Soldiers facing redundancy could be a perfect fit to fill a void in the financial advice sector, a company boss believes.

With 20,000 jobs to go by 2020 in a cull by the Ministry of Defence, the skills and attributes of armed servicemen are just right for a second career as a financial adviser, according to Lighthouse Group chief executive Malcolm Streatfield.
He believes that the financial services sector could benefit from an injection of fresh blood, courtesy of the Armed Forces Redundancy scheme.
Mr Streatfield said: "We have lost 10,000 people from the advice sector in the past 18 months, partially due to regulatory change within the sector, and that knowledge gap needs to be filled.
"The key characteristics and core competencies of a good professional financial adviser are intrinsically linked to the qualities that form the base foundations of a good competent member of the armed forces.
"In both careers it is essential to be disciplined, determined and have great attention to detail, so the potential is there for ex-serviceman to be retrained and for them to enjoy a long and successful career as a professional financial adviser."
Mr Streatfield urged soldiers considering career choices to look at financial advising.
He cited ex-Flight Sergeant Andy Stafford-Smith, 59, as an example.
Mr Stafford-Smith swapped a career in the armed forces for the financial services sector in 1995 after 20 years service. Now a LighthouseGroup plc professional financial adviser, he believes that many of those leaving the armed forces would be tailor made for a career in the financial services sector.
{desktop}{/desktop}{mobile}{/mobile}
He said: "After completing 20 years service including two overseas tours, two tours on VIP duties and having reached the rank of Flight Sergeant, I decided to exercise my option to leave the RAF.
"Having done so, I had to decide on what career path I wanted to tread. I knew that I had discipline, drive, ambition and I enjoyed problem solving.
"In addition to that I enjoyed meeting people, didn't particularly want fixed hours and I wanted the opportunity to have some control over my earnings. After attending a resettlement course on financial services, I decided that this career path met all of my criteria and so the journey began."
Mr Stafford-Smith spoke of the rewards the profession has given him, saying: "In hindsight, it has met all my expectations and more. I have had a really fulfilling relationship with my clients who, in some cases have become like an extended family."