The vast majority of paraplanners find it easy to obtain the technical information they need to do their job, the findings of Professional Paraplanner Parameters Survey have found.
More than seven in 10 (72%) said they find it ‘fairly easy’, while close to a fifth (18%) said they find it ‘very easy.’ In comparison, only 8% of respondents said it was ‘slightly difficult’ to obtain technical information and just 1% described it as ‘quite hard.’
The survey identified numerous sources of information paraplanners use, from guides and calculators to case studies and CPD.
“There are loads of resources available, the key is finding the good sessions and keeping the time down to under one hour in order for me to enhance learning outcomes,” said one respondent.
Providers were also found to be a helpful source of information, offering technical events and bulletins to provider advisers and paraplanners with relevant information.
Matthew Harris, paraplanning team leader at Progeny, said he finds providers’ paraplanner zones, including Abrdn techzone, Royal London, Les Cameron and M&G Wealth, Fidelity Technical Matters and Canada Life particularly helpful, as well as 360.
“It is important to use a resource you can trust and most of the time, I would aim to get something in writing to confirm my understanding of the answer and show an audit trail for the file,” Harris says.
“Everybody has their own learning style and will have their own preference but there is plenty of good support out there for paraplanners and it is important we all use it,” he adds.
Another paraplanner said: “There is a wealth of good websites with technical insights explaining all manner of considerations. These are more useful than the current round of multi-guess papers which are designed just for you to pass an exam rather than formulate answers and retain information.”
However, the results of the survey highlighted challenges in obtaining information for more complex, niche cases.
One respondent explained: “We do some work which is very technical in nature and often, it is difficult to find the answers from mainstream sources.”
Another response showed a similar issue: “Most of the day-to-day queries and research are easy to obtain information about. However, sometimes it is difficult to find answers for complex cases about individual circumstances. I have found providers such as M&G Wealth very helpful in giving opinions or support to complex cases,” they said.
Paraplanners also pointed out difficulties in dealing with provider call centres.
“A referral to the right team will take 10 days then the request gets lost in translation and you receive irrelevant information and need to repeat the exercise to try to get the information you actually need,” one respondent reported.
A fellow paraplanner echoed the sentiment, noting that requests in relation to older, pre-RDR and pre-A day contracts can often take up to 15 working days to get a response.
Benjamin Fabi, paraplanner at Principled Paraplanning, said he prefers to categorise technical information into more complex and easier cases. For the former, he tends to use HMRC manuals, while for the latter, Fabi uses providers.
“If you know what you’re looking for, there is enough good quality technical information from the UK service providers and the big life offices. To get a real handle on the nitty gritty, places like M&G technical and Royal London are good. There are also other providers to help with more niche information,” he comments.
When asked how paraplanners keep up-to-date with the technical changes relevant to their role, the most popular method was free-to-use external technical resources such as websites (91%), followed by paraplanning team sources and keeping each other informed (57%).
Fabi, who often uses Transact’s technical team, said paraplanners should use the technical teams that exist within the providers that they already have a good relationship with to help with specific queries.
He also recommends subscribing to HMRC newsletters and its tax updates page, which alerts users to any changes that have been made to a tax page, whether it is an ISA, pension or VAT scheme. In addition, Fabi said turning to fellow professionals with a wealth of experience can be helpful, citing The Trust’s Discussion forum, which is populated by experienced industry professionals, as well as Facebook and LinkedIn groups.
“I think it is a very positive landscape in the UK for getting technical information. I don’t really struggle and I don’t think there’s any reason for anyone to struggle. Once you know where to find what you are looking for, there are around two to three good resources across each of the different areas of technical aspect that can be referred to.”
Meanwhile, the survey also found that training was a popular method to help paraplanners keep up to date with technical changes. More than a third (36%) of paraplanners said they learn from formal firm-wide training, while a quarter (25%) also have in-team formal training. Just under one in three (29%) said the use external paid-for technical resources.
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