When you picture financial advice, you probably think of your adviser: the person you meet, talk to, and trust with your goals. But great advice is rarely a one-person job. Behind every strong, reliable Flying Colours financial plan is a team of specialists working together to help ensure your plan is suitable, and your money is managed with care and precision.
One part of that team plays a particularly specialised role: paraplanners. They are the people who research, test and refine every recommendation before it reaches you. Their work is detailed, analytical, and essential to getting your plan right. And recently, our work in this area has been recognised nationally. Flying Colours Advice’s paraplanning team was named Paraplanning Service of the Year at the 2025 Money Marketing Awards, an achievement that celebrates the depth, rigour and client focus our team brings to every plan.
This award matters because it reflects exactly what our clients value most: thorough, well-researched financial plans that clearly set out and explain the advice we provide.
The experts behind your financial plan
Paraplanners are often described as the “engine room” of financial advice, and for good reason. Once your adviser understands your goals, risk level, and priorities, they work closely with the paraplanning team to build the best financial plan for you. Depending on an individual’s objectives and priorities, the paraplanning team research investment options and providers, test tax strategies, and model how your financial future could unfold under different scenarios.
Think of it as turning your adviser’s recommendations into a fully engineered blueprint for you. A paraplanner will support the advice process with critical work and might analyse whether your pensions are structured efficiently, check that your ISA allowances are being used in full, or assess whether a protection policy fits your needs. They are also responsible for playing a key role in ensuring that every Flying Colours plan is in each clients’ best interests and will deliver good outcomes aligned with their objectives.
In recent years, paraplanners have begun stepping further into the spotlight, taking on more responsibility within advice firms and gaining recognition for their technical expertise. As FT Adviser reports, paraplanners are increasingly seen as integral to the delivery of high-quality, compliant advice rather than simply support staff.
How paraplanning makes your financial plan stronger
Behind the scenes, paraplanners are constantly undertaking research and analysis so your plan stays on track. A high-quality paraplanning process brings several tangible benefits that can directly improve your financial outcomes.
Less room for error or bias
Every element of the advice process, from investment wrapper and product to tax relief and risk level, is cross-checked. Assumptions are questioned and validated, mitigating the risk of any oversight in the process to ensure that what’s recommended is what’s best for you. This process is backed up by independent industry research, such as NextWealth’s Financial Advice Business Benchmarks 2024, that shows that firms investing in strong paraplanning and research functions tend to deliver greater consistency and improved client outcomes.
Adaptability in a changing world
Rules, tax thresholds, and pension regulations change frequently. A paraplanner plays a key role in ensuring your plan is aligned with these shifts, ensuring it’s accurate and effective. For example, changes to capital gains or dividend tax allowances could affect the most tax-efficient way to draw income, and pension legislation changes may influence long-term retirement planning. Paraplanners monitor these developments and assist your adviser with updates, so your financial plan works as intended.
Confidence and transparency
Knowing that your plan is built on clear, documented logic helps to give you peace of mind. You can see the reasoning behind each recommendation and understand how every element contributes to your wider priorities and goals.
Efficiency and scalability
Because paraplanners handle much of the technical analysis, advisers can spend more time exploring and understanding your circumstances in order to help you develop your financial plans. This balance ensures your advice is both personal and driven by data. As Verve explains, paraplanners support better advice delivery by managing research, modelling, and report preparation, so advisers can focus fully on client relationships.
Consistency across client journeys
Whether you begin planning early in your career, mid-life, or closer to retirement, at Flying Colours Advice, you benefit from the same high standards, research methods and review processes. The frameworks created by our paraplanners ensure that every client, regardless of stage or complexity, receives the same depth of attention and technical care.
Put simply, paraplanning gives your financial plan strength, structure and clarity. It helps set out how you turn long-term ambitions into achievable strategies backed by evidence.
Award-winning paraplanning you can rely on
Our paraplanning team’s national award for Paraplanning Service of the Year is more than recognition, it’s proof that our approach can make a measurable difference to clients. The award celebrates firms that demonstrate consistent quality, attention to detail, and genuine client focus, all of which define how we operate at Flying Colours Advice.
Every recommendation we make goes through a detailed review. Paraplanners check calculations, test assumptions and challenge each other’s findings before any plan is finalised and drafted. They also monitor updates from the FCA and HMRC, ensuring your plan is compliant and tax efficient.
A combination of diligence and collaboration allows us to deliver advice which is both technically correct and personally relevant. For our clients, that means confidence that every aspect of their plan has been tested and checked by experts working together on their behalf.
Experience the value of a whole-team approach
When you work with Flying Colours Advice, you are not just working with your adviser. You are also benefiting from the support of a full team: other advisers, paraplanners, administrators, and compliance professionals, all of whom contribute to the process which sits behind the building and delivery of your plan.
Our team approach means your strategy is backed by high quality processes and experienced people who understand how to bring a plan together. It is how we make sure your financial plan is built to last, and why so many clients choose to stay with us year after year.
If you are ready to experience the difference that the Flying Colours Advice team can make, book your free consultation today. Together, we will build a plan that gives you clarity, confidence and lasting peace of mind.
Please note:
This article is for general information only and does not constitute advice. The information is aimed at retail clients only.
All information is correct at the time of writing and is subject to change in the future.
The value of your investments (and any income from them) can go down as well as up and you may not get back the full amount you invested. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. Investments should be considered over the longer term (minimum of 5 years) and should fit in with your overall risk profile and financial circumstances.
A pension is a long-term investment not normally accessible until 55 (57 from April 2028). The fund value may fluctuate and can go down, which would have an impact on the level of pension benefits available. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.