Paraplanner Location: Redwood City, CA (in office) | Full-time | Reports to: Director of Financial Planning
Compensation: $70,000 - $94,000 base salary, depending on experience, plus annual performance bonus eligibility and benefits.
Position Overview: Pettinelli Financial Partners (PFP) is a boutique, team-based wealth management firm. The Paraplanner is the technical and preparation engine behind our client meetings: you will gather data, build and update financial plans, prepare every meeting thoroughly, document what happens, and make sure follow-up gets done. You will support all of our advisors, attend client meetings, and work closely with our client service team, serving the families PFP knows best-special needs families, business owners and the next generation of clients-and helping them "plan wisely, live fully."
This is the first step on PFP's planning career path (Paraplanner Associate Advisor Service Advisor Lead Financial Advisor Partner), with a target of about three years in the role before moving into an Associate Advisor position.
Duties & ResponsibilitiesMeeting Preparation & Follow-Up- Prepare client meetings for all advisors following PFP's case preparation process-gathering documents, updating data, and producing pre-meeting summaries and agendas thoroughly, accurately and on time.
- Complete beneficiary and contact reviews and confirm beneficiary information before pre-meeting summaries are prepared.
- Attend client meetings, take notes, and take an active role over time-such as presenting beneficiary or contact reviews.
- Log meeting notes in CRM system within 24 hours of every meeting and send post-meeting summaries and action items on time.
- Manage, delegate and complete all meeting follow-up items, and track your meetings in the team appointment tracker.
Financial Planning Support- Support the financial planning needs of clients, including:
- Gathering data and working with clients' other advisors (attorneys, CPAs, etc.) to obtain everything needed for planning analyses.
- Entering and maintaining client data in eMoney and preparing retirement, cash flow, education, insurance and estate analyses for advisor review.
- Special-request analyses (e.g., mortgage refinancing, early retirement, Social Security claiming).
- Obtaining documents for investment and protection policy reviews.
- Drafting financial plans and identifying planning opportunities for advisors to discuss with clients.
- Set up and support clients on the eMoney client portal, and use eMoney reports in client deliverables.
- Support estate planning engagements (document gathering, drafting support and review).
- Prepare insurance research and illustrations, and support underwriting follow-up.
Client Service & Coordination- Initiate and field client calls on planning items, document requests and general questions, as appropriate.
- Submit complete, accurate service requests to the client service team (account changes, beneficiary and trust updates, claims and transfers) and follow them through to completion.
- Set up and maintain client, trust and entity records in CRM system according to firm standards.
- Support new-client onboarding through PFP's process and log leads and new households accurately in CRM system.
Documentation, Process & Compliance- Follow PFP's CRM system task standards: log a note on every task before completing or reassigning it, keep due dates current, and avoid past-due items.
- Use the firm's technology stack-Salesforce, eMoney, Wealth.com, Zocks meeting notes, SharePoint and Zoom Phone-as designed.
- Follow all firm, LPL Financial and Stratos Wealth Partners compliance requirements, including annual compliance training.
- Assist with special projects and process improvements as needed.
Team & Professional Development- Actively engage in periodic planning team meetings, and contribute in open discussion.
- Learn from advisor debriefs and serve as an accountability partner to teammates.
- Participate in a professional organization such as the Financial Planning Association (firm-supported).
- Contribute ideas that strengthen PFP's culture, client experience and processes.
What We Offer- A defined career path with published pay ranges for each level, and raises for promotions and for licenses and designations earned.
- Firm-sponsored licensing exams and CFP education support.
- Hands-on mentorship from experienced CFP professionals and a collaborative team environment.
- Competitive benefits package.
- 401k with employer matching
- Generous PTO and Paid Holidays
- Medical, Dental & Vision coverage (70% of employee premium is employer paid, 50% of dependent coverage is employer paid)
- $1,300 Annual Wellness Benefit
- Tax-Advantaged Savings: Take advantage of Healthcare and Dependent Care FSAs, plus HSAs for eligible employees.
Qualifications- Bachelor's degree, preferably in finance, business, accounting, economics or a related field, or equivalent experience.
- 1+ year of professional experience, preferably in financial services, tax, accounting or client service.
- Licenses: SIE within 6 months of hire, and Series 7, Series 66 and California Life, Accident & Health within 12 months of hire (firm-sponsored). Candidates who already hold licenses are preferred.
- Interest in pursuing the CFP certification; tax or accounting background is a plus.
- Proficiency in Microsoft Office; experience with financial planning software (eMoney preferred) and a CRM (Salesforce, Redtail, Wealthbox preferred).
Other Skills & Experience- Continuously exhibits personal integrity and professional initiative.
- Reliable-follows through on commitments, meets deadlines and embraces new challenges.
- Organized and detail-oriented; able to manage a high volume of tasks and meetings and keep priorities current.
- Commitment to accuracy and high-quality work.
- Communicates proactively-keeps advisors and teammates informed, and raises issues early.
- Excellent written and verbal communication.
- Coachable-seeks out and acts on feedback.
- Collaborative, flexible team player who is adaptable to change and open to new ideas.
- Thrives in an entrepreneurial, small-firm environment.
- Possesses a passion for helping clients; upholds PFP's purpose, vision and values.
