Paraplanner

Role overview

Wedgewood Brokers 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.