For the first time in three years paraplanners from all over the country were able to gather for real for the Paraplanners Assembly’s Big Day Out at FarmED near Chipping Norton in Oxfordshire on 15 September 2022.

Learning objectives

We opted for a blend of small group sessions – which we called Crop Rotations – and all-together sessions.

Crop rotations: Morning

For the pre-lunch sessions, we split the Assembly into three groups: Barley, Oats and Wheat.

Participants were assigned to a group and each group rotated around the three topic sessions. Conversations in each topic session were facilitated by hosts and experts. Each session lasted for 45 minutes. The topic session for rotations 1, 2 and 3 were:

What will consumer duty mean to you?

Experts: the lang cat’s Mike Barrett and Mel Holman from CATS.

The art of challenging conversations

Expert: Becca Timmins from Time to Think and Emery Little led a session on challenging conversations.

Pep up your paraplanning processes

Experts: LIFT Financial’s Jonny Stubbs and Chris Baigent-Reed from Jigsaw Tree.

After lunch, participants were assigned to a NEW group: Apples, Cherries, Pears or Plums.

That’s because we combined two groups for the session on report writing but – by the miracle of organisation – ensured each group gets a technical Q&A all to itself. So the topics for rotations 4 and 5 were:

Technical Q&A

Panellists: Les Cameron and Neil MacLeod from M&G Wealth, and Transact’s Brian Radbone and Barnett Waddingham’s James Jones-Tinsley.

Three things that get in the way of clear, compliant and client-friendly report writing

Experts: Melissa Kidd of Motem with Mel Holman from CATS.

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Our guests – Guy Anderson from Just, Sarah Lees from Plan Works, Ben Mastel from 7IM and Sam Tonks from Succession Wealth – discussed the case of Holly Gennero – a divorced mother of two. (Can you spot the film reference? It was the last CSI before Christmas). The team covered the following retirement income options:

Plus concepts including:

Interested? Then just tap ‘Book now’ to save your spot. (And look out for the link to the retirement income case study in a couple of days before the event.)

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A panel discuss setting up and running an outsourced paraplanning business. They share their experience, top tips, and cover the main points and issues that arise from outsourced paraplanning, such as:

Learning objectives

In this session we covered…

We all know that research and due diligence is a key skill for paraplanners.

And with discretionary fund management (DFM) services becoming more popular – whether bespoke or model portfolios – the demand for these skills is only going to increase.

In our latest online Assembly, we’re bringing together experts who are able to share perspectives from both sides of the DFM equation.

Learning objectives

During this session we…

Explored the approach and processes you can adopt to carry out research discuss the tech that’s out there that can help Invited DFM guests to tell us what they think paraplanners should ask…but don’t Discover what kind of due diligence DFMs carry out for themselves

You don’t come across SSAS very often, but when you do you need to know what you’re doing with them. We can help with that.

Learning Objectives

During the session we covered…

Brian Radbone of Transact and Richard Allum of The Paraplanners discuss how new regulations designed to prevent pension scams will affect advice professionals and providers dealing with pension transfers.

James Jones-Tinsley of Barnett Waddingham and Richard Allum pick their way through the potpourri of jargon associated with old pensions contract.

Many paraplanners may never have worked on an annuity or have less experience since pension freedoms came in. In this session, we cover the basics of guaranteed income.

Learning objectives

During the session we covered…

In this brief but wide-ranging conversation, Will Mcintosh-Whyte of Rathbones talks with Richard Allum of the Paraplanners’ Assembly tackle the question of what ‘responsible investment’ is and whether it differs from ideas like ESG, or ‘ethical’ and ‘sustainable’ investing.

Three technical experts answer a whole range of technical questions asked by paraplanners.

Learning objectives

During the session we covered…