Paraplanning is a specialised support service providing financial planners with a trusted, professional way to help manage their workload.  

Paraplanners are highly qualified professionals (holding the same level of qualifications as the financial planner in many instances), who take on various parts of a planning client’s advice journey. This affords financial planners the time necessary to focus on client-facing activities.

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How do paraplanners help financial planning teams?

Put simply, paraplanners take on the ‘desk work’ that financial planners often struggle to find time for, freeing up planners’ time to visit with clients, answer questions and offer advice.

A paraplanner digests the information provided by a client, analyses their existing situation or arrangements, researches alternative options and if suitable, collates a suitability report providing suitable recommendations.  

The research elements can include:

• Obtaining any missing ceding information from existing providers.

• Use a range of fund analysis tools to compare charges and performance.

• Research on the most suitable providers on the market, based on the client’s needs across products including pensions, annuities, investments, protection and more.

• Cashflow forecasting to help the client understand their current position, and how this impacts their long-term financial planning goals.  

Once the research is carried out and a recommendation can be made, the paraplanner can provide a concise suitability report detailing the recommendations in a manner that allows the client to understand the advice and the reasons for it.  

Paraplanners use analytical skills in their everyday work, have a strong attention to detail and in-depth subject knowledge. As a role that requires excellent precision and understanding of financial planning software, an ideal paraplanner is a person with good technical skills, great communication skills, is highly organised and can work effectively between multiple clients and to the financial planner’s busy schedule.  

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Who do paraplanners work for?

Over the last 15 years, the role of the paraplanner has grown. In many firms, paraplanners have moved from taking on general admin work to in-depth report writing, and helping financial planners deliver more holistic financial plans to clients.  

In some firms, paraplanners are employed full-time in-house. For others, outsourced paraplanning affords flexibility and freedom, specialised expertise and increased efficiency across time management and core business focuses.

Making a difference

In teams where the workload is packed – that's most teams then! - paraplanners can add value across key areas:

• Take on research  

• Create in-depth reports

• Master tools and software used across teams

• Communicate large amounts of information concisely  

• Work in the background to free up adviser schedules

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Paraplanning services

There are a range of excellent paraplanning services available in the UK. Choosing an outsourced paraplanner is a serious business, and firms should only consider using qualified experts.  

Verve’s paraplanning team is the largest, longest-established and most industry-recognised in the country. Our paraplanning team is forward thinking, supportive and backed by Dextera™ - our tech platform designed to make running a financial advice firm easy.  

Learn more about the paraplanning service here, or drop us a line with any questions – the team would love to help.

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