random thoughts of a paraplanner

 
25 May 2012

Paraplanning's professional challenge

by Richard Allum

To put it diplomatically, reaction to the FSA's suggestion that paraplanners should challenge advisers over suitability letters, in particular, has been mixed among some advisers.

In fact, if you take a look at the comments posted by readers beneath the report of the FSA's Chris Hewitt at the IFP's Paraplanner Conference 2012 here, you'll see just how diplomatic I'm being.

The views expressed by some comment contributors about the role of paraplanners in the advice process are sobering; some might suggest they are downright disrespectful. 

But we are where we are and it is clear that, no matter how the views are expressed, some advisers remain unconvinced by the role that paraplanners can play in helping advisers help their clients.

And that means that the paraplanning profession is faced with the task of encouraging sceptical client-facing colleagues to, not only recognise the contribution that paraplanners are already able to make to great financial advice, but also their potential to prove invaluable assets for advice practices in a post-RDR world.

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Filed under  //  education   financial planning   paraplanning   regulation  
 
27 April 2012

Life as an (outsourced) paraplanner

by Richard Allum

Kim_-_avatar

This is a guest post by our Senior Paraplanner, Kim Bendall.

A few days ago, I replied to a question on IFA Life asking for experiences of paraplanners who work from home and what it’s like to work with remote paraplanners.

I decided to answer because I’ve recently made the move from in-house paraplanning to outsourced and now work for Paraplan Plus and felt that this type of question deserved a full and open answer. Richard asked me to consider expanding on this topic for his blog so here we go.

I've been a paraplanner for about 10 years and am both Chartered and Certified.  I would like to think that I'm reasonably good at what I do but, despite this experience, the move into the outsourced paraplanning world has opened my eyes to a very different way of working and is challenging me to think differently. This is no bad thing. In fact, having made the move, I doubt I’ll ever want to return to being an in-house paraplanner. Don’t get me wrong. Working in-house was a great experience but, for me, it was time to challenge myself in a different way.

So what’s it like to work as an outsourced paraplanner?

Like any way of working, there are benefits and drawbacks but a lot of it depends on your individual preferences.

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Filed under  //  paraplanning  
 
26 April 2012

IFP Paraplanner Conference

by Richard Allum
The second IFP Paraplanner Conference takes place on 24 May. As one of the only events designed exclusively for paraplanners, it's a great opportunity to catch up on the latest developments and share ideas and concerns for the profession. 

Along with my Paraplan Plus colleague, Kim Bendall, Claire Goodwin from the Taylor Oliver Partnership and Jane Holt from Mackenzie Financial Planning, I'll be taking part in one of the panel discussions - perspectives on in-house and outsourced paraplanning. 

With points of view from both sides, in-house and outsourced, we'll look at the day-to-day practicalities, the opportunities and the challenges.

And now to my point. Whether you plan to be at the conference or not, I'd like to invite you to contribute to the discussion through this short survey. We're interested in gauging paraplanner sentiment and most importantly, making sure the discussion at the IFP Paraplanner Conference is relevant to the paraplanning profession as a whole. No promises, but between us we'll try to address as many points as possible. 

For those that can't make the conference, I'll write a short post here summing up this discussion.
Filed under  //  paraplanning  
 
10 February 2012

Twitter avatar

by Richard Allum
Matrix_allum

I've been asked what's happened to my Twitter avatar today as it's all gone a bit "Neo".  Ian Highton has been producing some very amusing work in Photoshop starting with Richard Colburn following his eye surgery then turning his sights on me resulting in this picture.  I'm often getting mistaken for Keanu Reeves and some of you may not be able to tell the difference hence this explanation!    

Filed under  //  other stuff  
 
3 January 2012

So very wrong

by Richard Allum
Ferrari-limousine

Meet the world's fastest stretch limo: a Ferrari Modena 360 limousine by Dan Cawley of Style Limousines and Prestige Limousine in Birmingham, England. They did cut a regular 360 Modena in two to create the behemoth. And of course, there's disco lighting. Can't have a party limo without disco lighting. via Neatorma

Filed under  //  other stuff  
 
30 December 2011

Treadmill desk

by Richard Allum
Media_httpwwwohgizmoc_kdcid

If you want to combine exercise and working this could be just the thing for you!  Not sure how all the heavy breathing when making phone calls will be received though.

Filed under  //  gadgets  
 
14 November 2011

Standard Life Wrap and me!

by Richard Allum

As some of you may know I have tweeted a few times in the past about my frustrations with the Standard Life wrap and I have even published the odd video to backup my point. It turns out that although Standard Life does not seem to have embraced social media to the same extent as other providers, they were in fact monitoring my comments and rants.

I was recently contacted by two senior members of the marketing and communications delivery team about my tweets suggesting that it might be a good idea for us to meet and discuss the issues I raised. My first thought was that this would be some kind of Mafia hit and that I would never be seen again but am pleased to say that the meeting took place last week and I am here to tell the tale.

It's fair to say that I use a lot of wrap accounts and my frustrations with Standard Life are due to the fact that the service provided for their non-wrap products is superb. Therefore my expectations for the wrap account were high although they failed to deliver. We discussed a fairly long list of issues I have with the wrap and we also went through an equally long list provided to me by some of the advisers I work with. These were all noted by the representatives from Standard Life and I believe that they have the motivation to act on some of them. However, with Standard Life being such a large company it may take some time and a degree of persuasion for the wheels to turn and improvements made.

I do like to provide a balanced view and so far all of my comments about Standard Life and their wrap account of being somewhat negative. Our meeting was very constructive and positive and I hope that future blog posts will continue with the positive vibe I had after our meeting.  Either way I will report back.

Filed under  //  financial planning   frustrations