A Financial Planning business is launching a new Paraplanner traineeship scheme designed to fast track new entrants into the profession.

Standard Life’s Financial Planning arm, 1825, has already got a Financial Planning academy underway, as of last summer, and has revealed plans to bring in 10 Paraplanners from August.

The trainees will embark on a 12 month training scheme, with the aim of securing a permanent role afterwards.

The firm took on five Financial Planning trainees last year, with another 12 this year to start between May and August. For these 12 roles there were 225 applicants.

Marie Calvin, 1825 national academy manager, told Financial Planning Today they were considering an intake for December as well as due to the big demand.

She said: “From my point of view the launch of the academy is to try to play a role in the sustainability of the financial advice sector.

“We want to be able to secure the future of the high quality firms we are developing and acquiring. We want people to see that a career in Financial Planning is a great choice.

“At 1825 we haven’t had to do anything other than advertise on the website and on careers page, we’ve been really delighted with volumes of applicants we’ve had. It’s encouraging to see there’s a strong interest in Financial Planning.”

Financial Planning trainees undergo a two year structured programme designed to give knowledge and skills to help them become a Financial Planning professional. They undertake a CII registered diploma.

The Paraplanner trainees have a shorter one year development programme – gaining a certificate in Paraplanning through four CII diploma level exams in that period.

Ms Calvin said: “Many firms do a brilliant job of bringing people through the ranks but it takes a lot of resources and time and energy to ensure you can train someone to being fully capable of being a professional Paraplanner. We’re trying to put them in a bit of a fast track programme.

“Every year we’re looking to try to take in new intakes, we know the customer demand for Financial Planning will exceed supply. As we try to grow firms there’s potential that we might need more Financial Planners and Paraplanners.”

In terms of the backgrounds of the trainees that have been taken on so far, age range is quite diverse and not all are graduate entries, she said.

They typically have customer service or relationship manager experience and some have been in financial services over 10 years but hadn’t moved into Financial Planning despite having strong interest.

The academy, which was launched April 2015, has four managers.

Ms Calvin, who spent 16 years at Standard Life, before taking her new role in April last year at 1825, said: “My academy managers are completely dedicated to ensuring they have a great outcome. We’re very fortunate to be able to offer a structured programme, that’s a differentiator to others.”

Trainees will meet mentors on a monthly basis – across different areas of the business. They will have a chance to ask questions and find out about what mentors do in their own roles.

The new Paraplanning trainees are expected to start in August.