Paraplanner

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 & Responsibilities

Meeting 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.

Pettinelli Financial Partners is an equal opportunity employer.

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.