Over the past 15 years the role of a Paraplanner has developed so much, that you could now say a paraplanner is an essential role in the financial advice journey rather than being a luxury.
Like with anything in life, times change, improvements are made and technology keeps on developing... which brings us to AI.
I’ve been asked a few times recently how I think AI could impact paraplanning. As Paraplanning Manager at Verve, I think that although AI does offer some benefits, it has a long way to go before it puts any of us out of a job!
Below, I’m sharing my thoughts in more depth.
I recently took part in a webinar discussing the results of a paraplanning industry research study: Paraplanning Redefined. You can watch it back here and read the full report here.
We focused on a range of topics including the impact of technology, and specifically AI, on the paraplanning industry.
The survey found:
Paraplanners are warming up to the potential of AI as greater clarity emerges about its benefits and limitations.
Given that 83% of paraplanners believe the technology they use can be improved (up from 64% in 2023), AI is increasingly cited as offering a route towards better advice firm technology along with systems integration and process automation.
64% of paraplanners now believe AI tools will be useful in their role compared to only 42% in the 2023 survey.
For paraplanners under 30, agreement on usefulness rises to a resounding 84%. While general sentiment has improved, actual usage has also edged up.
13% of paraplanners are now using AI tools, up from 10% in 2023, while 57% are interested.
When we asked those using AI what they were using it for, the top answers were client report writing (35%) and the recording & documenting of meetings (35%), with data mining & analysis in third (19%).
Source: Scottish Widows Paraplanner Survey 2024
Being outsourced, generally we follow the approach that the firm we are working with wishes to adopt. Since this survey and webinar last year, I have seen myself the increase in using various AI software, especially around recordings and documenting meeting notes.
While there are still certain issues with the quality of some AI meeting note tools (paraplanning being detailed as power planning being my personal favourite), I think the notes have really helped to provide more context to the cases we work on and it feels we get more information about the client that may have previously been provided. This can only help the quality of the report produced for the final advice recommendation.
No, not yet!
I still see the need for a high skilled paraplanner to complete the more in depth parts of the process, but adopting AI to read some of the data can only help make the paraplanning more efficient. I think there is a long way to go in terms of AI writing suitability reports without the need of a paraplanner fine tuning them. However, AI should be seen as a positive and something that paraplanners can adopt to help automate part of the process allowing them to focus on the key aspects and ensuring personalised reports are provided to the client based on their own circumstances.
If you’re interested in learning more about the positive impact AI is already having on the financial services industry, I'd recommend our free Spotlight webinar series. Verve Founder and CEO Cathi Harrison (herself an AI specialist) will host 12 episodes, each exploring a different adviser tool in the AI field.
