No. of Paraplanners in UK

Gustavo_Fring

I'm thinking about either talking or writing about the history of Paraplanning (haven't deciided the medium yet) and how it is progressing as a profession. Does anyone have any ideas of where I might be able to get figures on the number of Paraplanner in the UK over the last 10/20 years for example? I want something tangible to show we are a growing profession.

Thanks

arongunningham

Can't say I've seen anything concrete. Trouble is, the Paraplanner role has evolved (and is still doing so), so the definition varies depending on who you ask.

richallum

Hard to say for reasons @arongunningham says. IFP had about 300 of their membership identifying as PPs in 2015 (c10% of membership). PFS last time I heard said about 3,000 (c10% of their membership). We have 1,100+ registered on here but they're not all PPs.

benjaminfabi

I think Richard's data is great.

Also, do a search for paraplanner/paraplanning on companies house and look at the incorporation dates by year. Loads of outsourced services in recent years.

Plus, we have specific qualification tracks with the two largest professional bodies (PFS and CISI) and dedicated microsites with certain providers.

richallum

You might find this useful background info. Was written 10 years ago but good on background stuff.

Gustavo_Fring

Thanks all - useful suggestions. I'll see if I can get some recent IFP/PFS etc. numbers for comparison purposes. I took Benjamin's suggestion on board and typed in 'Paraplanning' on companies House and the results are as follows:

2008: 2
2009: 2
2010: 4
2011: 2
2012: 8
2013: 20
2014: 15
2015: 23
2016: 20
2017: 27
2018: 10 for January and February only - so well on course for the biggest number yet.

Obviously a very rough guide but clear that the outsourcing aspect is growing.

Gustavo_Fring

PFS:

Membership breakdown by main functional role:

65% are providing retail investment advice
9% are paraplanners
5% are in compliance
4% provide product / service advice
4% provide Mortgage / protection advice

Caro

These figures were updated last year, of the 36,000 PFS members: 

58% are financial planners
11% are paraplanners
7% are in compliance
3% are product / service providers
2% are employee benefits consultants
2% are in research / technical support
3% are in mortgage advising
4% are back office / admin
2% are in business consulting
2% are in finance

I guess it probably moves all the time though, and something we have found at the conferences is quite a lot of the paraplanners who come aren't members. Perhaps some sort of research poll is in order!