There is a perspective that being a paraplanner is sitting at a desk all day – analysing, report writing and research. In this article, Sam Harvey – PFS Paraplanning Panel member, shares a day in the life of her role as a paraplanner, albeit this was a day with a bit of a difference and one that was really valuable.
While this is absolutely a large part of the work involved, there are opportunities for paraplanners to get involved in initiatives with the PFS, network and add a different perspective not only to the work, but the industry as a whole.
I’m a Senior Paraplanner by day, responsible for all of the report writing for the Chartered Financial Planner I work with within my hub, but I am also responsible for the coaching and training of junior staff, and I am the office Mental Health First Aider. I am also here to tell you that no two days are the same!
I am going to share a day in the life of a paraplanner, albeit not a conventional day, it does go to show that a lot more goes into the job than just sitting behind a computer.
Being part of the PFS Paraplanning Panel has given me some amazing opportunities and on Monday 11th May, I made the journey from Glasgow to London to take part in the PFS Purely Paraplanning Conference on Tuesday 12th May.
After travelling to London the night before, I started my conference day at 5:00am. I’ve always been an early riser, and it gave me a chance to get a quick ISA transfer report completed before the day well and truly kicked off.
An early 7:00am brought the time to don the blue t-shirt and head down for a lovely hotel breakfast and meet with the other panel members before heading to our gorgeous venue in central London for the Paraplanning Conference.
The conference began at 10:00am, and the day was kicked off by the PFS President, Carla Brown who spoke about not only the amazing work the PFS has done on our community, but also showcased the new PFS Power video.
Between 10:15 and 11:15, we had Josh Croft from AJ Bell present to us on all things IHT on pensions, and then Sam Patterson from Equilibrium tell us ‘A Tale of Two Paraplanners’.
Not only were these sessions insightful regarding the technical elements of how we can assist our planners with IHT planning with pensions but also gave food for thought regarding our own attitudes and focus when it comes to career progression, exams and growing in our careers.
We then had Jack Allington from Marloo give us a talk at 11:40am about AI, and how it can be used as a tool for both paraplanners and advisers to use our time more efficiently.
We saw examples of how AI can deep dive into and interpret client files to assist in report writing to include not only the hard technical facts, but also the soft facts that make the reports we write more personal to our clients.
The last session before lunch, members of the PFS Paraplanning Panel filmed a live podcast session for Inside Paraplanning – part of the PFP Podcast. I’m not giving spoilers away as if you missed it, it will be going live soon! But I can tell you it was very insightful!
After a lovely lunch, the afternoon kicked off with the event Key Speaker, Nick Elston, with his presentation on ‘How to Forge Ahead’. Nick discussed the varying ways in how mental health support is available for everyone – all you need to do is ask for it.
Kirsty Anderson from Quilter then gave us a more client focused example on how the new pension legislation will impact our clients, and how we can assist them through these changes by ‘Rewrapping Client Wealth’.
At 3:30pm, Dan Haylett from TFP Financial Planning gave us a talk on ‘Understanding the Emotional Architecture of Retirement’, where he explained the emotional impact of financial decisions on clients, and how we can offer support through these.
Lastly, at 4pm, Jacqueline Berry from My Care Consultant spoke about ‘Vulnerability, Consumer Duty and Care Advice’ and gave us some practical information on long term care planning for our clients.
Not only was the day filled with amazing presentations, useful information, good collaboration and lots and lots of networking, it followed a story – it was a great chance to meet with fellow current and aspiring paraplanners and hopefully it was an impactful day for everyone who attended! The turnout for the event was tremendous, to the point there was standing room only!
After the event, I headed to London City Airport for the 7:25pm flight, having a lovely meal at the airport, before landing in Glasgow at 8:50pm and then running into all the closed motorway lanes leading to and from Glasgow Airport, leaving me with the wonder if the motorway roadworks will ever be completed.
The conference in London was an amazing day and I loved every minute of it, and well done to my fellow Paraplanning Panel members on putting on another great event, which was followed by a similarly successful day in Manchester on Thursday 21st May.
My key takeaway from this day is we are not alone! Whether it be focusing on how to grow in your career, adapting to legislation changes or how we can assist the planners we work with, there is a community there to reach out to and resources available to help us navigate the ever-changing landscape of paraplanning.
It just goes to show that no two days are the same in this job. Yes, there is a LOT of computer-based work, but there are so many opportunities out there for current and aspiring paraplanners to get involved in so much over the course of the year.
Image above: A collage of our brilliant PFS Paraplanning Team from the Purely Paraplanning Conference last month.
Main image: Some of the PFS Paraplanning Panel (incl Sam Harvey) leading a panel session!
