Welcome to the latest edition of ‘Active Ingredients’ when each quarter we invite a member of our team to tell us a little about themselves; what brought them to Active, what their role involves and a few fascinating facts about them! This time it’s the turn of Jessica Wilkinson, paraplanner.
What brought you to Active?
I joined the Active team in 2021 after working as a paraplanner at another firm for 3 and a half years.
I was looking for the next step in my career and after meeting with Karl and Paul and getting a feel for the business and their vision, I knew Active was the right place for me and a team I wanted to be part of and grow with.
What do you do at Active on a day to day basis?
As a Paraplanner, I support the day to day needs of our financial advisers to ensure we are meeting our clients’ objectives. I do this by carrying out research of products and funds, analysing clients existing plans, cashflow modelling and preparing financial reports.
I also help to ensure our files are compliance checked and completed to a high standard.
What skills have you brought from your previous job?
I completed the Diploma in Regulated Financial Planning at my previous role as a Paraplanner and working towards this gave me a good technical knowledge to support me in my day-to-day work.
Previously I worked primarily with pensions and investments and since joining Active have been involved with a range of areas of advice such as inheritance tax planning, trusts and protection so have really developed my knowledge in the last couple of years.
Are you doing any training/further development?
Since I started Active, I have been working towards Chartered status and now have 3 exams left to go! Following that I hope to work towards Fellowship and a career as an adviser.
The Directors are always supportive of our career development and there is so much experience across the team so there is always support and guidance if you are ever struggling with anything.
I also complete regular CPD (which stands for continuous professional development) to keep up with any regulation and legislative changes and ensure my knowledge is up to date which is really important in the financial services industry.
Why do you love working at Active?
The people at Active really make it – we have such a great team; all getting on really well and having a shared work ethic. Honestly it’s a breath of fresh air coming into work each day!
What do you like doing outside of work?
I am a big fan of a city break, so I spend a lot of weekends away with friends and family.
I also enjoy keeping fit by running, playing badminton and walking my dog, a Westie named Kevin.
I am a lifelong Boro fan and now a season ticket holder.
Tell us some final fascinating facts about yourself
I competed at National Level Cross Country throughout school and college leading the Cleveland Team most years, I even completed the course one year after fracturing my foot at the start of the race!
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