The talent
operating system
for UK financial
planning
We power the complete talent supply chain — helping students prove their ability, universities improve graduate outcomes, firms hire with confidence, and professionals stay ahead of change.
The UK financial planning profession has a structural problem
Firms can't see applied readiness
CVs and interviews reveal qualifications — not whether someone can reason through a real client case. Every firm is reinventing the same screening process, and mis-hires at entry level cost £15,000–25,000 on average.
Candidates have no way to prove they're ready
Breaking into financial planning is a catch-22. Firms want experience you can't yet have. Talented people are overlooked because there's no standard way to demonstrate applied competence.
Universities can evidence knowledge, not application
Financial planning programmes produce graduates with strong theoretical foundations. But exam results alone don't tell hiring firms whether a graduate can handle a real client case.
PlannerPath addresses all three gaps through a single competency framework — connecting universities, firms and candidates around a shared, objective standard for financial planning readiness.
Consumer Duty has raised the bar on what 'competent' means. Firms need more than exam results as evidence of readiness.
The talent infrastructure for
UK financial planning
Four linked customer groups. One compounding network. The more each group participates, the stronger the platform becomes for all of them.
Why PlannerPath exists
The UK financial planning profession needs new talent. We're building the infrastructure to deliver it — at scale, sustainably, and for everyone.
Financial planning has never had a national home. No standardised entry point. No agreed measure of competency. No infrastructure connecting talent to opportunity — and no platform that serves every part of the supply chain simultaneously.
PlannerPath is that platform. We exist not to add another layer to an already fragmented market, but to replace the missing infrastructure entirely — creating a connected ecosystem where learners prove ability, educators demonstrate outcomes, firms hire with confidence, and professionals upskill for the long term.
This is not a job board. It is not a training provider. It is the talent operating system for a £5.6tn industry — and it is built to last a generation.
Profession First
Every decision we make is in service of elevating paraplanning as a credentialled, respected, and well-compensated career — not a vacancy to fill.
Standardisation with Purpose
The PCI exists not to create bureaucracy but to give candidates a portable, trusted record of who they are professionally — and give firms the confidence to hire on that basis.
Access as Infrastructure
PlannerPath is not a premium product for those already ahead. Through the Impact Fund and Foundations programme, we build infrastructure that works for everyone regardless of background.
Built for the Long Term
We are building the default talent infrastructure for UK financial planning — a platform designed not for a moment, but for a generation of professionals entering the industry.
End-to-end infrastructure for
financial planning talent
Three interconnected capabilities — each valuable alone, transformative together. Built to create value at every stage of the career journey.
The PlannerPath Competency Index
The PCI is PlannerPath's proprietary assessment framework — the first standardised measure of paraplanning competency in the UK market. It gives hiring firms a consistent, objective benchmark, and gives candidates a credentialled, portable record of their professional readiness that travels with them throughout their career.
Aligned to UK regulatory expectations and the demands of live advisory environments, the PCI evaluates candidates across six core domains — from technical knowledge and regulatory compliance to research, professional standards, report writing and full case file performance. Every score is employer-facing, verifiable, and meaningful.
PCI — COMPETENCY DOMAIN SCORES
Built for every part
of the supply chain
Prove ability.
Stand out
A qualification is no longer enough. Firms need to know you can do the job — not just that you studied for it. PlannerPath gives you a simulation-based environment that replicates real advisory firm workflows, and a PCI score that speaks directly to hiring managers in language they trust.
Whether you are a finance graduate, a career-changer, or someone starting out with a Level 4 diploma — PlannerPath gives you the credentialled profile the profession has never had a way to create before.
Join as a Student →Simulation-Based Assessment
Work through real financial planning scenarios that reflect the actual demands of advisory firms — not theoretical exam questions.
PCI Score — Your Professional Passport
A portable, verified competency score across six domains that goes with you throughout your career and grows as you do.
Direct Visibility to Employers
Your profile is visible to firms actively hiring — no middlemen, no generic job boards, no CV guesswork on either side.
A broken talent pipeline
UK Wealth Management Market
£3.5tn in invested assets and £2.1tn in cash savings. One of the UK's most consequential financial sectors.
Advisors expected to retire in the next 5 years
Yet the pipeline to replace them is structurally broken. The workforce is ageing faster than it is being renewed.
Of graduates remain unaware
Of financial planning as a career — there are few spring weeks, no structured internships, no clear entry architecture.
New professionals required
Over the next decade to replace retiring talent — a structural supply crisis that qualifications alone cannot solve.
The financial planning profession faces a crisis that is simultaneously systemic and invisible. While it manages £5.6tn in assets and supports millions of UK households, its talent infrastructure is entirely broken.
Students cannot prove practical ability. Firms rely on CV guesswork. Universities struggle to demonstrate employment outcomes. Professionals lack structured pathways to stay relevant as AI reshapes the industry.
Every part of the supply chain is failing independently. None of them has the tools to fix it alone.
"PlannerPath fixes this broken pipeline with a single, scalable infrastructure."
Breaking down
barriers to opportunity
In the UK, a dynamic and vital wealth planning industry faces a structural talent crisis. Simultaneously, thousands of talented young people are prevented from accessing this high-demand, high-reward profession simply due to financial constraints, geography, or awareness.
PlannerPath's two social impact programmes — the Impact Fund and Foundations — exist to ensure that access to financial planning as a career is determined by ability, not circumstance. Together, they form the social infrastructure layer that sits beneath everything we build.
9–11k
New professionals required to replace retiring workforce over the next decade
90%+
Finance graduates with limited awareness of financial planning as a viable career path
100%
Of Impact Fund proceeds directed to students — administrative costs minimised
Programme One
PlannerPath
Impact Fund
Breaking down barriers to opportunity in wealth planning
The UK wealth planning sector requires thousands of new professionals to replace an ageing workforce approaching retirement. Yet many gifted students are unable to afford the qualifications and training needed to enter the industry — despite their potential.
The Impact Fund was established to break down this barrier. No one's professional future should be defined by their background. Every contribution funds scholarships for talented students from underrepresented or financially constrained backgrounds.
- •Free platform access — full access to industry-aligned simulations and learning resources for eligible candidates
- •PCI Assessment support — verified competency scoring and guided preparation for all Impact Fund scholars
- •Accelerator Programme places — mentorship and exclusive internship access with leading UK wealth management firms for highest achievers
- •Career Development Support — CV workshops, interview preparation, and structured networking with hiring firms
GIVING OPTIONS
Individual giving · Monthly supporters · Annual partners · Corporate sponsorship with named scholarships · Foundation partnerships for systemic social mobility.
Programme Two
PlannerPath
Foundations™
Financial Literacy for Ages 11–15
A national early-intervention programme equipping young people with the knowledge, habits, and confidence to make informed financial decisions for life — closing the financial literacy gap before it begins.
Delivered through schools, community organisations, and corporate-sponsored cohorts, Foundations targets ages 11–15 with five structured modules that are age-appropriate, safeguarded, and entirely free from financial product promotion.
First Earnings
How young people can earn safely and legally. Understanding effort, income, and reward.
Outcome: Students complete a First Earnings Plan
Money Fundamentals
What money is, how it flows. Banks, accounts, digital money, needs vs wants.
Outcome: Students build their first personal budget
Saving & Behaviour
The psychology of spending. Short-term vs long-term thinking. Goal-based saving.
Outcome: Each student sets a 3-month savings goal
The Truth About Debt
What borrowing really means. How interest works. Why credit cards can trap people.
Outcome: Students explain in their own words how debt grows
Future Mindset
How money grows over time. Linking skills, income, and long-term opportunity.
Outcome: Students create a Future Money Map
SAFEGUARDING & COMPLIANCE
Fully aligned with UK child employment rules. No promotion of financial products. Age-appropriate and risk-free. Parent-facing transparency throughout. An early life-skills intervention programme — not a finance course, not a trading programme.
100%
Of proceeds go directly to students.
We minimise administrative costs to maximise social impact.
Regular
Financial reports published.
Full transparency on how funds are allocated and used — with every grant and scholarship tracked.
100%
Results-focused.
We track scholar career progression and share success stories with all donors through regular impact reporting.
Join the PlannerPath pilot
We're onboarding a select group of wealth management firms and universities for our 2026 pilot. Participants receive full platform access, candidate referrals, and a first look at the PCI benchmark data.
Access verified paraplanning candidates
Get early access to PCI-assessed candidates, create firm-specific simulations, and shape how the next generation of paraplanners is assessed.
Express interest as a firmGive students a competitive edge
Embed PlannerPath into your financial planning programme and give graduates verified competency evidence that employers trust.
Express interest as a universityAlready a student? Get started free