Yesterday, we held the first event in our second Future Adviser series and early feedback has been immensely positive, reinforcing just how valuable these days are for aspiring advisers.
On Thursday 8 October, Fidelity Adviser Solutions hosted Professional Paraplanner at their Cannon Street offices in London. Aspiring advisers attended, bringing with them a mix of experience, but all with something in common – a desire to become advisers in the future.
Many attending were paraplanners, some in administration, operations, as well as a few people changing their career path entirely – we had a pharmacist join us, and someone that has spent the last few months travelling and completing their exams whilst they were away – dedication!
It was fascinating talking to all our attendees and learning about the thoughts they have been having about their next steps, their concerns, their worries and the things they are looking forward to most.
A lot of that discussion was very much led from the fantastic presentations we had throughout the day, and below are a few of the highlights from each.
Hayley Rabbets: Dropping the ‘para’ to become a planner
Hayley opened the day looking at the broader aspects of entering advice and gave attendees food for thought on the many aspects they ought to be considering when taking the leap. The hot topic? Competent Adviser Status (CAS), something Hayley described as the ‘Holy Grail’ as she took attendees through what a good CAS journey should ideally look like.
Alexander Thomas: Administrator, paraplanner, adviser, business owner
Alex’s route into advice may have been a traditional one, but he has certainly put his own stamp on it. From admin to now owning his own business, he talked about the challenges along the way such as exam fails, the tricky decision to move on and some very open and honest chat about setting up on his own. He also offered reassurance on what is ok when it comes to branding and social media presence as an adviser.
Evie Beaumont: How to build your adviser skills – starting now!
An unintended career in financial services – so many of us accidentally land here don’t we? However, Evie’s story was particularly inspiring in the room and undoubtedly reassured those listening that financial planning is a profession worth pursuing.
Evie talked a lot about building confidence and importantly HOW to build it. Her tip – say yes to opportunities, such as getting more involved with clients now, rather than waiting until you’re an adviser, becoming a PFS Education Champion and observing or getting hands on with the operational side of an advice firm.
Jamie Proctor: Beyond the file
We definitely ‘scored’ in ‘signing’ Jamie as a speaker for this event – as Jamie shared with us what his professional football background has taught him about being the best adviser he can be for his clients.
Jamie asked attendees to think way beyond that of a client file, to get to grips with understanding the emotional side of financial advice – for both the client and as an adviser, advisers often carry a lot themselves.
‘The key is to think like an adviser now – it’ll then come more naturally to you down the line’. Really valuable advice.
Alannah Kinsella: Aspiring to advising
A real full circle moment for Alannah and we’d like to say a huge congratulations to her. Alannah was an attendee at both our London and Manchester Series 1 Future Adviser events.
The last one in Manchester left a bit of a fire in her belly, and since then, she’s taken her development into her own hands and now? Now, she’s a qualified adviser and has been seeing clients for the last few months.
Her session was honest, in sharing the things she has learnt during her progression over the last few months.
Panel session: What type of advice do you want to give?
An interactive pre-lunch session saw Duncan Gregory, Ilona Castren, Alexander Thomas and Morgan Leask exploring both independent and restricted advice models.
Each brought their own views, we had some healthy debate, a little bit of myth busting and a whole lot of clarity around the advantages and disadvantages of each advice model.
Feedback from so many of the attendees was that they hadn’t even considered this as part of their thinking – a well received session.
A huge thank you
A huge thank you to everyone that ran sessions for our Future Adviser event – these days just wouldn’t happen without the dedication, time and thought that goes in from each person.
We’d also like to extend our thanks to the team at Fidelity Adviser Solutions who hosted us so generously on the day, ensuring our attendees and team of speakers (as well as Team PP) are so well looked after during the day.
Fidelity Adviser Solutions also support aspiring advisers very well in providing valuable content, much of which professional Paraplanner has hosted on the Future Adviser section of the website.
An example of this is their Emotional Intelligence series, which can be accessed here: Emotional Intelligence series: Best practices and actionable tips – Professional Paraplanner
Looking forward to the next one
Our first series of Future Adviser events confirmed that there is a real need for this kind of support. Launching the Future Adviser section, hosting events like yesterday’s and listening to the feedback we’ve received has only reinforced that view.
This won’t be the last of these events – if anything it feels like we’re only just getting started – keep an eye out for news of the next Future Adviser event, coming soon.
Main image: Future Adviser – London – October 2026
