Paraplanning on right track to raise profile

This year paraplanning has been given much greater billing by the professional bodies, with a paraplanning conference from the Institute of Financial Planning and its own track at the Personal Finance Society’s annual event.

We first saw sessions and talks from paraplanners being included about three years ago, but this was the first year when both conferences had dedicated paraplanner tracks on their agendas.

Drive towards higher standards

This is further evidence of the increased profile of paraplanning and the drive towards higher standards through professional development. It is also good to see more paraplanners delivering high-quality presentations and sharing their experience and best practice.

Several of the paraplanning sessions were delivered and attended by advisers. This triggered discussions about responsibility for advice and where paraplanning fits in.

In my view, delegation doesn’t equal abdication unless advisers treat paraplanning like a production line. It’s a collaborative process where we work alongside advisers.

Richard Allum is managing director of ParaPlanPlus