You may be wondering what a paraplanner is or you may be thinking about developing your career as a paraplanner. There’s no better time to become a paraplanner. In recent years, the role of the paraplanner has evolved and today, skilled paraplanners are an indispensable part of the financial advice team.
As a result, paraplanners are in high demand and salaries are being pushed upwards as firms compete to attract the best talent. So, if you’re thinking about becoming a paraplanner, read on to find out what to expect in a typical day…
What is paraplanning?
A paraplanner is someone who creates, prepares, implements and reviews a client’s financial plan and advice. As a paraplanner, you will be part of a team also made up of a financial planner and an administrator, with each team member having specific roles and responsibilities to ensure the client receives the best service possible. Paraplanners provide support to financial advisers and their clients by compiling research, compliance checking, writing suitability reports and answering technical queries. In addition, they also provide technical support on areas such as tax, legislation and products the client has or may need to help them meet their financial goals.
According to the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment, the role of the paraplanner can be broken down into four key parts:
- Preparing and maintaining the client file: confirming risk profiles and clients objectives, identifying information, compiling a cashflow analysis
- Organising recommendations: identifying areas for planning, carrying out research to find solutions, considering asset allocations and investment strategies, preparing recommendation reports
- Implementing recommendations: preparing suitability letters, completing application forms, ensuring all compliance paperwork is in order, implementing plans
- Reviewing client files, portfolios, products and processes: attending and organising meetings, reviewing portfolios, initiating review meetings.
Day to day tasks
Far from being just a glorified administration role, paraplanner jobs today are challenging, exciting, and offer a great deal of variety. In that sense, a day in the life of a paraplanner can be incredibly varied.
On any day, paraplanners can be involved in everything from conducting due diligence to research into the latest products and industry areas, working both independently and as part of a team. They could be looking at bonds, crunching numbers or keeping up to date with regulatory changes – with daily tasks often depending on each different firm and what they need from their paraplanners.
However, day to day, you could find yourself attending client meetings with the financial planner, researching financial products and/or investment funds, preparing cash flow forecasts to demonstrate the client’s income and outgoings and how this impacts on their plans, researching tax and legislation changes and how this impacts on clients and preparing financial plan and advice/recommendation reports for clients. This isn’t an exhaustive list, though – and on top of all that, there will also be regular training and development to make sure you stay up to date with industry regulations. You might also choose to study for a certificate, diploma, or even a CFP licence too!
Meet paraplanner Isabella
“My day begins catching up with emails, keeping up with industry news or studying towards my next exam. I’ll then compile a to-do list which varies every day. No two days are ever the same – and whilst I try to stick to my list, if there is an impromptu client meeting or an important telephone call that takes priority, then I need to be flexible. My to-do list could include anything from research to analysing plans and creating detailed reports to help advisers find the appropriate solution for our clients’ needs.
One of the things that I enjoy most about my role is that I get to work very closely with the advisers here on each case. This not only means that I’m always learning new things, but it also helps me to understand exactly what the client wants to achieve so that our team can come up with a clear plan and determine how we can achieve it. There will also often be training courses to take part in to make sure I keep up to date with the latest industry regulations, too.
All in all, I find paraplanning to be a rewarding, challenging and exciting career path. I love that I’m always learning on the job, that every day is different and that I get the chance to interact with clients as well. During my job search, Recruit UK was there every step of the way, providing everything from interview advice to searching out the firms that best met my personal goals. I can’t thank them enough for helping me to land my dream job!”
Ready to get the ball rolling?
If our insight into the day in the life of a paraplanner has interested in developing your career in the field, now is most definitely the time.
Paraplanners today enjoy recognition in the industry and are seen as a highly-trained, invaluable employees and firms aren’t afraid to pay for high-quality paraplanners. In fact, the salaries on offer clearly reflect the growing importance of paraplanning and the increasing dependence placed on them by financial advisers with high-end paraplanners and paraplanning managers now earning up to £60,000-£70,000. What’s more, as the role continues to evolve and become more technical, demanding and client-facing, salaries are only set to rise further!
For more information on how to develop your career in paraplanning or to find out about the roles we are currently working on which could be suitable for you, contact Recruit UK today.