generation college students, and 15 percent have no college degree, suggesting increasing accessibility to the field.

Externship participants cited a strong desire to help others and a personal passion for finance as leading reasons for entering the profession. Entrepreneurship and flexible work-life balance also ranked among top motivations.

At the same time, many externs reported structural barriers to entry. Thirty-nine percent said they struggle to find roles aligned with their experience, while 28 percent referenced low pay early in their careers. More than one-fifth said they found career pathways unclear, which could be contributing to a broader talent gap that feeds into succession problems.

The release cited recent research from the FinServ Foundation + FP Transitions Aspiring Advisor Survey, which flagged the need for more support for next-gen advisors through transparent pathways, enhanced mentorship, and inclusive hiring practices. With that, Moore highlighted the Externship experience as a "transformation" that "is helping people see what’s possible for themselves and their future in this field.”