This apprenticeship standard has been approved for delivery by the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education. However, starts on the apprenticeship will only be possible once a suitable end-point assessment organisation (EPAO) has obtained Ofqual recognition. Once the EPAO has obtained Ofqual recognition, funding for apprentice starts will be permitted and this message will be removed.
Contents
Contents
Details of the occupational standard
Occupation summary
Paraplanners and financial planners are found in a range of financial organisations, from large wealth management firms to smaller planning practices. Some firms may offer a wide range of services from a variety of product providers and disclose themselves as independent financial advice (IFA) firms, whereas others may offer a more restricted or specialist range of services across a narrower range of product providers.
Both large and small firms are often supported by umbrella organisations known as networks and service providers who will provide a range of support services, including regulatory infrastructure, technology and technical assistance and consultancy support.
These roles are usually office-based, but may require visits to client premises or virtual working with colleagues and clients online.
The broad purpose of the occupations is to deliver a holistic financial planning service to corporate or individual clients and create personalised solutions designed to deliver their financial needs and objectives. This involves financial planners and paraplanners collaborating to gain a clear understanding of each client’s circumstances and needs, in order to create a financial plan to help them achieve their goals.
Paraplanner and financial planner roles within a firm are collaborative but distinct, and both have an equally vital role in the advice process.
Paraplanner
A paraplanner supports the financial planner in the provision of regulated advice. They use their technical knowledge, expertise and capability to interpret client needs and objectives and undertake extensive research to examine potential financial options whilst utilising a variety of software applications and tools. They rationalise a range of solutions and select those most appropriate in order to create regulatory-compliant, written financial reports that are tailored to the client and clearly explain their financial options. These reports are then used by the financial planner when presenting financial options to the client.
Financial Planner
A financial planner is responsible for the client relationship and uses their knowledge, skills and expertise to understand their client’s circumstances, needs and objectives, in order to provide regulated financial advice. They design, deliver and maintain appropriate financial solutions for the client whilst building trusting and enduring relationships with them. This involves the detailed gathering of hard and soft facts from clients and utilising software applications and tools to research potential solutions and deliver personalised recommendations. This is often done through face-to-face meetings or through online, virtual meetings. As this is a regulated occupation, any solutions, options and recommendations must be delivered to the client in verbal and written format. Financial planners may have additional responsibilities such as adhering to key performance indicators on quality and service standards, or for meeting commercial objectives for the firm by seeking new business opportunities from clients.
In their daily work, an employee in either occupation will interact with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders. Financial planners and paraplanners would typically be integral roles within a finance firm, working alongside compliance and support services and other finance specialists.
Depending on the firm, both can deal with clients, although this would usually only apply to the financial planner who would be responsible for building relationships and rapport with clients.
On a day-to-day basis, paraplanners would typically deal with product providers and fund management groups, while the financial planner is more likely to deal with professional connections such as accountants and solicitors.
An employee in these occupations would be responsible for providing accurate financial planning services in accordance with financial regulations and would demonstrate a high degree of honesty and integrity.
Typical job titles include:
Core occupation duties
| Duty | KSBs |
|---|---|
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Duty 1 Design and or deliver personalised financial planning solutions for clients, based on a thorough understanding of their needs. |
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Duty 2 Conduct Know Your Customer (KYC) activities in line with regulatory and best practice to ensure solutions are appropriate for client circumstances. |
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Duty 3 Establish a financial plan aimed at achieving the clients’ needs and objectives, ensuring any recommended financial products or solutions are suitable and that the advantages, disadvantages, and risks have been clearly explained. |
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Duty 4 Remain up to date with changes to regulation, legislation, taxation, and the financial services market through continuing professional development. |
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Duty 5 Adhere to GDPR and regulatory requirements for collecting and processing client data. |
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Duty 6 Plan and prioritise workload using approved systems and processes within the firm. |
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Duty 7 Develop strong working relationships with all stakeholders, and maintain a client-centric culture to achieve the firm’s objectives. |
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Duty 8 Conduct meetings and present financial plans to clients or internal colleagues in a coherent and compliant manner, ensuring all communications are clear, fair, and not misleading. |
Option duties
Paraplanner duties
| Duty | KSBs |
|---|---|
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Duty 9 Analyse clients’ circumstances, research appropriate solutions, and review options to meet clients’ needs, objectives, and risk profile. |
K2 K3 K7 K8 K9 K10 K11 K12 K16 K17 K18 S2 S3 S6 S7 S9 S11 S12 S13 S14 S15
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Duty 10 Provide technical support and insight to the financial planning, for example, through cash-flow modelling, tax calculations, research, and product analysis. |
S2 S3 S5 S6 S7 S9 S11 S12 S13 S14 S15
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Duty 11 Create financial planning reports and supporting documentation underpinned by technical analysis to be presented to the client, ensuring all communications are clear, fair, and not misleading. |
K2 K3 K7 K9 K10 K11 K12 K17 K18 S2 S3 S7 S9 S11 S12 S13 S14 S15
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Financial Planner duties
| Duty | KSBs |
|---|---|
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Duty 12 Seek new financial planning opportunities for business growth, and develop long-term relationships with clients. |
K2 K4 K6 K8 K10 K11 K19 K20 K21 K22 S2 S3 S6 S7 S9 S10 S16 S17 S18 S19 S20 S21
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Duty 13 Provide advice on suitable investment and product solutions, and conduct ongoing reviews where appropriate. |
K2 K4 K8 K9 K10 K11 K13 K14 K19 K20 K21 K22 S2 S3 S5 S6 S7 S8 S9 S16 S17 S18 S19 S20 S21
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Duty 14 Assess clients’ financial knowledge and experience, attitude to investment risk, and capacity for loss to establish an overall risk profile. |
K2 K3 K5 K7 K8 K9 K10 K11 K12 K13 K14 K16 K19 K20 K21 K22 S2 S3 S7 S9 S16 S17 S18 S19 S20 S21
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KSBs
Knowledge
K1: The role of the financial planner, paraplanner and other supporting roles, for example administrator, compliance officer.
Back to Duty
K2: The structure of the financial services market, including product providers, technology providers and support services.
Back to Duty
K3: The ethics and key principles of the advice process, and different client propositions and advice models, including independent, restricted and non-advised.
Back to Duty
K4: Responsible and sustainable investment solutions.
Back to Duty
K5: The financial services regulatory framework and its application in the advice process.
Back to Duty
K6: Systems and controls to protect the client and the firm, including internal licencing, and service and quality assurance standards.
Back to Duty
K7: Regulated advice standards, methods for building and maintaining client relationships, and the paraplanner or financial planner’s responsibilities in terms of these.
Back to Duty
K8: Methods of researching and analysing financial products and solutions in the UK market, including the intended target market, features and benefits, risks and disadvantages, and suitability for individual clients.
Back to Duty
K9: The significance and importance of Knowing Your Client (KYC), including establishing personal and financial circumstances, level of financial knowledge and experience, and potential vulnerabilities.
Back to Duty
K10: How to establish and prioritise a client’s financial needs and objectives.
Back to Duty
K11: Methods and approaches to assess a client’s knowledge and understanding of investments, attitude to investment risk, capacity for loss, and understanding of their vulnerabilities in relation to their needs and objectives.
Back to Duty
K12: Principles of data analysis, data security, and cyber security to support collation, analysis, and compliant handling of data, the implications of non-compliance, and the importance of working safely online in a financial planning or paraplanning context.
Back to Duty
K13: Purpose, scope and limitations of any in-house or third-party tools used within the financial planning process, and how emerging digital tools could impact the advice process in the future, for example attitude to risk questionnaires, cash flow modelling tools, cost comparison tools, digital tools, AI tools and digital visualisation tools.
Back to Duty
K14: Communication techniques, methods and strategies and the importance of adapting communication style to facilitate understanding for financial and non-financial stakeholders
Back to Duty
K15: How to analyse performance data and metrics effectively using qualitative and quantitative methods.
Back to Duty
K16: Principles and policies of equity, diversity and inclusion in the workplace and their impact on the organisation and their customers.
Back to Duty
K17: Paraplanner – Methods and approaches used to create personalised client-facing documents tailored appropriately to the audience and in line with regulatory and firm standards.
Back to Duty
K18: Paraplanner – How to review and validate the methodology and conclusions drawn from research and analysis.
Back to Duty
K19: Financial Planner – The requirements and practical implications of the Statements of Principle for Approved Persons (APER) and the Fit and Proper Test for Approved Persons (FIT).
Back to Duty
K20: Financial Planner – Approaches to structuring client meetings, handling objections, and providing the required regulatory disclosures.
Back to Duty
K21: Financial Planner – Strategies to establish a client’s views on responsible and sustainable investing, and the impact this may have on available solutions and outcomes.
Back to Duty
K22: Financial Planner – Methods for training, competence, and continued professional development activities for becoming and remaining a regulated adviser.
Back to Duty
Skills
S1: Use software packages and digital tools to deliver financial advice or paraplanning services in line with cyber and data security requirements, using data securely and safely.
Back to Duty
S2: Provide services to clients in line with the business proposition, adhering to Consumer Duty and Treating Customers Fairly (TCF) principles.
Back to Duty
S3: Prepare financial recommendations in accordance with risk, regulatory, and governance requirements.
Back to Duty
S4: Comply with service and quality assurance standards for the business, for example complaints procedures and productivity.
Back to Duty
S5: Communicate with clients and colleagues using methods appropriate for the intended audience, including verbal, written, digital, and virtual.
Back to Duty
S6: Interpret and communicate financial and business information in a way that facilitates understanding for the intended audience, for example finance and non-finance stakeholders.
Back to Duty
S7: Build and maintain collaborative, professional relationships with internal and external stakeholders to deliver advisory tasks and achieve successful customer outcomes.
Back to Duty
S8: Plan and prioritise work to support positive outcomes for both the customer and the firm.
Back to Duty
S9: Provide individual advice relevant to clients in line with regulatory requirements.
Back to Duty
S10: Use feedback to reflect on own practice and identify opportunities for continuous professional development (CPD).
Back to Duty
S11: Paraplanner – Analyse clients’ current circumstances and research appropriate solutions to meet their needs, objectives, and attitudes to risk.
Back to Duty
S12: Paraplanner – Provide financial planning support to colleagues using appropriate market knowledge and available software and research tools.
Back to Duty
S13: Paraplanner – Conduct technical product and fund analysis.
Back to Duty
S14: Paraplanner – Create personalised client-facing financial planning reports that are tailored appropriately to the audience and in line with regulatory and firm standards.
Back to Duty
S15: Paraplanner – Securely maintain client files with evidence of any research and analysis undertaken.
Back to Duty
S16: Financial Planner – Conduct KYC activities to fact-find relevant information and establish clients’ financial needs and objectives, including identifying when and where clients may be experiencing vulnerabilities.
Back to Duty
S17: Financial Planner – Establish overall risk profiles for clients through an understanding of the clients’ financial knowledge and experience, attitude to investment risk, capacity for loss, and understanding of their vulnerabilities.
Back to Duty
S18: Financial Planner – Identify, prioritise, and address clients’ needs in line with regulatory requirements.
Back to Duty
S19: Financial Planner – Deliver advice solutions that support clients in achieving their financial objectives.
Back to Duty
S20: Financial Planner – Collaborate with customers to create new opportunities for business growth, for example through referrals and networking.
Back to Duty
S21: Financial Planner – Establish clients’ views on responsible and sustainable investing and the impact this may have on available solutions and outcomes.
Back to Duty
Behaviours
B1: Acts professionally, ethically, and with integrity.
Back to Duty
B2: Seeks learning opportunities and continuous professional development (CPD) in line with industry requirements.
Back to Duty
B3: Works flexibly and adapts to changing circumstances, including overcoming challenges and responding to setbacks.
Back to Duty
B4: Takes personal responsibility for sustainable outcomes in how they carry out the duties of their role, with reference to environmental good practice.
Back to Duty
B5: Supports an inclusive culture and treats colleagues and external stakeholders fairly and with respect.
Back to Duty
Qualifications
English and Maths
English and maths qualifications must be completed in line with the apprenticeship funding rules.
Other mandatory qualifications
Professional recognition
This standard aligns with the following professional recognition:
- Chartered Insurance Institute for Level 4
- Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment for Level 4
- The London Institute of Banking & Finance for Level 4
Regulated standard
This is a regulated occupation.
Regulator body:
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)
Training provider does not require approval by regulator body
EPAO does not require approval by regulator body
Version log
| Version | Change detail | Earliest start date | Latest start date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.0 | Approved for delivery | 06/05/2025 | Not set |
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