The Paraplanning profession has a “huge mountain to climb” and must start targeting students taking degrees in subjects such as history and geography in order to attract more fresh blood, a leading Paraplanner says.
Richard Allum CFP^CM, the IFP Paraplanner Committee Chair, told Financial Planner Online there is a major challenge ahead, with the profession failing to attract enough young people.

He also agreed with a recent report which suggested demand for Paraplanners is currently far outstripping supply - further highlighting the need to boost numbers coming into the profession.

He revealed his firm has had to turn away possible clients due to the escalating surge in demand for their services - again showing the scarcity of available Paraplanning professionals.

Mr Allum told the IFP Paraplanning Conference in May that fresh blood was badly needed and said this week that there was a “huge mountain to climb on that one”.

Financial services graduates have traditionally come from a narrow field, he said, and widening this was crucial.

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IFP board member Mr Allum said the kind of students the profession needs to target do not need to be undertaking finance related degrees such as accountancy or business.

He said: “A lot of them aren’t attracted to Financial Planning or Paraplanning, they’re going for the big banking careers. We’re not seeing much fresh blood coming though that way. I think we need to reach out to other courses.”

He said subjects such as history and geography, which require analytical and research skills, would also be highly suitable.

He said the IFP appeared to be the only body taking steps in the right direction on this matter.

But he said: “The IFP and PFS really need to take the lead to start coming up with a plan to attract more high quality people into the industry.”

This might include increasing presence at university career fairs and similar events, he suggested.

Mr Allum acknowledged that for firms there is a large commitment in both time and money to take on trainees and also a risk they will move on somewhere else. He said: “We need to find a way to make it more sustainable.”

Mr Allum, founder of the Paraplanner Powwows, also revealed more details about the third national event in September and the expansion of the movement this week.