More must be done toattract school leavers and inject some much-needed "new blood" into the paraplanning industry, an expert has appealed.
Liam Chapman-Lyes, a senior paraplanner at Succession Wealth, said although his firm does run a successful graduate recruitment programme for university leavers, it must widen the net to attract more school leavers.
He said: “We really need to get new blood into the industry and raise the profile of paraplanning. There’s an opportunity there. We are not yet going into school and it is something we can look at in the future.
“Paraplanning is an excellent career and we need to raise the profile with sixth form and school leavers because it is a great alternative to build a career without having to go to university.
“I didn’t go to university and I was able to build a career for myself quickly by studying for my Level 4 Diploma. What that has meant is that I don’t have any university debts, I don’t have any student loans and my employer funded my exam. I was learning whilst earning and building a career.”
He said most school leavers enter the paraplanning professional through an administration role by joining as an entry level financial planning assistant.
They do this while they study for a Level 4 Diploma, which allows them to become an associate paraplanner. This process usually takes around 18 months to two years.
Unknown career
He said part of the problem with attracting young people is that not enough of them know that the career exists.
He said this is because paraplanning is a relatively new industry.
The advent of tighter regulation such as the Retail Distribution Review in 2012 and other changes such as consumer duty has meant that financial planning has become more complex. This has given rise to a greater need for more supporting roles such as paraplanning.
He said: “Not many people know what paraplanning is like because not many people have heard of it. That is because 10 or 15 years ago it wasn’t really a profession. It has only evolved over the last 10 years or so.”
Chapman-Lyes has a personal reason for his appeal because he also took an unconventional route into the industry.
He left school at 16 and worked at various places such as John Lewis, Metro Bank and The Open University, before he decided to shake up his career during his mid 20s and began studying for a Level 4 Diploma. He soon landed a job with Succession Wealth and is passionate about promoting the benefits of this career.
Degree not essential
This is why he believes that although having a degree is beneficial, it is not essential as he has still managed to obtain a Level 6 Diploma and has worked his way up to the role of a senior paraplanner.
