A former IFA and paraplanner with two decades of experience in the industry has set up her own outsourcing business as social distancing measures have ushered more clients to remote working.
Kim Bendall, in joint enterprise with Ralph Sanders, has launched Go Paraplanning with ambitions to expand the business to a five-man band in the coming years.
Ms Bendall said she wanted to deliver "personalised" support to her adviser clients, providing services including paraplanning, due diligence, administration, training and consultancy.
The firm, which launched this month, will also target life and investment companies and software houses alongside financial planning clients.
Ms Bendall has previously spent three years as an IFA and 17 years as a paraplanner.
She said: "I don’t think that the breadth of help outsourced paraplanners can give is always realised by financial advice firms and life and investment companies.
"We work with so many firms, products, compliance consultants and investment strategies that we have a real bird’s eye view over the whole industry.
"Our experience is a massively untapped resource."
Ms Bendall said the coronavirus crisis and a growing need to work from home had accelerated the plans, with Kent-based Go Paraplanning serving clients virtually across the UK.
She added: "It has made many firms reconsider their operational set ups.
"Outsourced services are tried and trusted as virtual operations and they bring the added advantage that firms are only paying for the services they use, which can help reduce their overall costs."
It comes amid a growing demand for outsourcing paraplanning services, with some viewing the pandemic as an opportunity to grow their business.
Earlier this month FTAdviser reported an increase in protection cases amid the coronavirus crisis had fuelled a boom in demand at Efficient Paraplanning, the firm which provides outsourced paraplanning to St. James's Place advisers.
Likewise, financial planning business Paraplanning Hub recently reported a growth spurt since the pandemic unfolded which has fuelled plans to double in size over the coming year.
rachel.mortimer@ft.com
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