Profile: ‘Paraplanners need to challenge advisers’ First Wealth financial planner Rob Schwarz on the paraplanner to adviser transition and giving younger employees a voice to entice the next generation By Amanda Newman Smith 12 th February 2021 9:57 am For paraplanners, trying to strike a balance between helping advisers and avoiding the financial services equivalent of cajoling ‘oh look there, you’ve missed a bit’ is not always easy. Nobody likes a backseat driver, but a paraplanner who takes the initiative and makes advisers’ lives a bit easier as a result – now that’s a different story. What’s not to like? First Wealth financial planner Rob Schwarz joined the London-based firm as a paraplanner in 2017, so has experienced the dynamics of the adviser-paraplanner relationship from both sides of the fence. While he accepts there is a fine line between paraplanners wanting to help without taking over and doing the adviser’s job, he thinks the best paraplanners are those who provide their own input into the advice process.