Lewis Byford of Antony George Recruitment looks at the trend for financial advice firms to want their paraplanners to be more client facing and what this means for the role of the paraplanner.
The paraplanner role is forever evolving and since lockdown we have seen both an increase in demand for paraplanners and a trend in what financial advice firms want from their paraplanners.
We all know that there are not enough financial advisers to service the UK population, and currently, there are only a small number of firms that are trying to change this, with adviser Academies and the like. So what are other firms doing to bridge the gap?
What we are seeing is more call from senior financial advisers and directors for paraplanners to become a lot more client-facing.
What do I mean by that? In recent years, directors and senior financial advisers of a business have seen the sense in focussing their efforts and those of their advisers on building the relationship with clients and generating new business. These are the elements of the job which probably drew them to financial planning in the first place. They have then put in place a paraplanner or paraplanning team, to undertake the technical, research and report writing elements of the advice process. In effect, creating two teams which are expert in what they do.
More often the paraplanning role has been a back-office one, without much in the way of client contact. But now we are seeing more paraplanners introduced to clients, becoming the first point of contact – so clients have an immediate response when the adviser is in meetings and unavailable – and attending meetings to take notes and/or present on the technical aspect of the client’s plan. We now have clients that have the senior paraplanner or paraplanners in every client meeting.
Things have been evolving. With many financial advisers in their 50s and above, we can expect to see their exodus from the industry over the next 10 years or so. Bringing paraplanners, with their considerable knowledge and expertise, into more client facing roles therefore makes sense as a proportion will want to become financial advisers. This is one way to help fill the adviser gap over the next few years.
In the past paraplanning was seen as part of the career path progression to financial adviser. But, of course, not every paraplanner wants to be an adviser? And why should that be the journey? What we have found first-hand from interviewing hundreds of paraplanners about the progression to the financial adviser role. And of course, paraplanning is now a career in its own right, giving firms that technical expertise.
But what we’re seeing is that those paraplanners who are open to becoming financial advisers, are not necessarily taking on business development and bringing in new clients, or knocking on the doors of professional introducers, because they don’t always feel comfortable doing that, rather they are being given their own client banks to look after and service – in effect, transitioning to financial adviser as client-facing paraplanners or CF30 paraplanners; there are different job titles out there now.
More paraplanners now have this additional function than they did five years ago, and more advice firms are realising how this transitioning can play into their business plans for the future.
Paraplanners can do what they enjoy and what they’re good at, but on top of this, for paraplanners who want client exposure, there is this new role to consider.
We speak to paraplanners who want to be more involved with clients and sometimes don’t have the opportunity. This can be easily overcome by changing a few simple processes. Firms can benefit too, by increasing staff retention and enabling talented individuals to continue their career within the firm over the long term, which, in this ever-changing market, is vital.
If this type of role resonates with you as a paraplanner, and you want to know how to position it as a career path with your director or senior adviser, I’m happy to jump on a call or video meeting to give you some insight.
I’m contactable on my LinkedIn Lewis Byford MIRP CertRP | LinkedIn or email me on [email protected]
