Paraplanner

Role overview

An established financial services brokerage is seeking an experienced and technically capable Paraplanner to provide comprehensive support to its Financial Planners and wider advisory team.

The Paraplanner plays a critical role throughout the financial-planning process, ensuring advice is technically sound, accurately documented, compliant and implemented efficiently. The role covers financial-plan preparation, Records of Advice, investment and product research, retirement modelling, estate-planning documentation, risk comparisons, portfolio analysis, client reviews and implementation follow-through.

The successful candidate will work with a high degree of independence and accountability, enabling Financial Planners to focus on client relationships, strategic advice and business growth.

Note: location, working arrangement and remuneration are to be confirmed by the client.

Key responsibilities

Technical financial planning — Prepare Records of Advice, comprehensive financial plans and client-review documentation. Develop investment, retirement and risk-planning recommendations. Conduct tax calculations and retirement modelling. Prepare estate-planning documentation, risk comparisons, quotations, portfolio analysis and Morningstar investment-research reports.

Client reviews and adviser support — Proactively manage annual client-review schedules, ensure advisers are fully prepared before meetings, prepare meeting packs and technical reports, record meeting outcomes, and monitor the implementation of advice until completion.

Client relationship management — Build trusted client relationships, respond to enquiries within agreed service standards, and liaise with investment houses, insurers and retirement-fund administrators to obtain information required for advice preparation.

Investment and retirement planning support — Review portfolios, prepare investment comparisons and research, support retirement-needs calculations and income projections, and assess portfolio suitability against objectives and risk profiles.

Risk and estate-planning support — Prepare risk-needs analyses and quotations, compare life, disability, severe-illness and income-protection solutions, prepare estate-planning calculations and identify estate-liquidity and beneficiary-planning considerations.

Advice implementation — Coordinate implementation of approved recommendations, prepare and check application documentation, submit instructions to providers and platforms, and monitor applications from submission to completion.

Compliance and risk management — Ensure every client file is advice-ready and audit-ready, maintain accurate records within Elite Wealth, keep FICA documentation current, and apply FAIS, FICA, POPIA and TCF principles.

Minimum requirements

• BCom degree in Financial Planning, Finance, Investment Management, Commerce or a related field.
• Minimum of 3–5 years’ experience in a paraplanning or technical financial-planning role.
• Previous experience within an independent financial-planning or wealth-management practice.
• Experience preparing Records of Advice and financial plans.
• Experience with investment, retirement and risk-planning recommendations.
• Strong understanding of FAIS, FICA and financial-services compliance.
• Ability to work independently and manage technical assignments.
• Strong numerical and analytical ability, with high accuracy and attention to detail.

Preferred qualifications

• Postgraduate Diploma in Financial Planning.
• RE5 certificate, particularly where the role includes regulated advice or representative activities.
• Experience using Elite Wealth and preparing Morningstar reports.
• Exposure to estate-planning calculations, tax calculations and retirement modelling.
• Experience attending client meetings and working with high-net-worth clients.
• Progress toward the CFP® designation.

Systems exposure

Elite Wealth, financial-planning software, adviser platforms, investment-management company portals, insurer portals, retirement-fund administrator systems, CRM and client-record systems, Microsoft Outlook, Word, Excel and Teams, and electronic document-management and workflow tools.

Skills and competencies

• Strong financial-planning knowledge with sound analytical and numerical ability.
• Ability to interpret complex financial information and identify planning gaps.
• Professional client communication and stakeholder management.
• Strong time management, prioritisation and reliable follow-through.
• Ability to anticipate adviser requirements.

Personal attributes

High attention to detail, accountability and ownership, initiative and independence, professional maturity, integrity and confidentiality, resilience and a solutions-focused mindset. The strongest candidate will be proactive rather than reactive.