The importance of good paraplanners to a successful firm is not to be underestimated, writes Alan Dick CFPTM Chartered MCSI
What makes a great financial planning business? We all know that there is no single factor but one of the key features of the most successful UK financial planning firms is that they rely heavily on the quality of their paraplanner professionals.
Not only do paraplanners help us by providing award winning service to clients, but they also allow us to focus on what we do best to build and maintain long-term relationships with our clients. Supporting the needs of paraplanners is essential for us all. The old days of multiple advisers being served by one administrator, who did everything from making the coffee and opening the mail to researching products and issuing reports, are gone. They are replaced by a business model more akin to other professional service businesses, which is one planner working with a team of multiple paraplanners and administrators each with clearly defined roles and skills. I have no doubt that the growth of the financial planning profession in the UK will become increasingly dependent on the growth of professional paraplanners and this team approach to business.
But that means we all need to ensure we invest in our paraplanners and their development. A sound first step is to encourage paraplanners to take up CISI membership. This can then lead to them working towards becoming an Accredited ParaplannerTM and ultimately a CFPTM professional and Chartered member. I know it can be tempting to want to keep your paraplanners at their desks, maximising their output. However, remember that productivity is as much about working smarter as working harder. So, suggesting that your paraplanners attend the CISI Paraplanner Conference in May this year could turn out to be a very smart investment indeed. CISI resources for paraplanners extend beyond online courses. Many of the live Professional Forum events and conferences are filmed and made available for viewing at your leisure. Of course there is still a need for us to add even more financial planning content, which is something the IFP Professional Forum will work hard to ensure happens over the coming months. But there is already plenty of content to get you started.
Finally, just a reminder to all fellow CFPTM professionals that we’re now using TM as the trademark instead of the old CM , and I hope that this will soon become embedded. You have got time to use up stationery and business cards to minimise the cost of making the change, but we just have to remember to use it now.