From the Editor: Any idea what a paraplanner is worth?

Many adviser firms who use paraplanners couldn’t put a price on their worth. For many they are priceless.

The role of the paraplanner has grown massively in the last few years and they are now a vital part of many adviser firms.

Their duties may vary from firm to firm but the main point of the role is to support advisers and clients and ensure the smooth running of the company.

We know many paraplanners are attaining extremely high levels of qualifications and are instrumental in developing innovative new processes to help create new efficiencies at their businesses. But what price can you put on their services?

We have read many surveys about how much advisers will be charging per hour for their services post-RDR but how does factoring in paraplanner support affect this total?

It is difficult to tell at the moment as a recent survey by threesixty found a large disparity in the level of hourly fees charged by advisers for their paraplanners.
The majority of firms are charging between £75 and £100 per hour for paraplanners, according to the support services group, 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.

According to threesixty, the wide disparity in hourly rates reflects the broad range of their roles and regional variations. However, just as many advisers currently undercharge for their own services, it is likely some firms are not billing enough for their paraplanner’s skills either.

As the burden of paperwork grows post-RDR, the role of paraplanners will be ever more important. However, their role needs to evolve too which could include taking further qualifications in more specialist areas or learning about different areas of the business which would require some investment costs.

The industry as a whole has woken up to paraplanners’ importance and many are starting to get the recognition they deserve, including their own category at our Professional Adviser Awards.

Now is maybe the time for advisers to reassess exactly what value is being added by their paraplanners and see if they are being remunerated accordingly. It could also be the time to add to paraplanners’ skill-base with a view to adding to the total worth of a firm further down the line. 

Katrina Baugh is editor of Professional Adviser and IFAonline.co.uk