Fancy joining the financial planning profession? – Here’s a (hopefully!) useful blog

As a profession, we are crying out for new people to come and join us, but are we an easy career to get into or do we have barriers that those on the inside just don’t see? 

On a recent Linkedin post, someone asked a number of questions about the financial planning profession that a new person may want to know:

1.    Can you be a paraplanner without being qualified?

2.    Why are there junior/senior administrator and paraplanner roles?

3.    At what point does the administrator become a paraplanner?

4.    How confusing is this for a new entrant?

These are all very good questions so I thought I’d try answer some of them with what’s my view but hopefully helpful! 

1. Can you be a paraplanner without being qualified?

 ‘Technically’ no, you don’t ‘have’ to have any qualifications to be a paraplanner, but this is also true of the administrator  role. However, do you ‘need’ qualifications? I would say, to be able to do the paraplanner role fully, to understand the technicalities of how to put together and then continue to monitor and review a client’s plan, th en yes, you would need the technical knowledge that comes from studying. 

Again, to what level and in what type of exams very much depends on the type of paraplanning work you are doing, and the level you and your employer want and feel you need to get to, to be able to look after the number and type of clients your business has.

Do exams give you the competence to be able to do a paraplanning role? Again, yes and no. The best paraplanners I know and work or have worked with have a balance of qualifications and experience. I have worked with some who had not yet got to level 4, and were excellent paraplanners, some who were not. I’ve worked with some who are level 4, or chartered and/or Fellow, and are excellent, and again some are not .

So when does an administrator become a paraplanner? Well, from a what they ‘do’ point of view, it will be largely down to the tasks they do and the business they are in.

Administrators tend to do more of the crucial supportive work, in my experience. Looking after the client through creating and building their file with all the information the planner has gathered; getting and processing information on current plans, investments and pensions. Communicating with the client to keep them updated on progress and request any other information that’s needed.

An administrator will usually gather, collate and prepare all the vital information for the paraplanner, in conjunction with the planner, to review, analyse and assess as part of building the client’s Plan and the recommended actions to help get and then keep the client on track. The paraplanner will do this using (sometimes, but not always) cashflow planning, reviewing the client’s pensions and investments, and then assessing the suitability of these to meet the client’s needs and goals.

So, in answer to that part, once an administrator starts moving from doing the key tasks to set up, build and maintain the client’s file to ensure a well running client relationship, and start moving to more of the planning, reviewing and analysis aspect of the client relationship, that’s when they are becoming a paraplanner.

From a different point of view, when an administrator wants to become a paraplanner will very much depend on whether they want to! I know we talk of ‘career’ paraplanners, but there are many, many people now who are also ‘career’ administrators and client support staff.