So go to www.paraplannercensus.com now to share your views on this month’s interesting topics! 

The Paraplanner.com has been working with NMG now for over 2 years and together we have been conducting the most comprehensive survey of paraplanners and paraplanning in the UK.

The survey is now conducted twice a year and comprehensively looks at the individuals who are paraplanning, their demographics, their role and the influence they have within their practices.

The most recent survey was conducted in May 2011 and the results of that survey can be found here.

A big thank you to all those who took part; for those who have not yet been involved, it would be great to have you on board and for you to take part in the next survey which will be at the end of this month.

If you are not already involved please register your interest by forwarding your details to martin@theparaplanner.com.

In one of the earlier posts I said that one of the highlights of this year’s conference was Nick Murray who gave an enlightening and entertaining key note speech about investing and in particular Behavioural Finance.

The content of his presentation was summed up extremely well by Andy Jervis of Chesterton House in a news letter he sent to all his clients. Andy’s newsletter summed up Nick’s presentnation far better than I could have done and also shows a practitioner’s view.

The newsletter is reproduced below (a big Thank You to Andy, Richard and all the team at Chesterton House for allowing us to reprint this here).

Andy is a leading Bacharach practitioner and you can find out more about him and his practice here.

Andy’s newsletter…..

This week my colleagues and I attended the Annual Conference of the Institute of Financial Planning at the Celtic Manor in Newport, and we learned some valuable information.

You may think that, at a time of lurid newspaper headlines about the dire state of the world economy and the markets that feed them, this would be a rather downbeat and pessimistic affair. On the contrary, in reality there was not only an air of calm professional composure but also a sense of real energy and enthusiasm for helping people to properly plan, prepare and implement their financial futures. The Institute, focusing as it does on professional qualifications, financial planning expertise and skilled practical application, seemed like a body whose time has come.

Undoubtedly the highlight of the three-day conference was a talk by renowned American commentator, Nick Murray. Nick compared the current financial crises with repeated similar events throughout history, and reminded everyone that, during his (admittedly long) lifetime the value of equity markets has risen around 100 fold, without taking into account the substantial dividend income that has been generated over that time.

Nick forcefully pointed out, however, that most investors never receive these returns. That’s because they invariably view equity markets as short-term instruments, trying to time their entry and exit to suit changing conditions, and destroying their long-term returns in the process. Nick went on to explain three fundamental principles and three practices that, in his view, lead to long-term investment success. As they very closely reflect our own philosophy we are delighted to repeat them here.

Basic Principles

The first and most important principle is faith in the future. The simple fact is that, despite the inevitable downs that occur in all markets whether they be stocks, bonds or bananas, the price of all these items continues their inexorable rise over time. The basic laws of economics dictate that this must be the case, and this fundamental belief is essential to keep sight of through thick and thin.

The second principle is patience. Frequently it’s hard to hang on to your faith in the teeth of the raging economic storms that come and go from time to time. Yet hang on you must if you are to feel the long-term benefits from your strategy. Capitulating when everything looks blackest is almost always the worst possible time to do so.

The third principle is discipline. Not only must you be prepared to wait for your faith to be rewarded, but you must continue to do the things that are required, regularly and consistently. It’s in this area that working with an adviser can be a real benefit, helping to keep you on the straight and narrow and not lose sight of your goals and your plan.

Real life practices

Supporting these principles are three specific practices.

Firstly, you need to choose an appropriate asset allocation. Having the right mix of equities, bonds, property and cash is crucial to your long-term returns, and the nature of the mix is something that shouldn’t be varied without extremely good reason. It’s likely that, unless your time horizon is particularly short, equities will be the major component because that’s where the long-term returns have consistently come from. Nick pointed out that a couple retiring at age 62 have a joint life expectancy of 30 years, and if you’re going to maintain the value of your money over that sort of time period it is vital that you invest appropriately.

The second practice is diversification. This means spreading money into a wide range of investments to reduce the risk of loss. As Nick put it, you’ll never have so much money in any one stock that you will make a killing in it, but neither will you have so much money in any one stock that you will be killed by it. Protecting against losses is the key to long-term investment success.

Third and last is rebalancing. This means that you need to periodically readjust your portfolio to reflect the asset allocation that you started out with. Doing this forces you to do what most investors realise they should do but rarely achieve, namely to buy low and sell high. Doing this consistently over time adds value to your investments and helps to ensure that they don’t get so out of kilter that they’ll be severely damaged by a financial storm.

Getting Results

These principles and practices are ones that we’ve followed for many years, and if you’re one of our clients we think you’ll agree that the results speak for themselves. Following this type of plan means that, far from panicking when markets can’t make their mind up what to do as at present, you too will be exhibiting an air of calm professional composure like your adviser.

If you want to know more about our process, just ask!

Sincerely,

Andy Jervis

The IFP continued with their theme of promoting the role of the paraplanner at this year’s recent conference held at Celtic Manor near Newport in Wales.

The conference had the usual format of ‘track’ sessions where you could select from a number of different sessions depending upon your interest along with Key Note speeches, the Gala Dinner and a number of Panel Sessions.

For a paraplanner the conference was particularly interesting as the committee had tried to include sessions which would be appropriate to their role.

Paraplanners were not restricted to any particular session however there were some like Tax and Financial Planning by Tony Wickenden, or Behavioral Finance by Colum Wilde which they may have felt were appropriate however there were many other sessions they could attend depending on whether they were interested in a technical aspect, business planning, personal development or perhaps compliance.

There were however two particular sessions which were of particular interest to paraplanners; the first was the session by our own Richard Allum on assessing risk and the role of cashflows. This was extremely well attended and not just by paraplanners. Richard eloquently discussed the FSA assessing suitability paper and gave us all an understanding of the importance of using an appropriate risk profiling tool along with the necessity to increase your understanding of not just a client’s risk profile but also their capacity for loss.

He then linked this to lifetime cashflow planning, showing how the two are intrinsically linked and complement each other when looking to create an investment strategy to help clients to achieve their goals.

The second were the ‘Bridge the Gap’ sessions held during the lunch break and at the end of the second day. There were a number of these sessions one of which was ‘Paraplanning’. They were small groups which were in an open forum where the attendees could ask questions or advice or gain ideas from the Chairperson and Expert Panel.  

The Paraplanning session was chaired by Keri Carter (Broadway Financial Planning) and the panel comprised Gemma Davies (Bluefin), Damian Davies (the Timebank) and myself. The discussions were very open and constructive and included topics such as paraplanner career progression, outsourcing paraplanning and working effectively with Planners.

Both sessions were a great opportunity to talk to other paraplanners and most importantly to share ideas and hear how other people manage their roles and add value to the Planners they work with.

Paraplanning is considered an important role in a Financial Planning practice and the IFP are continuing to show their commitment to this belief by their support of the role at their conference each year.

After coming a very close second in 2009, this year’s Paraplanner of the Year is Gary Tunstall of Brook-Dobson Brear Wealth Management Consultants in Harrogate.  Gary received the highest overall score from the judging panel for his essay and the testimonial received from Andrew Brook-Dobson and also achieved the joint highest score in the technical assessment although he just lost out in the tie break.  As the overall winner, Gary receives a cheque for £1,000, a full pass and accommodation to the IFP Conference (where the award will be made on Tuesday 4 October), access to Wizard Learning’s structured CPD system for 12 months plus online exam support for 3 years and a trophy.

The technical assessment was won by Sam Ogg of Hedgelands Financial Services in Devon and he wins an iPad 2 and £1,000 of training credits from Wizard Learning.

Well done to all those who entered – the standard was very high this year.

The Paraplanner.com in association with the Institute of Financial Planning is pleased to announce the launch of this year’s Paraplanner of The Year award.

Now in its fourth year, our Paraplanner of the Year award is the original UK Paraplanner Award and is firmly established as the premier award for all Paraplanners in the UK.

Whether you are an in house paraplanner or an outsourced paraplanner, whether you have been in the industry for only a short time or for many years, this is the award you should enter. The dedicated site is up and running www.ppoty.co.uk and you can enter NOW! 

Based on a Paraplanners core skills the award provides a platform for all Paraplanners to demonstrate their excellence.

Entrants will be required to answer a number of technical questions and provide an example of their written work. These will then be supported by a personal reference from either an employer or client.

There are two awards this year. The overall winner will receive

Registration for the Institute of Financial Planning Annual Conference, 3 to 5 October 2011.

• Hotel accommodation for the nights of 3 and 4 October 2011.
• A cash prize of £1,000.
• The Paraplanner of the Year Trophy.
• Access to Wizard Learning’s structured CPD system for 12 months plus
  online exam support for 3 years

In addition, this year there is also a Special Technical Award, awarded to the entrant with the highest score on the technical assessment. He or she will receive an iPad 2 plus £1,000 of online training credits from Wizard Learning to be used by the winner or others in the winning firm over the next 2 years.

The Awards are sponsored by lead sponsor AXA Wealth and supported by Para Plan Plus, Moneyscope and Paragon Paraplanning with the technical assessment provided by Wizard Learning.

We would like to thank all our sponsors and supporters, particularly the IFP, AXA Wealth and Wizard learning for their support and commitment in supporting this important accolade and also their support for the promotion and support of paraplanners and their role in the wider Financial Services community.

David Thompson, MD AXA Wealth UK Distributors, AXA Wealth, says: “AXA Wealth is extremely proud to be sponsoring these awards, which we believe will help the industry to recognise the hard work and expertise demonstrated by paraplanners, whose role is vital in supporting client-facing financial planners and advisers. Paraplanners are often highly influential in both product and fund choice and are key individuals in the financial planning process. The Paraplanner of the Year Awards play a large part in rewarding those who have given something special in their sector, and this is something to be encouraged, particularly when it comes to encouraging young professionals planning their career.”

The winners will be announced and the awards presented at the IFP conference

“25 Years of the IFP” on 3 – 5 October.

If you think you have what it takes and would like to enter then further information about the awards and entry forms are available at

www.ppoty.co.uk

We look forward to receiving your entry – Good Luck!

The NPAC in association with UBS is delighted to announce a further date of the extremely popular Lifetime Cashflow Planning session.

Due to popular demand we are holding a further session in Leeds on 8th September 2011.

The theme for this event will be the same as the previous sessions, lifetime cashflow planning – what is it, what is it for, why you should use it and how to produce a professional report. A brief agenda for the day is attached.

The spring dates were greatly appreciated as shown by the comments below:

‘Really useful meeting and great to meet with other professional paraplanners’

‘Definitely worthwhile attending’

‘Very useful’

‘Really enjoyed this and leant a lot’

As with all NPAC events, the day will be highly interactive with the opportunity for networking, discussions and to share experience and best practice being just as important.

The event will run from 9.30 am until 1.00 pm, there will be coffee and tea on arrival and a break for brunch, allowing you to leave immediately after the close of the event.

These inaugural sessions are free to practising paraplanners and administrators however in order for all delegates to get the maximum out of the event numbers will be kept small and spaces are limited.

In order to avoid disappointment, to reserve your place please send an email to npacevent@parappl.com . We will then confirm your place in due course.

The NMG Paraplanner census which is run in conjunction with TheParaplanner.com is continuing to increase its awareness of the demographics of paraplanners and is also continuing to highlight the decision making made by paraplanners in a modern forward thinking financial planning practice.The latest survey is now open and it would be great if as many paraplanners as possible could take part.

The survey has been ruining for nearly two years and provides important information to both paraplanners and other companies who work within and around financial services, it’s important therefore to ensure that the data represent the views of all paraplanners irrespective of qualification and experience.Your view is important to the survey and if you could find 10 minutes or so to complete it would help enormously. If that wasn’t enough there is also the chance to win an Apple ipad!

To complete the survey and share your views on the providers and platforms you deal with most often, your influence in provider and fund selection and other important industry issues!  Click on www.paraplannercensus.com now!

The survey closes at midnight on 3^rd June.

With summer on the way, there are some great prizes in the prize draw:

• Stay connected anywhere and enjoy superfast data speeds on the revolutionary Apple iPad 2 with WiFi
• Choose from a selection of international style cuisines that most appeal to you, relax and enjoy Marriot hospitality with a luxury three course meal for two
• Enjoy top food and wine with a “Celebration hamper” – a great way to relax and unwind with family or friends

 As always your opinions are really valuable so please give it a go by clicking on www.paraplannercensus.com now.

 If you haven’t completed the census before you will need to register otherwise your login details will be your email address and the keyword you provided when you registered.

 Thank you all

 Martin and Richard

The NPAC in association with UBS and theparaplanner.com is pleased to announce details of its inaugural Paraplanning and Networking events taking place throughout the UK in May 2011.

The theme for these events will be lifetime cashflow planning – what is it, what is it for, why you should use it and how to produce a professional report. These free sessions will be excellent for those new to cash flow planning and want to understand how this fits into their financial planning practice as well as those who have been using cash flow planning for some time and want to sharpen their skills.

As with all NPAC events, the day will be highly interactive with the opportunity for networking, discussions and to share experience and best practice being just as important.

The dates and locations for the events are as follows:

10^thMay – London, UBS Finsbury Avenue, London

17^thMay – Edinburgh, John McIntyre Conference Centre, Holyrood Park Road, Edinburgh

19^thMay – Manchester, Cottons Hall Hotel, Manchester Road, Knutsford

All three events will run from 9.30 am until 1.00 pm, there will be coffee and tea on arrival and a break for brunch, allowing you to leave immediately after the close of the event.

A brief agenda for the day can be found here.

These inaugural sessions are freeto practising paraplanners and administrators however in order for all delegates to get the maximum out of the event numbers will be kept small and spaces are limited.  

In order to avoid disappointment, to reserve your place please send an email to npacevent@parappl.com stating which event you would like to attend. We will then confirm your place in due course.

I look forward to seeing you there.

Over the past couple of months we have been involved with a new series of paraplanner forums hosted by threesixty services. So far two have been held in London with another one in Manchester.

These free events have proved extremely popular amongst paraplanners with the opportunity to meet, ask questions and network with other paraplanners in addition to learning more about the IFPs Paraplanner qualification and gain an insight into the latest developments in the paraplanner world proving highly beneficial.

The next event is being held in Edinburgh on March 2^nd. Once again this is proving to be extremely popular but there are still a very limited number of places available for this event.

Below are some of the comments we have received about the events so far.

‘very useful’

‘pleased to find out that I am working in the right way with my team’

‘A good session, pleased I attended’

‘Very innovating’

‘Excellent afternoon’

Further details about the event can be found by clicking here.

If you would like to be involved in this new and exciting opportunity then simply send your name, position and company name to hollie.jackson@threesixtyservices.co.uk 

I look forward to seeing you there.

Martin