Are you charging enough for your paraplanner?

The level of hourly fees charged by advisers for their paraplanners varies widely from zero to £185, according to research by threesixty.

The majority of firms are charging between £75 and £100 per hour for paraplanners, although a wide range of other charges have been discovered.

Hourly fees for paraplanners range from no charge to £185, with 52% charging between £75 and £100.

Meanwhile, 27% of the 133 surveyed firms charge between £110 and £175, with 11% charging between £40 and £65.

Phil Young, commercial director at threesixty, says: "The wide disparity in hourly rates charged for paraplanners reflects the broad range of their roles and regional variations in salaries, skills and functions.

"Sometimes paraplanners are highly qualified but lower profile back office staff within firms, and sometimes they are treated as the equal of advisers and meet with clients directly.

"Post-RDR there will be an oversupply of clients needing advice with fewer firms around. Advisers will want to spend more quality time in front of clients and less time dealing with paperwork."

threesixty will be sponsoring the first IFP Paraplanner Conference on 25 May on how the role of the paraplanner can be used to drive efficiencies in the modern financial planning business.