The Paraplanner survey the IFP conducted back in May showed that today’s Paraplanners are a very well qualified group, valued by their colleagues as an integral part of a financial planning business.
Following on from this, it seems logical to lift the lid on the role, and take a look at what makes a great paraplanner, and also to consider how firms looking to recruit paraplanners can identify those with the right knowledge and skills. I am not talking about outsourced or in house, rather it is a simple look at the kinds of work that paraplanners will do and therefore the overall skillset that they need to possess in order to fulfil the role most effectively. When this happens there is no doubt that the value add for the financial planning business and its clients is very significant indeed.
Since the early 1990s, paraplanning has deservedly gained increased recognition. However, thinking back to those early days, the use of the descriptor “paraplanner” was widely used by anyone working in an administration or supporting role within an advisory firm. Thankfully we have moved on now and have a much clearer idea of what role a paraplanner fulfils within the business. So what exactly is that? A few years ago, IFP spent some time in drafting a job profile for paraplanners. In essence it focuses on four key areas.
A. Preparing and maintaining the client file
B. Preparing recommendations
C. Implementing recommendations
D. Review
To do this, paraplanners need a sound understanding of the financial planning process and be able to:
•Work accurately within defined business processes, either independently or in a team
•Achieve agreed outcomes without supervision
•Multi task, prioritise and plan own workload effectively
•Pay attention to detail and communicate in an articulate manner
•Demonstrate excellent interpersonal skills, both written and verbal
•Demonstrate strong analytical, IT and report writing skills
While these skills are vital, other aspects are also important. Paraplanners are actively involved in conducting due diligence and research into all sorts of areas. Therefore they need to have broad knowledge of the financial services world and have up-to-date and highly detailed technical knowledge on all key product and business areas including taxation, regulation, legislation and compliance. All in all, that is quite a list and one which clearly shows why so many paraplanners are now as experienced and well qualified (sometimes even more so) than the advisers or planners that they support.
For businesses looking to recruit good paraplanners, they will be looking for those who have proven their abilities. But how do they identify them? With demand for these good paraplanners rising steadily, many firms are struggling to find the individuals of the calibre they need. Success in qualifications is usually a good starting point.
It is pretty easy to see that paraplanners have sound technical knowledge from the list of professional exams that they have achieved, but taking it a step further, have they got the planning skills to match? Accredited paraplanners are eligible to use that designation because they have evidenced knowledge, skills and a commitment to professionalism; sound credentials indeed.
Another aspect to consider is to look at those who have won prestigious Paraplanning awards. Reflecting this, the judging process is currently underway for the IFP’s Paraplanner of the Year Award 2014 which has again been supported by Parmenion.
We have had some excellent submissions from candidates and the judges have got a very tough task to decide upon the winner. The winner will have proven that they have excellent technical knowledge, by completing a demanding online assessment with Wizard Learning. As if that was not enough, they also had to submit a well-reasoned, 1,000 word response to one of two essay questions to prove their analytical and research capabilities.
All shortlisted candidates will be interviewed by a panel of judges in September so it is fair to say that anyone reaching this point will be an impressive paraplanner. Not a bad place to look for anyone seeking to recruit real talent into their business.
Sue Whitbread is communications director of the Institute of Financial Planning
