Raymond James has taken a significant step forward in supporting advisors' ability to deliver comprehensive planning with the addition of a new service. Through its new paraplanning services offering, the firm is providing on-demand, in-house support from experienced paraplanning professionals, enabling them to further integrate financial planning into their practice.
The service, which is based out of Raymond James' St. Petersburg, Florida, headquarters, is designed to assist advisors in leveraging the firm’s goal planning and monitoring software tool to create detailed financial plans for clients.
“Raymond James was founded on the belief that clients deserve advice that considers their entire financial picture, and that principle is still at our core today," Frank McAleer, senior vice president of wealth planning at Raymond James, said in a statement. "Paraplanning Services are designed to help advisors more efficiently leverage and scale our robust planning capabilities."
To accommodate various financial planning needs and objectives, Raymond James is offering two levels of engagement through its paraplanning services. Advisors can opt for hourly services, which include the ability to transfer client financial plans from other software or tools into the goal planning and monitoring tool, or to input new client and prospect data.
Under the comprehensive service option, advisors can collaborate with a paraplanner to build a new plan or analyze an existing plan. Paraplanners may also co-present the plan or findings directly to clients under this option.
“Paraplanning Services creates capacity for advisors to focus on holistic financial planning for their clients at various phases of their business," said Lindsay Noah, director of paraplanning at Raymond James.
The Raymond James announcement reflects a broader trend of enhancing advisors' capabilities and efficiencies through specialized support services.
In April 2022, LPL Financial announced its own paraplanning service for advisors. Under that service, LPL paraplanners support advisors by performing data entry into financial planning software – such as eMoney, WealthVision, MoneyGuidePro and Right Capital – leading to insights and financial plans advisors can provide to their clients.
Later in 2022, LPL also announced a private client service network, which lets advisors access "a carefully curated register of companies that can provide help to serve the sophisticated and complex needs of their high-net-worth clients," and a bookkeeping service that matches advisors with industry-trained bookkeepers who appreciate the unique needs of their business.
A $141M judgment and a federal asset freeze collide over one shrinking pool
The firm's CFO and EVP of Wealth Management Solutions are the latest executives to exit the broker-dealer.
Clients are saying they would consider switching advisors if another professional offered estate planning services, according to a new Trust & Will survey.
CEO Laurel Taylor says the fintech's composable AI stack helps workers optimize dollars across Trump Accounts, 529s, 401(k)s, and other employee benefits.
The bank has swiped three private banking veterans from BNY as the city climbs the ranks of America's fastest-growing wealth hubs.
Dan Biagini of American Equity says the steady decline of pensions, longer lifespans and a reset in interest rates are rewriting how advisors build retirement income
Direct indexing is on pace to outgrow ETFs and mutual funds. Northern Trust's Ken Lassner explains why the advisors who get it wish they had started sooner.
