Paraplanner

Salary: Up to £41,700 dependent on skills and experience. Permanent. Enjoy True Flexibility – Hybrid Working with a Birmingham City Centre Base, working to a 40% office presence each month. Currently 2 days in the office per week.

As a proud mutual since 1841, Wesleyan is committed to creating brighter financial futures for our customers and members. We specialise in providing financial services to some of the nation’s most trusted professions: GPs, hospital doctors, dentists, and teachers.

We are proud supporters of the ABI Making Flexible Work campaign which means we are open to discuss flexible working, job shares and part time options.

Your role:

As a Paraplanner, you’ll work closely with Wesleyan’s Specialist Financial Advisers, supporting them and their clients through the delivery of holistic financial advice. We’re looking for someone with substantial experience in paraplanning or a background in directly advising clients—ideally in the capacity of an Independent Financial Adviser (IFA). You’ll focus on the more complex areas of financial planning, including estate planning, retirement planning, investment replacement and pension switching. In this role, you’ll provide robust technical support to ensure advice is both appropriate and fully evidenced, meeting Wesleyan’s standards. This requires a deep, up‑to‑date understanding of regulatory expectations and the ability to interpret and apply these confidently in practice.

What you’ll be doing:

• Responsibility for preparing case documentation, conducting research, analysis (including estate planning, taking pension benefits, pension switching and investment replacement), relevant calculations and creating Suitability Reports to comply with internal and external compliance requirements based on the details of advice given, client circumstances and business standards.
• When required prepare application forms and product information packs to be used by a consultant during their presentation of advice meeting with a client.
• Ensure all service standards and KPIs are met.
• Updating point of sale systems with data, notes and other information obtained either personally or by a consultant as required.
• Assist with providing a web based, telephone and email support helpline for complex cases.
• Provide technical support and guidance to field-based staff for:

• estate planning advice
• investment replacement and pension switching
• pension and retirement advice

Qualifications and Skills:

• Level 4 Diploma in Financial Advice or equivalent (consideration will be given to part qualified candidates with suitable experience).
• Proven analytical and feedback skills.
• Technically proficient in more complex advice areas such as estate planning, commercial advice, retirement and at retirement advice, replacement analysis for protection, investment and pension plans.
• Understanding of pension products.
• Knowledge of annual allowance and lifetime allowance.
• Have experience writing suitability reports and compiling client case files.
• Be a quick learner, able to pick up different computer packages and be competent with Microsoft programs such as Outlook, Word, Excel and Exchange.
• Ability to communicate effectively with colleagues at all levels of the business.
• Work well as part of a team and accept a shared responsibility for colleagues' workloads, to ensure that workload imbalances are managed effectively and do not impact negatively on customer service.
• A conscientious person, with a keen eye for detail.
• Ability to self-motivate, work independently, demonstrate initiative together with an organised and flexible approach to work.

Benefits:

• Annual Performance based Bonus – based on a mixture of company and personal performance.
• 28 days annual leave (plus 1 additional “culture day” & bank holidays) – increases to 30 days with 5 years’ service.
• Company pension scheme - matched plus 2% (up to 10%).
• Free secure underground Birmingham city centre parking (available on weekends for personal use – subject to availability).
• Cashback and discounts on major brands in retail, leisure, health, and wellbeing.
• Enhanced maternity & paternity pay.
• 2 volunteering days per year.

What to know before applying:

• Equal Opportunities: Wesleyan are an equal opportunities employer. We know the best teams are made up of inclusive groups of diverse people where everyone’s contribution counts, and we believe everyone has the right to proudly be themselves. We’re building a culture where difference is actively encouraged and simply recruit the best people for the job irrespective of lifestyle, life history and life choices.
• Reasonable Adjustments: We understand that there are a wide range of reasons that you may require reasonable adjustments to the recruitment process- please let us know in your application how we can best support you.
• VISA Sponsorship: We are unable to provide VISA sponsorship and therefore cannot employ anyone who does not have the legal right to live and work in the UK – within our recruitment process you will be asked to provide evidence of your Right to Work.
• Advert Closing: We typically advertise for two weeks, though we reserve the right to close adverts early if we receive a high volume of applications; we therefore recommend an early application if you’d like to be considered for our opportunities.
• Regulatory Requirements: Please note this role is subject to regulatory requirements. As a financial services organisation we are committed to adopting the highest standards and we do this by employing individuals with the appropriate skills, experience and integrity to protect the Wesleyan Group and our customers. Relevant checks and assessments will be carried out during the recruitment process. The nature of the checks will depend on whether the role is subject to the Senior Managers and Certification Regime (SMCR) or the Insurance Distribution Directive. Please note a criminal record check and credit check will apply and this role is also subject to ongoing checks in line with the Group SMCR Framework (Fit & Proper Policy).