Paraplanners want to see the creation of a unified standard for their profession, including a minimum level of qualification, and have even suggested creating their own distinct professional body, Financial Planner Online has been told.

These were some of the key suggestions to emerge from leading members of the Paraplanning community as they gathered last week for a major conference.
What comes next for the burgeoning profession was at the forefront of the debate at the second national Powwow, held in teepees in Northamptonshire countryside.
Organiser Richard Allum said: "One of the matters discussed was Paraplanning as a profession for the future and some really interesting things came out.
"People were very positive on the future. For most who were at the event their career is as a Paraplanner, so it's seen now as a career in its own right.

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"However, there is no unified definition of Paraplanner and we talked about should there be minimum qualification? Should it be regulated? That's complicated but there was a consensus that there should be a recognised standard of what constitutes a Paraplanner.
"There's complications around that but there was a majority of people who said Paraplanners should have to get to a certain level, which would help with recognition and also recruiting."
He said currently anyone can claim to be a Paraplanner.
Mr Allum, who sits on the IFP board, said one current route is the IFP's Accredited Paraplanner qualification, but many Paraplanners either already are or aspire to as qualified if not more so than their Financial Planner counterparts.
Another point raised during the debate was whether there should be a professional body just for Paraplanners.
Mr Allum said: "At the moment, we have the IFP and PFS someone said it would be good to have our own body."
He said there were various difficulties and questions around this, including regulation, but added: "The Powwow itself could become the movement which is a voice for Paraplanning."
Mr Allum said: "The other really interesting thing for me that came out was how do we get new blood into Paraplanning.
"There aren't enough good Paraplanners to go around at the moment. Firms want a Paraplanner that can hit the ground running."
He said many of these issues are at the early stages, particularly getting a unified standard for Paraplanners, but he intends to drive it forward.
He said: "Certainly I will be pushing that forward at the IFP and I know Cathi Harrison, who has been elected to the board of the PFS, will be too."