With last year’s merger of the IFP with the CISI behind us, it is time for the paraplanning community to look forward to the benefits of our new, larger, professional body.
When I was elected as the first paraplanner to the board of the IFP, back in 2012, one of the first things I did was to set up the Paraplanner Committee.
We brought together a small number of paraplanners, both IFP members and non-members, who were committed to the profession and willing to share ideas and ready to offer valuable feedback. The committee was responsible for helping produce the Paraplanner Conference, the dedicated CPD day, new initiatives such as ‘ask a paraplanner’, and providing support as mentors.
Everyone involved contributed a lot to the paraplanning profession and it is great to see similar initiatives from the PFS led by Cathi Harrison and the Paraplanner Powwows.
What now for paraplanners within CISI?Despite the former IFP committees being disbanded, the expertise, skill and dedication of members remains as a result of the integration with existing CISI committees. Paraplanners, however, are a relatively new thing to the CISI, and there is not a ready made committee for us to slot in to. This is not an unfamiliar dilemma for paraplanners, and being a resourceful lot, we are tackling it by doing something a bit different. The first IFP Professional Forum meeting was held in November, comprising the former IFP board members and key people from the CISI.
There are now two paraplanners on the committee. Farida Hassanali CFP
TM Chartered MCSI of UBS, was elected in October. Farida’s a welcome addition who brings new ideas and energy, and increases paraplanning representation on the committee to 20%.
The CISI is really interested in paraplanners and is focused on developing support for the community, both members and non-members.
The annual
Paraplanner Conference will continue this year. The CISI also continued the dedicated CPD day, which took place in November 2015 and was well attended. The success of these events, as well as the generation of new ideas, have always depended on input from paraplanners, and that will be even more important post-merger.
Paraplanner Interest GroupOne way of doing this is to set up a paraplanners interest group, which will enable members and non-members to meet, attend presentations from senior practitioners, and engage in open discussion. By the time you read this, Farida and I will have met with the CISI’s new Assistant Director of Member Services, Alex Xavier, and Lydia Romero, Global Director of Learning, to get this group off the ground.
So, what can you do?Put simply: join in and contribute. Whether that’s by volunteering to stand up and share how you do things, letting us know about a really good speaker, telling us your great idea, or sharing your opinion about our plans.