From conferences and technical guides to podcasts and CPD sessions, Alan Gow shares the latest update from the PFS Paraplanning Panel and outlines what’s coming up for paraplanners over the months ahead.
The PFS is putting out a call to paraplanners, as the Paraplanning Panel gears up for our next round of new events and guides.
Resources are available to both members and non-members.
For those who are members, you can make sure you get relevant content by logging in to the PFS website and setting your profile and function to ‘paraplanning’. If you’re an outsourcer, you can select ‘type of organisation / other’ and then add paraplanning as your default.
This should make sure you get the right communications, because we know sometimes things get lost amongst all the other ‘noise’ of your inbox!
We’ve seen a jump in followers of our LinkedIn page, which now has over 1,200 paraplanner members. If you’re not yet part of that group, you can join here: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/12304985/
We also have a new WhatsApp channel – this is for news, links and updates, rather than a chat. You can follow here: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VbClDDjKLaHixnBFIQ1Q.
So what’s coming up?
The last big event of this year will be the Festival of Financial Planning in Birmingham on 18 and 19 November.
The Paraplanning Panel will have a dedicated area in the middle of the hall and we’re on hand to talk about all things paraplanning; careers and exams are common topics people want to discuss, but we’re happy to talk about any aspect of the role. We’ll also be taking requests for the DJ, so pop over and request your favourites!
The big events next year will be the Paraplanner Conferences. After the success of this year’s events, we’ll be repeating the two conference format with dates in London and Manchester next May. We’re also lining up some special events for Scotland, with more details to be released once confirmed.
The penultimate episode of our podcast, Inside Paraplanning, is available to stream in all the usual places. It features special guest Phil Greenwood, talking about Suitability Reports, including his take on the use of AI.
Watch out for one more episode this year, where we chat with the FCA’s Consumer Duty Delivery Manager.
We’ve also been busy arranging a number of Paraplanner Labs; our online training sessions on technical topics and personal development. These usually run at lunchtimes and are accredited CPD, so don’t forget to download your certificate at the end of each session.
Looking a little further forward, we have some new guides in the works. One will be a prequel to the Suitability Report Writing Guide, on how to put together a great file, including research and analysis.
The other will focus on what is perhaps an undersold and sometimes complex area of financial planning – protection.
We need to continue focusing on what matters to you, so whether you have an idea for a future session, a topic you’d like us to tackle or a question about your next career step, we’d love to hear from you.
Join the conversation on LinkedIn or come and find us at the Festival. The more paraplanners get involved, the better we can make the events, resources and support we offer.
Main image: megaphone, mufid-majnun-f6kLn8GplMQ-unsplash
