We were lucky enough to be asked to write a series of three articles for the ‘Adviser Insight’ section of New Model Adviser. This is first article.
At lot has happened to paraplanning over the last 18 months. Though I still have to explain to some people within the industry (and most people outside the industry) what a paraplanner is and what a paraplanner does, the number is diminishing as more and more people become aware of paraplanning and paraplanners.
We are still not quite there but with the work done previously and the developments to be completed this year we will begin see paraplanning emerge as a real career choice within financial services.
Prior to 2008 paraplanning had been used as a word which described individuals who were not Financial Planners or Advisers (they were not licensed to give advice) but equally couldn’t be described as administrators due to their knowledge or experience or qualifications (or indeed all 3).
In 2008 a number of things happened. The Paraplanner.com was launched, the Paraplanner of The Year (PPOTY) awards were presented, the IFP ran a specific paraplanning track at its conference and the FSSC started work on the National Occupational Standards (NOS) for paraplanning. In addition a number of influential articles were written within the financial press extolling the benefits of using paraplanners most notably those from Phil Billingham, Sheriar Bradbury, Brett Davidson and Nick and Martin Bamford.
2009 has continued to be a fruitful year. The Paraplanner.com is the only website of its kind and gets enquires and visits from many countries other than the UK; the PPOTY awards will be presented again this year at the IFP conference; the IFP are again running their paraplanners track at the National Conference; the FSSC will conclude its work on the NOS (this means there will be an industry wide, industry accepted definition of what a paraplanner does and what someone needs to be able to do to be called a paraplanner); consultation work has been undertaken by FSSC to establishing whether there is a need for a specific paraplanner qualification and articles and comment continue to be written about the benefits of using paraplanners.
The advantages of this work are many:
- There will be an industry wide framework of what a paraplanner is and what a paraplanner does.
- It is highly likely there will be a specific qualification for paraplanners which will allow individuals to show their competence in the role (and also enhance the role’s professionalism).
- Paraplanners will be better understood and the benefits of using them more apparent.
- Paraplanning will become a real career choice in its own right and not just seen as a route to becoming an adviser.
Of course not every IFA wants or needs paraplanners and not everyone agrees that there should be a specific qualification or that paraplanners offer the kind of benefits described in the articles mentioned previously.
I’m reminded of an article I read where Matt Giles predicted there could be an influx of unemployed paraplanners as advisers go back to writing reports. For me this highlights the work still to be done with advisers and industry professionals alike.
Advisers who are going to go back to doing their own suitability letters probably didn’t use a true ‘paraplanner’ otherwise they would have understood the special skills paraplanners have and the benefits they bring to their business.
It is entirely appropriate that paraplanners will not support every registered individual and that not every firm will use them, however what is clear is that those Financial Planners and Financial Planning firms who are already at or are moving towards the ‘new model’ can see the many benefits of having a highly qualified, highly technical individual, who doesn’t want to leave as soon as they have achieved Certificate in Financial Planning, as part of their team.
This individual (likely to be a paraplanner) can not only provide support for the Planner but also provides continuity for the clients. In addition they are also a technical resource to help with the ever increasing technical knowledge required to provide clients with the proper professional financial planning they deserve.
The future looks very bright for those individuals (whatever their previous role) who are choosing paraplanning as their career choice and that’s something I’ll be discussing over the next couple of weeks.
