Podcast #158: Paraplanners under the spotlight in the lang cat’s State of the Advice Nation

In this episode of IFA Talk, we’re talking all things paraplanning and why the role continues to grow in importance across the advice profession.

Jenny and Matt are joined by Steve Nelson, Insight Director at the langcat, to chat through the latest State of the Advice Nation research. This is the third year paraplanners have had a focused pathway in the study, which means we’re finally starting to see some clear themes emerge around career paths, day to day realities and where firms are getting it right, or not.

During the conversation, we look at paraplanning as a career in its own right, how visible and understood the role really is, and what the research tells us about the challenges paraplanners still face behind the scenes. From workload pressures to systems and support, it’s an honest discussion grounded in real data and real experience.

As ever, Steve does a brilliant job of bringing the numbers to life and connecting the findings to what’s actually happening in advice firms across the UK.

You can take a deeper dive into the findings of the State of the Advice Nation research here.

Be sure to check out this episode and all other episodes of IFA Talk on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Amazon!

Also, you can listen to the episode with Coventry Building Society’s Jonathan Stinton, mentioned in this podcast, by clicking here!

Steve Nelson

Steve is the lang cat’s Insight Director, responsible for a wonderful team that manages the various research reports and initiatives within the organisation. Steve graduated with an extremely mediocre Computer Science degree from Edinburgh University, but like so many others in the city, Steve woke up one morning working in financial services and is still here 20+ years later. 

Steve has held a variety of roles in both marketing and insight, but all roads seem to lead back to chatting to and learning from the advice profession. He is the creator of State of the Advice Nation, the lang cat’s annual omnibus study of the advice in the UK, and manages the lang cat panel of 1,600+ members of the advice profession.

Disclaimer

IFA Talk is for financial professionals only. All material has been carefully checked for accuracy, but no responsibility can be accepted for inaccuracies. Wherever appropriate, independent research and whatever necessary legal advice should be sought before acting on any information contained in this podcast.

Value of investments and income from them go down as well as up, so you may not get back the amount you originally invested.