Dragonfly

 Adam Young  Business owner of Dragonfly Planning:  Financial planning business  Creates relationships with clients to help them achieve their personal goals  Building enduring relationships  Personal career path:  Left school at 16 with 4 GCSEs  Entered retail banking sector at Barclays  Joined insurance brokerage in 1989  Bought out owner & re-engineered business into a financial planning business

 Setting the scene for financial planning?  Traditionally in the UK financial products have been distributed through sales channels set up by retail banks, insurance companies or predominantly small adviser firms  Around the 1980s a more holistic form of distribution was introduced centring around goal oriented cashflow planning, providing a more comprehensive overview to the clients’ circumstances and introducing a broader range of solutions not necessarily product related  In addition the Retail Distribution Review has caused a re- alignment within the industry to increase professionalism, qualifications and transparency around charges

 Exploring the goals and ambitions of clients  Understanding threats and risks to the family’s financial landscape  Establishing a lifelong cashflow forecast  Understanding their attitude to risk  Creating a strategy to align their objectives  Implementing agreed solutions  Reviewing planning and affairs (typically annually)

 Private Banks  Wealth management firms  Retail Banks  Insurance companies  Employee Benefit Firms  Large advisory firms (often embedded within accountancy/legal firms)  Networks  Small firms  Sole traders

 Administrator  Paraplanner  Research & Reports  Cashflow Planning Reports  Compliance Officer  Client Relationship Manager  Asset Manager  Financial Adviser  Management

 Gain an understanding of the profession  Align your own skills and passions  Need for qualifications requires commitment  Change is constant (prepare to evolve)  Don’t underestimate the soft skills that are required to advise in an emotive environment  Regulatory framework provides structure but can also be restrictive

A number of factors are presently changing, however:  Paraplanning set at level 4 entry (foundation certificate in financial planning plus tax paper) ▪ This is currently changing and it is likely that most employers would request the new diploma ▪ To be a good paraplanner requires good administration skills and therefore someone entering into paraplanning without level 4 may want to start on their pathway by following courses on administration skills and learning on the job

 To advise as an intermediary from 2013 requires a Level 4 qualification from a recognised accredited professional body such as CII and IFS

Through the Institute of Financial Planning (by way of example):  Certified Financial Planner designation requires:  Diploma entry together with an exam and case study  Fellowship requires:  Exam route as a CFP or chartered professional or  A Masters at MMU (will require a thesis or dissertation)