Paraplanners lack confidence in achieving their career goals, despite more than half stating they want to progress their career within the profession.
The findings are from the lang cat’s latest State of the Advice Nation report, which explores sentiment in the advice market.
Just over half (51%) of paraplanners said they want to progress their career within paraplanning, with just 13% seeing themselves becoming advisers, down from 24% a year earlier.
However, more than 70% of those who want to develop their career within paraplanning feel slightly less confident achieving career goals in the next two to three years.
The report suggested ‘structural issues’ relating to a lack of definition surrounding the role of paraplanners and entry points into the profession rather than a lack of motivation. Issues include a poor understanding of their role within the sector, visibility of the role as a career and the failure to properly define the role of paraplanner which leads to a ‘barrier for entry’ in attracting new talent.
When asked to rate how well-defined the role was in the sector, with 10 described as ‘very well defined’, the average score was 5.1.
Where paraplanning is visible, it is often framed as a ‘stepping stone’ to other jobs, the report found, with paraplanners suggesting it deserves to be viewed as a specialist profession in its own right.
Steve Nelson, insight director at the lang cat, said: “Despite being a core part of the advice process, paraplanning is still lacking its definitive place and recognition within the sector.
“SOTAN highlights consistently that many paraplanners want to carve out a career from within the profession and find it frustrating that most of the visibility for the profession centres around it being a stepping stone for advice.
“The fact there’s a gap between what paraplanners aspire to for their careers and how confident they are in achieving it, is disappointing and suggests structural issues rather than problems with motivation.
“If we want to ensure this critical profession can ensure its long-term sustainability and develop, we need to listen to its professionals and be more receptive to what they are telling us.”
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