The financial services industry will undoubtedly adopt AI early. A service industry, employing well well-paid professionals, makes AI attractive to CEOs looking to improve margins.  Paraplanning, a critical component of the financial advice industry, which firms have historically struggled to hire staff for, may be no exception. AI could revolutionise the way paraplanners work, enhancing their efficiency, accuracy, and overall value. It may impact on jobs, but as we’ve seen time and time again with fintechs, human oversight is still all important and humans are irreplaceable when it comes to building relationships (which are often both internal and external).

We see AI as aiding paraplanners, and here are some of the areas we can see AI having some impact.

AI-powered automation will streamline repetitive and time-consuming tasks in paraplanning. Things like as data gathering, report generation, and compliance checks can now be automated, freeing up valuable time for paraplanners to focus on more complex and value-added activities. By automating routine tasks, AI enables paraplanners to increase productivity, improve turnaround times, and enhance client service.

In time, Paraplanners will be able to leverage AI algorithms to process complex financial data, identify patterns, and generate meaningful analytics. AI-powered tools can provide deep analysis of investment portfolios, risk assessment models, and financial planning scenarios, empowering paraplanners to make informed decisions and offer tailored recommendations to clients. This additional data, and time savings, will enable paraplanners to provide personalised financial planning services at scale. By analysing client data, preferences, and financial goals, AI algorithms can generate personalised recommendations and investment strategies. Customisation enhances client experiences, fosters trust, and increases the likelihood of achieving clients' financial objectives. However, time and complexity often hinders this personalisation and AI may provide some solution to both.

We feel one key area AI will have a large impact, and technology to an extent already is, is around compliance and regulatory support. Compliance is a critical aspect of paraplanning. AI can streamline compliance processes by automating regulatory checks, flagging potential violations, and ensuring adherence to complex regulations. AI-powered tools can monitor changes in regulatory frameworks, given they are rules based, and help paraplanners stay up to date with evolving compliance requirements and reducing the risk of non-compliance. Currently, understanding regulation means firms have to hire experience individuals, who can be costly. Be improving the tools available, firms may have more flexibility in their hiring decisions.

Many of the improvements we can envisage are around saving paraplanners time. Will that lead to less paraplanners been required? Perhaps. Perhaps, though, new roles will evolve and the battle ground will be around customer experience and value add. AI will still need significant human oversight. It won’t be able to guage the nuisance for some time around some ethical decisions. However, firms need to think now about where their industry is going and what they want their client journey and experience to look like and where paraplanners sit in this plan.