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So, as we come to the last quarter of 2023, you might be thinking about the next 12 months and what working with outsourced paraplanners might mean for you and your business.

With this in mind we have highlighted five important points regarding how we believe we are the go to support to help Financial Planners deliver high quality bespoke financial planning outcomes for their clients in 2024.

Learn to collaborate with our experts and see them as a partner

While in the past paraplanners, or technical analysts as we call them, have largely been hidden from the client spotlight, they are, in the main, every bit as qualified and experienced as advisers to deliver a great client outcome. Involving a paraplanner in meetings also allows you to concentrate on your rapport while we take notes and are on hand to answer any tricky technical questions the client may have.

Having a paraplanner attend the meeting is all good in theory, but if your meetings are all conducted face to face this could be a logistical nightmare. Many advisers now do the next best thing and record meetings or include our paraplanners virtually by video link, as it can be so beneficial to hear the client in their own words. This gives us a clear mental picture of your client that we can use to develop a detailed summary of their circumstances and why a recommendation is right for them.

Top Tip: Recordings can sometimes be long and time consuming for the listener, so why not just record the last 30 mins of a meeting where you round up the meeting and briefly go back over the key points that have been discussed?

Our team use a wide and varied selection of back-office systems

By taking an impartial view of your administration and processes, we can identify ways to make your back-office systems more efficient and robust against an FCA check. Having a streamlined back-office system could also mean happier clients and potential recommendations that lead to new business.

Outsourced Paraplanners can provide specialist technical advice

Whether it’s for defined benefit (DB) pension transfers or long-term care, outsourced paraplanners typically provide specialist technical advice. If you have an in-house paraplanning team, choosing to also work with an outsourced provider enables you to swiftly access specialist information.

An outsourced paraplanner can also provide specialists who could join complex client meetings. This could improve your chances of securing the business, ensure the suitability report is as robust as possible, and ensure work is produced promptly.

Having a centralised system is essential

As we head into 2024, being able to demonstrate robust, repeatable and reliable processes is more important than ever thanks to consumer duty. It’s as important as being able to show your business is consistently providing excellent outcomes for clients and treating them fairly at all times.

Adopting a centralised retirement proposition (CRP), a centralised investment proposition (CIP) and a centralised advice framework (CAF) could help you do this. Our Managing Director Tony Slimmings has written white papers detailing all of the above.

Outsourcing support reduces staffing issues

As paraplanning is often seen as an entry point into financial advice, your business could struggle with a high turnover of in-house staff moving on to become financial advisers. An outsourced team means you won’t have the stress of recruiting new team members, nor will you need to worry about cases being dealt with when members of the team are off ill or on holiday.

Furthermore, you can always be assured that you will have access to high quality and professional outsourced paraplanners.

For us, report writers are individuals who’re fed client information by the adviser that is subsequently transposed into a standard template. This requires little input from the report writer and does little to influence the outcome. Paraplanners like us at We Complement are technical analysts, and as you can see, using a paraplanner for more than report writing could help you generate more business.

Ok, we are a little biased, but we do believe outsourced paraplanners can add a whole new dimension to your business and your client outcomes. If you would like to discuss any of the above points, or how we might help your business in 2023, contact us here or call on 01472 728 030

Centralised propositions allow you to demonstrate robust, repeatable, and reliable processes. With Consumer Duty fully upon us it is more important than ever that you can evidence consumer value and consistency of service. It’s as vital as being able to show your business is consistently providing good outcomes for clients and treating them fairly at all times.

Adopting a centralised retirement proposition (CRP), a centralised investment proposition (CIP) and a centralised advice framework (CAF) could be key to achieving this.

Read on to discover five ways these centralised systems could provide greater protection against complaints and potentially boost business.

Ensures your business can stand up to scrutiny

Centralised systems allow you to demonstrate to the FCA that you and your company has a robust, reliable, and repeatable process. This could be critical in meeting PROD guidelines and COBS 9.3.3, which requires you to consider all relevant client information before making a recommendation.

A CAF ensures your business meets the 11 FCA core business principles and, in particular, makes sure that you put “customers’ interests” first.

Ensures your recommendations are always appropriate

The FCA knows that clients’ situations differ, and so will check to ensure they have not been “shoehorned” into the same solution – especially where retirement is concerned.

Having centralised systems, such as a CRP, means you can demonstrate

that you’ve collected all the relevant hard and soft facts, recorded them, and considered the client’s individual situation.

With a CIP, any investment or product you recommend will be from a centralised selection that has been assessed and found to be suitable for your clients. This is more likely to result in a good outcome for the client, reducing the chances of complaints or an FCA investigation.

Reduces risk for the business

A centralised and consistent advice framework, such as a CIP, helps eliminate the chance of errors and omissions. This dramatically reduces the risk of a recommendation turning out to be wrong, or not be in the client’s best interests.

As such, complaints against you and your business are far less likely. Furthermore, it will mean happier clients, which could mean referrals and future new business.

Improves business efficiency

Each of the centralised systems require you to gather all the information needed by your paraplanners, allowing them to produce a clear and compliant suitability letter more quickly. This is because they will not need to chase you for missing information or clarification on key points.

Because a CIP removes the need to undertake investment and platform research for every case, your business will be more efficient, providing quicker outcomes for your clients. This could mean you can arrange that all-important presentation meeting sooner.

Allows you to spend more time with clients

This dovetails into the above point of having a more efficient business. Documented centralised propositions allow you to concentrate on delivering what clients really want: good financial planning and a first-class service.

This is likely to result in happier clients who then provide referrals, allowing you to build your business while reducing the potential of complaints.

Get in touch

We have been helping businesses develop and integrate centralised systems for many years, and have tested many for robustness, reliability, and repetition. If you would like to learn more about how we can offer support in establishing centralised systems please visit our website or contact us. You can get in touch online or by calling 01472 728 030.