Paraplanner Zone: Direction Financial Planning

"The role of paraplanner is evolving," Simon Poole of Direction Financial Planning says. "Clients call me now..."

Q. How did you get involved in paraplanning?

A. I just sort of fell into it really. Funnily enough I used to work as an insolvency administrator at The Official Receiver in Bankruptcy in Reading before I joined financial services properly. Then in 1994 I started at Perpetual administering PEPs and unit trusts before moving to Cowes on the Isle of Wight and joining Skandia. I had to take the ferry to work in those days! After that I worked for a couple of different IFAs in the South West before joining Direction in 2005.

Q. What is your average day like?

A. Well it’s a small office so I get involved in quite a lot. After speaking to Jane [Wheeler, principal at Direction], I start on recommendation letters, prepare info for client review meetings, put together client reports and answer queries from clients over the phone. The last one is important because now I have built up a relationship with clients and they are as happy to speak to me as to Jane.

Q. What qualifications have you achieved?

A. Currently I have both the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) Diploma in Financial Planning and the Institute of Financial Planning (IFP) Certified Financial Planner certificate. I may go on to do advanced exams but at the moment I am focussing on the more technical areas of Continued Professional Development (CPD), and just increasing my knowledge by reading technical publications and going to seminars, which Jane is very supportive of. Employer support is crucial to CPD.

Q. How do you think the role of paraplanning is evolving?

A. The IFP has done a lot to bring the role of paraplanning to the fore, and things like the Professional Adviser Awards also help [Direction has nominated Simon for paraplanner of the year at this year’s awards]. It is beginning to be recognised as a profession complementary to advising, and as it becomes more recognised potentially more young people will get involved, especially as Manchester Metropolitan University is now offering a degree in Financial Planning. There is still an element of the industry which has yet to see the added value paraplanners bring but this is changing.

Q. When you speak to people what do you find are their main concerns at the moment?

A. With the way the markets have been lately, the performance of people’s portfolios is obviously their main concern. They are often worried by reports in the news and want to know how their investments have been doing over the period. I do find people are asking more detailed questions of late, which is where our role as a financial advice service comes into its own really.

We try to eliminate any concerns people have and by explaining to them our strict asset allocation model we can reassure clients their investments will improve over time. We look at what they are invested in, calm their fears and remind them they are invested for the medium to long-term.

Simon Poole is paraplanner at Direction Financial Planning LLP, looking after a team of three.