Following the success of the second Professional Paraplanner Future Adviser event in Manchester this month, we’re delighted to introduce our five speakers that are well worth connecting with if you aspire to become an adviser.
This second event in the Future Adviser series was, in the words of paraplanners that attended, “such a valuable and worthwhile day”.
We’d like to say a huge thank you to the team at Utmost, for supporting Professional Paraplanner’s Future Adviser initiative and our Manchester event.
The programme
The day had a packed agenda, featuring six sessions, all covering different areas to give paraplanners a variety of useful insights to tap into, supporting them with their next steps with their aspirations to become advisers.
From reasons ‘why’ to become an adviser, to the type of adviser paraplanners might wish to become, to how to take things forward.
Paraplanners left with so much to think about and with their own questions answered as well, thanks to our speakers being so open to answering questions during our panel session.
Meet our Future Adviser speakers
Here are our five speakers that we think are well worth connecting with.
Guy Skinner: Owner of Citygate Financial Planning, Guy has a very clear reason to do the job that he does – to ensure that individuals and families are protected should the worst happen.
Why? Because he’s experienced the worst himself. Guy speaks openly about his own experiences and how these have helped him to shape his career, become an adviser and build his business from the ground up.
Jay Dhaliwal: Once a paraplanner, Jay has built her career and brand as an IFA by standing out from the crowd.
Early on, she knew she wanted to become an adviser and that to get there, she’d need to stand out.
Over time, Jay has built a very unique brand and has also won several industry awards, well deserved recognition for her contributions to the profession.
Paul Taylor: It’s not all about exams! There are many skills that advisers need to have to become great advisers.
To name a few – the ability to keep things simple for clients, to communicate effectively and to think outside the box, are all important.
Paul draws from his own experience as a successful financial planning business owner, to support financial professionals with the softer skills – which are actually really hard!
Rory Albon: Another of our speakers with a paraplanning background and also a second careerist. Rory worked for Amazon before he joined our profession but found he had many transferrable skills to bring with him.
He has less time under his belt than many but it hasn’t stopped him from learning quickly and just as fast establishing the type of adviser he wanted to be.
As a result, Rory now manages his own financial planning business – Albon Financial Planning – that has gone from strength to strength.
Nick Bird: “A pebble in the pond” – a quote from our Manchester event that Nick referenced because of the choice, beautiful words used in a previous presentation.
The ripple effect that delivering confident presentations can yield is wide reaching within client facing advice.
Nick is an experienced speaker and loves to share his passion in this, normalising nerves and helping others develop in their communications whilst remaining authentic.
What’s next for Professional Paraplanner’s Future Adviser?
We’ll be hosting our next Future Adviser event in the Autumn, when we return to London with a brand new programme.
Keep an eye out for updates on our website, where you can also ready lots of useful articles on taking your next step as an adviser.
Read more in our Future Adviser section on our website: Professional Paraplanner Future Adviser content
Main image: Taken at our Future Adviser event in Manchester – May 2026.
