Gloucestershire County Cricket Club’s Bristol HQ, initially known as Ashley Down Ground and bought in 1889 by the mighty batsman and former England captain, will be the venue for the event. It the latest regional spin off of the ‘unconference’ since it started in 2013.
The new Powwow has been organised by Lewys Richards DipPFS, a Paraplanner at Prism IFA and Andy Marshall, a Paraplanner at Ovation Finance. Both have attended the national Powwows.
The target is to get 20 to 30 Paraplanners to attend, meaning plenty of discussion, while letting everyone be heard, they said. Though if interest is higher, they aim to do what they can to accommodate everyone.
Mr Richards told Financial Planning Today: “I’ve been following the progress of the Powwows for a couple of years, as they appeared to be a fantastic source of information for budding Paraplanners. However, I always found them too far away to practically attend."
He said: “These events are about real people who all do the same job, coming together to help and learn from each other. If any Paraplanners in the region want to learn new techniques on how to make their lives and jobs easier, this is the event they need to attend.
“One of the key differences between this event and others in the industry is that the Powwows are not organised by providers, life companies or fund managers. We’re not offering a little bit of CPD, followed by a sales pitch.”
Mr Marshall, who attended the National Powwows in 2013, 2014 and 2015, said these had been “extremely useful”.
He said: “The collaboration between Paraplanners, of all different styles, provides lots of help and ideas for how to do our jobs. I decided to get involved and organise one in the South West because we haven’t had one before and I want it to happen.
“The event is organised by Paraplanners for Paraplanners. It is for us to discuss the issues that we face on a day-to-day basis doing our jobs. Those could be technical, administrative or in the relationships with their advisors or other team members. We will conduct a poll prior to the event to establish what the people would like to discuss.
“A very important factor is that Powwows are always conducted on a Chatham House rules basis. In other words, what happens at Powwow stays at Powwow.”
The event takes place at 3pm on 17 November at the Bristol Pavilion at Gloucestershire Cricket's Brightside ground. It will last two hours.
Tickets for can be booked via the official Paraplanners Powwow website.