To mark Independence Day in the United States, we thought we’d treat you to a bonus episode: a bite-sized Assembly that’s all about investing for US expats living in the UK.

Because despite being citizens of the ‘land of the free’, once they leave the USA’s shores, expat savers and investors often face complex challenges to stay on the right side of the US equivalent of HMRC: the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

So what do paraplanners in the UK need to know to support US expat clients? Who better to ask for expert knowledge and insight than a specialist in investing for US expats: Canaccord Genuity’s Laurence Leigh.

In this bite-sized Assembly, Laurence explores:

In just ten minutes, Laurence covers the dos and don’ts of advising US expats, the limitations of UK platforms, and the severe penalties for non-compliance.

It’s an episode packed with practical advice that will give you confidence in ensuring US expat clients can invest effectively and stay compliant on both sides of the Atlantic.

Brian Radbone, Technical Counsel at Transact, joins Richard to unpack the post-lifetime allowance (LTA) world and its consequences for paraplanners.

In a bite-sized Assembly lasting less than eight minutes, Brian explores transition certificates, new lump sum allowances, and why timing is everything when it comes to crystallising benefits. Plus he discusses the importance of understanding provider restrictions.

If you’re in the market for a post-LTA primer but are pushed for time, this Assembly is ideal.

Canaccord Genuity’s chief investment officer, Tom Becket, joins Richard Allum for a primer on fixed interest investments that is ideal for paraplanners wherever you are in your career.

During a 20-minute conversation, Tom explains the basics of bonds and gilts, how interest rates affect their values, and how the recent spikes in interest rates have affected returns and revived annuities – putting an end to years of fixed interest investments’ appearing to be ‘uninvestable’.

The likelihood of lower inflation combined with potential interest rate cuts is positive for fixed interest markets.

But Tom is keen to stress that all bonds aren’t created equal and he offers his thoughts on where – depending on the risk appetite of your clients – opportunities might lie across a spectrum of fixed interest investments, from government debt to high-yield credit.

For paraplanners looking to get a handle on this significant but possibly misunderstood asset class, this bite-sized Assembly offers valuable insights to help navigate the fixed interest landscape.

In a special bite-sized Assembly, Transact’s Stuart Fleat explains how model portfolio services offered by discretionary investment managers are able to accessed on platforms like Transact.

In less than six minutes, Stuart explains how platforms and MPS providers are able to handle access to client accounts and data securely and confidentially, how portfolio rebalancing works in practice, practical considerations around capital gains tax, and how clients are invested into the model portfolios.

This was the third in our three-part series of It’s all kicking off in the world of retirement income planning Assemblies exploring the new practicalities of retirement income planning – a series made possible with the support of our friends at Just.

In the first Assembly, we looked back at the events that changed the world of retirement income and what the consequences of this change means for paraplanners, advisers and clients.

In our second, we considered the practicalities of researching, creating and executing a plan for clients.

In the third and final part of the series, we explored three case studies – each allowing us to consider the suitability of different strategies to meet the ambitions for retirement income of each client. To help, we were joined by Karl Steadman from Just.

Naturally, we also considered how the Consumer Duty affects the choices available too. 

CPD and resources

Scroll down to see links to resources mentioned during the event plus a video replay and podcast episode link.

You’ll also see that we’ve published a link to a CPD survey. Once you complete the survey, a CPD record of your attendance will be emailed to you automatically.

Catch up with parts one and two

If you missed the first two Assemblies in the series, pop over to the Why is it all kicking off in the world of retirement income planning? (Part 1) and Getting real: the new practicalities of retirement income planning (Part 2) where you’ll find a video replay and podcast episode link plus links mentioned during the event.

Join us online at 1pm on 1 June 2023 for the second in our series of It’s all kicking off in the world of retirement income planning Assemblies exploring the new practicalities of retirement income planning – a series made possible with the support of our friends at Just.

In our first Assembly, we asked why it’s all kicking off in the world of retirement income and considered events that have prompted paraplanners to consider an expanding range of strategies to help clients achieve their retirement income goals.

In this Assembly we’ll be getting real by digging into the paraplanning practicalities. During the lunch hour session we expect to cover:  

To help, we’ll be joined by guests Jean-Paul Grenade and Karl Steadman from Just. 

CPD and resources

Following this Assembly we’ll publish links to resources mentioned during the event on this page plus a video replay and podcast episode link,

We’ll also publish a link to a survey. Once you complete the survey, a CPD record of your attendance will be emailed to you automatically.

Book the final session in the series now

In the third and final part of the series – you can book your spot here now – we’ll be gathering online at 1pm on 8 June 2023 to explore three case studies. Each case will allow us to consider the suitability of different strategies to meet the ambitions for retirement income of each client. Naturally, we’ll be considering how the Consumer Duty affects the choices available too. 

Watch part one

If you missed the first Assembly in the series, pop over to the event page – visit Why is it all kicking off in the world of retirement income planning? – where you’ll find a video replay and podcast episode link plus links mentioned during the event.

Years of stability in the retirement income planning world changed abruptly on 23 September 2022 when former Chancellor of the Exchequer, Kwasi Kwarteng, presented his ‘mini budget’.

Ever since, uncertainty about rising interest rates, anxieties about inflation, and even worries over the stability of pension funds themselves, have led paraplanners to rethink how clients can achieve the outcome they want from their financial plan.

One consequence of all this? Secure lifetime income has become a thing. And annuities are back in fashion. 

What’s more, the demands of the consumer duty means more and more firms are kicking the tyres of their centralised retirement propositions to test suitability – or are setting one up for the first time.

In other words IT’S ALL KICKING OFF IN THE WORLD OF RETIREMENT INCOME PLANNING. And in the eye of the storm (because it does feel a bit like that doesn’t it?) there are paraplanners.

So how are we supposed to make sense of it all? What do we need to know? And what should we be doing about it? (And – while we’re talking about it – how DOES an annuity work?)

It’s all kicking off in the world of retirement: a series of online Assemblies with Just

Working with our friends at Just, we’re hosting a series of three online Assemblies to help you understand where we are, how we got here and – by combining case studies and practical tips – give you the knowledge you need to navigate what’s ahead.

1pm on 25 May 2023: Why is it all kicking off in the world of retirement?

In this first session in the series, we were joined by Karl Steadman from Just to explore what’s changed in the world of retirement income planning and what it means to paraplanners. During the Assembly we covered:

Save your spot at the second and third Assemblies in this series

The second Assembly in this series – ‘Getting real: the new practicalities of retirement income planning’ – is taking place at 1pm on 1 June. For more info and to save your spot now visit the event page now.

Join us online for the third and final Assembly – called ‘The realities of retirement income: clients, case studies and consumer duty’ – which starts at 1pm on 8 June. Grab your spot and get more info here.

Paraplanners from all over the country gathered for The Big Day Out 2023 on 14th September 2023.

For the second successive year, our destination was the fantastic FarmED – right in the heart of the Cotswold countryside.

(Trust us, it’s lovely.)

This year, The Big Day Out was split into two halves:

1st half: All about paraplanning today
2nd half: All about paraplanning tomorrow

Three groups

Following The Big Welcome, we split the Assembly into three groups – Barley, Oats, and Wheat.

Each group had paraplanning hosts. Hosts volunteered to make sure you were where you needed to be when you needed to be there and to help facilitate conversations.

(The Big Day Out wouldn’t have been possible without our volunteers, so please gave a big hand 👏 to this year’s hosts: Kez Condy, Becky Jones, Jackie Manning, Sian Davies Cole, Pippa Oldfield, Jo Parkes, and Colin Stewart.)

First half: Paraplanning today – Crop Rotations

Each group spent 45 minutes in each of the following three sessions.

Technical top tips

Expert: Les Cameron, Head of Technical, M&G Wealth

This was a chance to quiz a popular Assembly regular in person with those burning technical questions that you’ve always wanted someone to answer.

Suitability reports: a fair value assessment

Leader: Caroline Stuart, Founder of Sparrow Paraplanning

Caroline invited groups to consider whether suitability reports were still fit for purpose and they’ve for a Consumer Duty world.

Were our planning assumptions still fit for purpose?

Leader: Dan Atkinson, Head of Technical, Paradigm Norton

Is it time to re-assess your planning assumptions? Could you really rely on what had happened in the past to plan for the future? This was a chance for participants to test the assumptions that apply to the ‘planning’ part of a paraplanners job title. To help, we were joined by three experts: Thomas Hogg of Timeline, Parmenion’s Jasper Thornton-Boelman and Jon Palin from Barnett Waddingham.

Lunchtime drop-in: Outsourced Paraplanners Banter + Chat x Paraplanners’ Assembly

Lunchtime drop-in: Outsourced Paraplanners Banter + Chat x Paraplanners’ Assembly

Christina Georgiou and Andy Schleider hosted a drop in for participants who are starting out as an outsourced paraplanner, thinking about it, or already are. The session was an IRL version of the ‘Outsourced Paraplanners banter + chat group’ hosted by Andy on WhatsApp.

The Afternoon: Paraplanning tomorrow

After lunch, we got right back to the roots of the Paraplanners’ Assembly.

Back in 2013, our first gathering proved that when paraplanners get together to learn, fix and share, we’re able to tackle the biggest issues.

A decade ago, we wanted the financial planning world to recognise paraplanning as a choice of professional career. (And just look at us now!)

Today, the big questions seem to revolve around the future of paraplanning itself and our role in it.

What does artificial intelligence and automation mean for paraplanning and for us? Are remote working and hybrid teams really here to stay? What skills and knowledge are paraplanners going to need for a fulfilling career from now on?

Learn, fix and share

When we began to think about how to tackle these questions, it crossed our minds to invite a keynote speaker to put the world to rights for us.

But we soon realized that that speaker didn’t exist.

Because the future of work was not just about technology. It wasn’t just about personal development and technical knowledge. It wasn’t just about teams and leadership. It wasn’t just about the future of business.

It was too big a job for one person. But a bunch of people? Perhaps even an assembly?

And so we decided that the best people to consider the future of paraplanning were…paraplanners!

Let’s get started

Assembly hosts, Sam Tonks and Sarah Lees, kicked off the afternoon’s session.

We worked with foresight and innovation expert, Eleanor Winton, to help us design three very interactive sessions.

Eleanor recorded two video contributions that we showed to spark your thinking.

But the future of paraplanning? That conversation was up to us.

We knew from the surveys you completed that this kind of thing had been on your minds for a while. And we thought the Assembly was the perfect space for paraplanners to explore it. But you only got out what you were willing to put in, so you were ready to share your thoughts!

We were sure you were going to really enjoy it. We were sure you were going to feel good about having the chance to talk about the future. And we were certain it would be the start of a conversation that – thanks to your participation – our Assembly was uniquely placed to encourage among colleagues across the world of financial planning.

(And, besides, we arranged ice-cream in the break to fuel conversations!)

If you were there, we hope you enjoyed it. If you weren’t, there’s always next year!

Book now: Assembly in the Middle. In person from 10am until 2pm on 10th November 2023 at Hill Close Gardens in Warwick. Spaces are limited so book now!

More than four years since it last gathered in person, Assembly in the Middle is back!

So if you’re a paraplanner who lives or works in the midlands of England, why not join organisers Caroline Stuart and Sam Tonks for an informal gathering at Hill Close Gardens in Warwick on 10 November 2023?

Assembly in the Middle will begin at 10am and finish at 2pm. But what happens in between is entirely up to you because, once you’ve booked your spot, we’ll invite you to submit ideas about what you’d like to learn, fix or share with other paraplanners on the day.

Why should I take part?

Because it’s part of the Paraplanners’ Assembly movement, Assembly in the Middle offers a supportive and encouraging space in which you can listen and learn, and share ideas, knowledge and insights.

And whether you’re in-house or outsourced, it’s a great way to meet other paraplanners from your neck of the woods – especially welcome when so many of us work from home these days.

It’s somewhere you can really focus and flourish – both professionally and personally.

Don’t forget to bring your lunch.

We’ll have coffee and tea and biscuits available throughout the day (plus chocolates, of course) but make sure you bring your own lunch or you’ll go hungry at lunchtime.

And finally…

You’ll feel you belong at an Assembly in the Middle because the Assembly in the Middle belongs to you.

Want to take part? Then tap ‘Book now’.

With examination season looming, we took a timely tour of the tips and techniques that could give you the edge in your exams.

Host, Richard Allum, was joined by two guests:

Natalie Dawes is an Academy Support Adviser with Bespoke Training Solutions (or BTS). Natalie provides ‘side-by-side’ learning support that can be adapted to meet the different needs of candidates who are preparing for professional exams.

Not only is Alan Gow one of the UK’s most experienced outsourced paraplanners but, as a Chartered Financial Planner, Fellow of the Personal Finance Society and a CISI Accredited Paraplanner, the Argonaut Paraplanning founder knows a thing or two about about qualifications and how to achieve them.

During the one-hour lunchtime Assembly, Natalie and Alan shared insights into revision tips and exam techniques that have worked for them or the candidates they work with.

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