by Richard Allum on 25 July 2010
We (Paraplan Plus) are shortly launching our own cash flow planning software called MoneyScope – you can find out more here.
The initial release will be available to only 50 users who will have free access before the public release in return for feedback and their best attempts to break it! We are nearly at the 50 mark and I would like to get some paraplanners involved whether you use cash flow software or not. If you are interested please send me an email to richard at moneyscopehq dot com.
by Richard Allum on 30 June 2010
On June 30 2010, Institute of Financial Planning (IFP) officially launches the Certificate in Paraplanning, the first qualification in the UK to test the specific knowledge and skills relevant to the role of Paraplanner.
The launch will form part of IFP’s “Financial Planning in Practice” Conference, taking place on 30 June at the Village Hotel, Solihull. The press release from the IFP continues…
The qualification brings well deserved recognition to this important role and will differentiate successful candidates from other Paraplanners carrying out a more administrative function. It has been developed by IFP over the past couple of years during which time it has consulted broadly within the Financial Planning community. The support of Scottish Widows with this development has been invaluable. [click to continue…]
by Martin Vaughan on 29 May 2010
Many of you have helped over the past 12 months or so with the surveys conducted by NMG, to establish who paraplanners are, where they come from and the type of work they do in their day to day role and we thank you for taking the time to complete the surveys.
This valuable and important work has provided not only a fantastic picture of the wide range of skills paraplanners have but also the important role they play in a modern financial planning practice. [click to continue…]
by Martin Vaughan on 19 April 2010
The latest round of the NMG / theparaplanner.com survey was completed recently and the results have been collated and can be seen here. They consider the time paraplanners spend on various activities as well as the qualifications paraplanners hold along with their position prior to becoming a paraplanner and are very informative.
The results shown here are only the salient points which are relevant to the paraplanners role and more questions were asked in the actual survey.
We would like to thank greatly, all those who have already taken part in the survey and will continue to do so. This is an excellent way of us communicating as a group to professional bodies and financial services providers. It allows them to understand more fully exactly what it is we do; where we spend our time and how they can improve and make our working life more productive. [click to continue…]
by Martin Vaughan on 17 April 2010
As many of you will know, one of the most popular and respected conferences is the Morningstar Investment Conference. Held in May each year this is now only just a month away and we have 10 FREE passes to give away!
The conference is a high level event attended by many of the countries most influential, financial planners and advisers, fund managers and investment professionals. As the role of the paraplanner gets increasingly established in the framework of top financial planning firms, paraplanners themselves also need to ensure they are as knowledgeable as possible.
Having attended for the last couple of years I can say that for me this event has been an excellent way to listen, in detail, to some of the leading funds managers (Anthony Bolton, Robin Geffen, Sanjeev Shah, Richard Burton) and to hear them explain their thinking on the current and future economic climate and their justification for some of the decisions they have made. [click to continue…]
by Richard Allum on 15 April 2010
Dividends, it is generally agreed, are a good thing. Indeed, the majority view is that the more the better. Long term research by Barclays, Credit Suisse, Société Générale and Professor Jeremy Siegel all provide convincing evidence that the bulk of equity returns over the long term, five years and more, actually comes from dividends, growth in dividends and from reinvesting dividends.
On the basis of these data then it should be a straightforward process to construct a market beating portfolio. Simply buy a collection of the highest dividend paying shares and away you go. Indeed, for many investors over the last decade that has been a winning strategy. A number of professional money managers made great careers running high yield funds; until 2008 and 2009 that is. The last two years have been very painful for income funds with catastrophic falls in 2008 for many and lacklustre returns in 2009 when market recovered very sharply.
To the detached observer these events simply proved the validity of stock market aphorisms like “There’s no such thing as a free lunch” “You can’t beat the market” or “Higher returns only come with higher risk”.
[click to continue…]
by Martin Vaughan on 13 February 2010
Many of you kindly took part in the Paraplanner Census which we organised last November in conjunction with NMG.
The latest round of the survey is now open and it would be great to get even more people involved. There are some fantastic prizes on offer just for entering including a spa break and a Nintendo DS! [click to continue…]
by Martin Vaughan on 7 February 2010
Many of you will have completed the paraplanner census at the end of last year which we thank you for. Due to various things beyond our control we had not been able to bring you the results until now. The census is a fantastic way of making your views heard and of providing real statistical evidence of the increasing importance paraplanners play in IFA practices.
The salient points from the survey can be found by clicking this link – Paraplanner Census Nov 09 [click to continue…]
