It’s been just over a year since the arrival of The Consumer Duty.

So, whether you’ve been neck-deep in its implementation or still feel like you’re getting to grips with it, now seems like a good time to see how we’re all getting on with it.

That’s why you’re invited to join us online at 1.00pm on Wednesday 14 August 2024 for a lunch-hour Assembly that’s all about The Consumer Duty.

To explore the topic, we’ll be joined by founder of Compliance and Training Solutions (CATS), Mel Holman, and Tom Lloyd-Read, technical planning manager at Stonehage Fleming.

Mel has been providing advice and implementation support to a range of organisations while Tom has been deeply involved in implementation of the Duty within his firm.

Over the course of the lunch-hour Assembly, we’re bound to cover:

• real-life experiences of implementing The Consumer Duty
• practical approaches to demonstrating client understanding
• the ongoing challenge of defining and proving value
• how firms are adapting to support vulnerable clients
• the impact of the retirement income review

What’s more, if our pre-event prep is anything to go by, there’s every chance we’ll touch on cashflow modelling assumptions, dashboards and gap analysis too.

Of course, being an Assembly, not only are you invited to tune into the conversation, we’d love you to share your thoughts and ideas on what’s working, what’s not, and where firms are still figuring things out in the chat.

So if you’re up for an hour’s worth of thoughtful insights and practical takeaways, join the conversion and save your spot now.

Working out what to do with your client’s wealth after their death is all part of a paraplanner’s life.

But settling on the best strategy can be complex – especially when missing a vital detail can have costly consequences.

So what can you do about it?

Stay up to date with the latest thinking, that’s what.

Which is why Neil Macleod, senior technical manager at M&G Wealth, joined us to explore death and trusts and paraplanning.

During this lunch-hour Assembly, Neil covered:

• the types of trusts that can be created upon a person’s death
• how to spot different trust structures and what this means
• the income tax and capital gains tax treatment of trustee investments
• strategies for selecting appropriate investments for specific trusts
• practical approaches to providing investment advice to trustees

What will I learn from this online Assembly?

By the end of this Assembly, you’ll be able to:

• identify the types of trusts which can be created on a person’s death
• describe the income tax and CGT treatment of trustee investments
• identify appropriate investments for a particular trust

No matter how complex the cases you deal with, this is a great chance to tune in to Neil’s expertise, and get up to speed on death and trusts.

Believe it or not, it’s already been nine years since the introduction of pension freedoms. And while it’s fair to say that the arrival of drawdown has transformed the way that clients can plan income in retirement, when the new measures were announced back in 2015, they were made against the backdrop of a generally benign economic climate.

What had changed and what could paraplanners do?

Today, high interest rates and stubborn inflationary pressure, coupled with greater regulatory scrutiny courtesy of The Consumer Duty and the FCA’s retirement income review, make for altogether more changeable weather.

So how are paraplanners expected to make forecasts and hatch plans that will deliver sustainable incomes for clients in their retirement? Plans that stack up under scrutiny – and against the demands – of The Consumer Duty?

During this lunch-hour Assembly, Gareth not only explored these issues but dug into other considerations that could influence paraplanners, advisers and clients when thinking about accumulation and decumulation strategies including:

• Cash flow modelling and stress testing – and its importance
• Is it ‘annuities vs drawdown’ or ‘annuities + drawdown’?
• Platform selection and what to consider
• The abolition of lifetime allowance – what does it mean?

No matter what your experience or expertise as a paraplanner, this 60-minute session offers insights and ideas when considering options for successful and sustainable income in retirement for your clients.

Once upon a time, we were scouring our library of previous online Assemblies and realised something: we had never covered the topic of inheritance tax (IHT) planning using the alternative investment market (AIM)!

So we thought it was high time to fix that with a whistle-stop tour to discover why investing in AIM is right up there as a strategy for IHT planning.

Whether you’re new to paraplanning and in search of a primer, or you’ve been paraplanning for absolutely ages and want to make sure you really know what you’re talking about, tuning into this Assembly will be well worth your while.

To help us navigate the topic we were joined by the ideal tour guide: Canaccord Genuity’s senior investment director and head of IHT investments, Paul Parker. During our lunch-hour gathering we explored:

• why AIM is so appealing for IHT planning
• business relief and how it works
• why AIM has a reputation for riskier investments
• how clients can invest in AIM – investment managers and DFMs
• researching the suitability of AIM portfolios and their managers
• things to consider when designing an IHT strategy using AIM

As ever, the chat was open for paraplanners to pose questions, or share ideas and observations – and the quality of contributions was great!

It’s no secret that top slicing relief offers a powerful method of reducing tax liability by spreading bond gains across each year of the lifetime of the bond. 

But no matter how experienced a paraplanner you may be, working out the best way to make use of the relief, and getting the top slicing calculations right, can be tricky.

Join Steve and Richard as they crack the case

That’s why we think this case study investigation (CSI) on top slicing will be right up your street.

In this 45-minute special on top slicing, Utmost International’s technical sales manager, Steve Sayer, joins The Paraplanners’ Richard Allum, to pick his way through a case study featuring fictional client, David. 

Designed to give you the chance to consider the financial planning opportunities from all sorts of angles, this CSI will help you:

• understand how top slicing relief works and when it can be applied;
• calculate top slicing relief as accurately and tax efficiently as you can;
• work out strategies to assign bond segments to spouses or beneficiaries to reduce tax liabilities;
• understand how pension contributions can be used to save tax and maximise relief; and
• navigate how bond gains, personal allowances, and other sources of income work together

Watch or listen now

Whether you’re new to top slicing relief or are a seasoned pro, it never hurts to top up your knowledge and know how – especially when it can make such a big difference to a client’s financial plan.

In a world where even HMRC doesn’t seem too sure what the score is, how can paraplanners get to grips with the new allowances landscape so clients know what they need to know right now?

Well you could tune into this recording of our Assembly with Les Cameron on 24 April 2024 for starters.

Because M&G Wealth’s head of technical took us on a guided tour of the new allowances regime following the abolition of the lifetime allowance (LTA).

What you’ll gain from this Assembly

During this lunch-hour event, hosted by Richard Allum of The Paraplanners, Les explored what has changed, what matters, and what it all means for you and your clients.

In a session that was jam-packed with examples, case studies and practical tips, Les covered all the essentials including

• individual starting allowances
• allowance excesses
• transitional allowances – including transitional tax free amount certificates (TTFACs)
• ongoing allowance availability and use
• death benefits and beneficiaries drawdown
• the importance of the order of benefits

Among the nuggets that Les shared were his analysis of the winners and losers under the new regime, nine things you need to know about TTFACs, and planning opportunities for clients as a result of the changes.

What’s more, he recapped the legislative position as well as shared some good-to-know quirks that the changes are throwing up.

With the post-LTA world still in an apparent state of flux, this is a timely chance to take stock in the company of one of the Assembly’s most popular experts. Want to join in? Then save your spot now.

AI, eh? (That’s artificial intelligence, obvs.) It seems to be everywhere these days doesn’t it?

From virtual assistants on our smartphones to advanced algorithms in the workplace, AI is becoming increasingly prevalent.

But what does this mean for you as a paraplanner? How will AI impact your day-to-day work and the financial advice world as a whole?

Whether you’re an in-house paraplanner grappling with the implementation of AI within your firm or an outsourced paraplanner navigating various AI tools across multiple clients, the rapid evolution of AI can be both exciting and daunting.

That’s why we designed this online event – to provide a space for you to explore the realities of AI in paraplanning, learn from real-life experiences, and discover how to adapt and thrive in this new landscape.

Joining us online on 10 April 2024 for an insightful and practical discussion were two special guests:

• Jonny Stubbs, director of risk at LIFT Financial (and former host of THREE Big Days Out), will share real-life examples of how AI is being used and how paraplanners are adapting.
• Benjamin Fabi, director of outsourced paraplanning practice, Principled Paraplanning, and Big Tent regular, who will share his insights on how individual paraplanners can leverage AI technology to their advantage.

As a paraplanner, staying informed about AI is crucial for your professional development. We encourage you to set aside an hour or two each week to familiarize yourself with AI – and this event is the perfect starting point.

To begin with, tune into this collaborative exploration of AI in paraplanning.

Save your spot now – we can’t wait to see you there!

A special tax year end Assembly combining expert insights and Chat-powered Q&A.

Coming just a week after the Budget statement on 6 March, a little over a fortnight before tax year end, and while the Finance Bill from last October’s statement is still making its way through Parliament, it was the ideal time to tune in to what you really need to know as the tax year hits its paraplanning peak.

To help, we gathered together a stellar panel of experts to share their knowledge and know-how: Les Cameron from M&G Wealth, James Jones-Tinsley of Barnett Waddingham and Transact’s Brian Radbone. (Scottish Widows’s Tom Coughlan, was due to join us but technical gremlins proved too much of an obstacle.)

Expect a lunch-hour discussion laden with lashings of insights on allowances, reliefs and exemptions spanning pensions, ISAs, capital gains tax and inheritance tax (and everything in between).

Paraplanners from all over the country gathered for the Paraplanners’ Assembly’s Big Day Out 2024 on 12 September 2024.

From its first meeting in 2013, the Paraplanners’ Assembly’s annual gathering has created space for sparking collaboration and conversation among paraplanners that is unlike any other event in the world of wealth management.

Why?

The Big Day Out is an informal gathering that offers six hours’ worth of CPD thanks to its combination of tailor-made interactive sessions led by hand-picked experts (and designed especially for the event), and group discussions facilitated by paraplanner hosts.

It makes for a supportive and encouraging space in which you can listen and learn, and share ideas, knowledge and insights. And it’s a unique environment in which you can really focus and flourish – both professionally and personally.

You’ll feel you belong at The Big Day Out because The Big Day Out belongs to you. Here’s what happened at The Big Day Out 2024.

Welcome!

Assembled paraplanners joined us in the conference barn for a welcome from Big Day Out hosts, Sam Tonks and Chris Wormwell.

Then we got straight into…

Hone it. Own it: One hour to perfect your development plan

New for this year, and designed especially for the Paraplanners’ Assembly, we open and closed the day with two really interactive sessions led by Arch Inspire’s Rachael Hurdman.

What were they all about? How to create an actionable and practical plan to achieve your personal and professional development goals.

But this wasn’t some dry run-of-the-mill classroom-type session because IT WAS A BIG DAY OUT! So Rachael shared practical tools, techniques and insights that (1) participants could try out throughout the sessions at your Big Day Out and (2) will last participants (and people back at the office they shared them with) for years.

Crop Rotations

Following the opening session, the Assembly split into three groups (called Crop Rotations) to tackle three topics over three 45-minute sessions.

Lunch

Locally sourced and freshly prepared, we tucked into pulled pork or vegetarian chilli (or both!) along with loads of healthy salads and slaws that were grown on the farm.

Hone it. Own it: Part Two

Rachael Hurdman returned and, in this closing session, invited participants to take a couple of practical steps that will enable you to gather the loose ends of your personal action plan. It was another really interactive session where you could try out your new tools, and round off your development plan – and Big Day Out – perfectly.

And finally…

The Paraplanners’ Assembly

It was time for the session after which the Assembly is named. Just like at our first gathering in 2013, Sam and Chris will opened up the floor for you to share anything that’s on your mind.

Ever-popular Assembly regular, Les Cameron of M&G Wealth, joined us to answer the question ‘What’s going on with the lifetime allowance?’

Why? Because in his Budget statement to the House of Commons earlier this year, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt, announced the removal of the amount you could hold in pension savings before becoming liable for tax.

And that’s quite the change. Because it’s not all that long since Hunt’s predecessors stood accused of levying ‘stealth taxes’ by freezing the LTA at to £1,073,100 – potentially exposing an influx of pension savers to tax liabilities thanks to the effect of inflation.

So with proposed legislation removing the LTA and introducing a rise in the annual allowance, doesn’t the future look rosey for pension savers and their pots?

Or do other proposed measures – like setting a limit of £268,275 on tax-free lump sums – muddy the waters a bit?

Well, that’s where Les came in. Because over the lunch-hour session he:

• recapped the saga of the lifetime allowance so far
• explained the changes that the government has proposed
• explored what’s already happened (and what’s still left to happen); and 
• considered what it all means for paraplanners working on retirement planning cases for clients.

Be honest. This stuff is like catnip to a paraplanner isn’t it?

Listen now

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