We published an article earlier this week by Peter Jolly, head of distribution policy at Standard Life, which included some comments about paraplanners which could be taken as not holding our skills in a very high light! This has resulted in quite a lot of activity on the site and we have also received several emails in the office. So, in the spirit of always looking at both sides, we invited Peter to respond which he has kindly done so:
“Firstly, can I apologise for the misleading and antagonistic quote attributed to me in the Citywire article. I certainly do not believe that anybody in this industry, and certainly not paraplanners, can be ‘overqualified’. I have no idea whether I used this exact phrase in an hour long interview – however, I was trying to emphasis a point on professionalism which I still feel is valid.
My concern with Diploma as a benchmark for advisers, as intimated in the article, is that this could seriously restrict the industry’s ability to encourage new blood, something it surely needs to do. However, I actually believe the industry standard for professional advice will quickly shift to the Chartered Financial Planner or equivalent benchmark so I certainly am not suggesting a watering down of the RDR proposals, in fact the opposite.
Many firms have suggested to me that the ideal training ground for future advisers to achieve this level is the paraplanning profession which makes a great deal of sense, just as similar roles exist in other professions. However, I believe that those aspiring to become financial planners would benefit from face-to-face customer experience in an advisory role sooner in their careers rather than later – if only to check that the reality matches the expectation.
I also feel that firms may be more willing to take on a professional development role with new staff if a paraplanner/adviser under training was potentially more economically viable for them earlier in their careers. Hence, why I personally believe that advisers who have achieved the Certificate in Financial Planning and are studying towards the Diploma, acting under the supervision of a Chartered Financial Planning firm with an appropriately qualified supervisor, should be free to deal with less complex cases directly. To my mind this would be in line with other professions and makes sound commercial sense with little potential for consumer detriment.
The interview was intended to expose the potential for the industry to create lots of paraplanning roles under professional development at the expense of developing the skills necessary for financial planners actively working with clients. I can’t rephrase the quote attributed to me, but this was certainly the intention. I do recognise that not every paraplanner would wish to pursue a career as an adviser and would encourage all to achieve the highest qualification they can in order to further their own careers and the professionalism of this industry.”
I am grateful to Peter for taking the time to write for the site. One of Peter’s comments in particular stands out to me:
“I believe that those aspiring to become financial planners would benefit from face-to-face customer experience in an advisory role sooner in their careers rather than later – if only to check that the reality matches the expectation.”
There is no reason at all why a paraplanner should not get plenty of face to face experience in their role. I know plenty of advisers and financial planners who have their paraplanners sitting in on the client meetings and also play an integral part in managing the relationship. This gives them plenty of exposure to the ‘cut and thrust’ of advising if they want to become an adviser. However, many paraplanners want to stay as paraplanners and meeting with the clients nearly always improves the way they can do their job.
Your comments are welcome. If you want to join in the discussion you can either add a comment below (if you are on the site now), click the article heading above and you will be taken to the site (if you are reading this in the email) or use the forum.
