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.
With a fifth of RIA firms using AI to create marketing content, one leading voice argues a clear identity and focusing on clients will be crucial to success.
LPL Financial is a bellwether for the broader financial advice marketplace.
The San Francisco-based startup's Series A funding, with support from Schwab and Edward Jones Ventures, will reinforce its role in the coming $124 trillion wealth transfer.
The quartet of deals across New York, Florida, Ohio, and New Mexico reinforces the fast-growing integrator's leading position in the independent space.
UBS and Wells Fargo have made their own additions in the Northeast, including a Massachusetts duo defecting from Commonwealth.
Orion's Tom Wilson on delivering coordinated, high-touch service in a world where returns alone no longer set you apart.
Barely a decade old, registered index-linked annuities have quickly surged in popularity, thanks to their unique blend of protection and growth potential—an appealing option for investors looking to chart a steadier course through today's choppy market waters, says Myles Lambert, Brighthouse Financial.
