The fifth IFP Paraplanner Conference is set to take place in the Midlands.

Tomorrow is the main event, with speakers starting from 9.20am, though a pre-conference workshop is happening today at 2pm.

Tonight there will a conference dinner at Chesford Grange Hotel, Warwick.

Dozens of Paraplanners are expected to attend the event with experts such as Rory Percival, from the FCA and IFP board member Melony Holman CFPCM, from Compliance & Training Solutions, among the key speakers.

Neil MacGillivray, chairman of AMPS, from James Hay Partnership, will explore how pension freedoms are turning pension planning on its head.

Sue Whitbread, IFP communications director, said: "The Paraplanner Conference is five years old this year so there will be plenty to celebrate as well as to learn and people to meet. We hope this year's conference will be our biggest and best yet."

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Dan Atkinson from EQ Investors won the IFP Paraplanner of the Year award last year and will be among the speakers.

He said: "Events like this equip us with technical knowledge, but more than that they encourage us to think about the big picture. The day-to-day pressures of work sometimes mean that we don't have the space to consider some of the topics in the detail that they warrant.

"For example, how often do we get to step back and ask the question: what do our clients want from our service?

"David Flory from AEGON will be helping us answer that question and think about the future of Financial Planning."

He said the session he is most looking forward to is 'nuts about data – data visualisation' with data journalist David McCandless.

Mr Atkinson said: "One of the challenges Paraplanners have is to distil complex data in a way that provides useful outcomes.

"Many clients think in a visual way, yet we still present pages of text and numbers.

"I hope to take away some insights to share with my colleagues."

He added: "Paraplanning is in a very exciting place and I can't wait to see what the conference holds."