May 20, 2025
At Talis IFA we recognise that our independent financial advisers are expected to keep abreast of a wide range of subjects, and so we support them with a ‘behind the scenes’ team of technical support staff (paraplanners), who help to tailor the recommendations we make to help you achieve your financial objectives.
Heading up this team is Paul Lambourn, Talis IFA’s Head of Advice, who joined us in 2024. We sat down for a chat with Paul about why this is important for our clients’ financial outcomes.
Paul has over 25 years’ experience in financial planning (including 15 years as an IFA himself), and he sees his role as integral to delivering the great financial solutions and client service for which we are known.
Paul says, “We’re a bit of a back-stage team in many ways, so many of our clients don’t realise that, by working with a Talis IFA, they are also getting the benefit of expert technical advisers and researchers, whose job is to stay on top of new developments and solutions in the financial market, and to support their IFA with crafting the solutions tailored to their needs.”
Across the UK financial markets, there are over 9,000 solutions and tools available to IFAs, so for any individual IFA, keeping up to date with new developments, as well as meeting the day-to-day needs of all their clients, would be a daunting challenge.
That’s where Paul and his team come in. With constant training and introductions to new solutions in investments, pensions, mortgages and financial protections, they provide extra support when it comes to creating individual recommendations for financial solutions.
Paul also points out, “It’s relatively unusual to have a team like this in a firm the size of Talis IFA, and certainly smaller firms are very rarely able to offer the added value of this level of expertise. Many of our highly qualified paraplanners are, like me, also qualified IFAs, and we all share the Talis IFA ethos of being committed to helping our clients increase their confidence in making financial decisions and achieve financial freedom. At Talis, our IFAs benefit from a second pair of eyes; another expert who may be able to identify an even better alternative – which gives our clients extra confidence that we have recommended the most appropriate options for them. It’s about making it as easy as possible for our advisers to create great outcomes for our clients.”
Part of Paul and his team’s job is to regularly review the financial markets, to keep up-to-date on what’s new and what’s changed, and identify any new solutions that would do a good job for our clients. Since joining, Paul has also had some significant successes in using Talis IFA’s growing reputation to secure access to investment funds that aren’t available to everyone.
“We’ve recently signed partnership agreements with two new discretionary fund advisers,” explains Paul. “These are funds that work with only a handful – around 30 or 40 – of the 5 to 6 thousand firms of IFAs in the UK. Although IFAs have access to a wider pool of options than FAs who are tied to particular funds or financial institutions, some fund managers will only work with certain IFAs. Having attracted the attention of some of those more exclusive partners is a major feather in our cap. Of course, the reason it’s important to us is that it offers our clients even more choice when it comes to finding the most appropriate solutions for their needs.”
To speak to a Talis IFA about planning for your financial freedom, find an IFA here.
You’re unlikely to ever meet Paul face-to-face, but, when you work with a Talis IFA, you now know that he and his team are there; your adviser’s advisers, supporting your IFA to help you build your financial confidence.
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