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’.
Les Cameron of M&G Wealth joined us to explore what the Budget in March 2023 meant for paraplanners, financial planners and clients.
Over the course of a lunch hour, as well as fielding questions from paraplanners in the chat, Les talked through the key financial planning questions of the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s statement.
In particular, Les tackled the changes to lifetime and and annual allowances and their consequences.
Scroll down to view the video replay or listen instead via our podcast.
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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.
Big reductions in allowances for capital gains tax and dividends announced in last November’s autumn statement invite the question: should we be re-thinking how we use investment bonds and GIAs?
In this lunchtime Assembly online, we were joined by Les Cameron from M&G Wealth to dig into the topic and consider the consequences for paraplanning of the changes.
Over the course of the hour we covered:
- the tax landscape and recent changes
- how the internal tax on investment bonds works
- pros and cons of each tax wrapper
- planning opportunities before and after tax year end
- how rebalancing, bed and ISA, DIMs and self assessment fit into planning
We concluded by taking a look at M&G’s new tax wrapper comparison tool.
Listen to this Assembly
As you can see below, we’ve published this Assembly as our latest podcast episode. Because Les is talking about the contents of a presentation, it’s definitely worth downloading his slidedeck (opens in PowerPoint online) and following along if you can.
Tax year end. ALREADY?
Yes. But it wasn’t just any old hour’s worth of tax chat (attractive though we know that would be).
No. This is all about getting in the RIGHT MINDSET for 2023’s tax year end deadline.
(Like a HIIT workout. But without the HIIT bit. Or the workout.)
What it involved was coach and facilitator, Becca Timmins, being joined by Kez Condy and Jo Parkes from Navigatus, Zoe Hitchcock from Crowe UK and Emery Little’s Satu Flynn to discuss how they were getting in the zone for this year’s tax deadline.
The audience were invited to tune in as the group answer three questions:
- What went well at tax year end last year?
- What was a challenge?
- What will you take with you into this tax year end?
By sharing their insights and experiences from last year – combined with your own contributions in the chat – everyone taking part – on screen or off it – gained ideas, tips and techniques that could prove invaluable in countdown to the tax year deadline.
Far from being ‘soft’ skills, the ability to listen more effectively, give and receive feedback more confidently, and manage your time more productively are vital personal development skills so you can succeed in your paraplanning career.
But how often do you find time to discover, practice and apply new tools and approaches to fine-tune those skills? Plus do that alongside other paraplanners in the same boat as you?
If that sounds familiar, then this is the event for you. Because we asked coach and facilitator, Becca Timmins, to design a workshop exclusively for paraplanners.
Drawing on a decade of insights provided by Assembly participants, Becca has created the power-up you need to grow your confidence and command of these crucial skills – in just three hours.
This workshop has been made possible thanks to the kind support of our friends at Aegon UK.
What you’ll learn
You’ll learn to lean in to listening
Ever feel the need to fix everyone’s problems for them? Or perhaps you feel pressure to come up with solutions when people share their thoughts and feelings with you?
Learning a new way to think about listening can really help us let go of needing to have all of the answers. Plus, it makes for solutions that are more effective and better thought through. We’ll use our time to discover a refreshing approach to listening.
You’ll feel more confident about feedback
Do you ever feel unsure about how best to give feedback? Perhaps you struggle to get your point across and wish you could articulate yourself more clearly? Maybe receiving feedback makes you squirm?
We’re often not taught how to give effective feedback and so we struggle to know how to do it well. What’s more, bad experiences can put us off trying. So we’ll spend some time learning tools that can help us – and think about how we can get out of our own way.
You’ll gain a new perspective on time
Does it feel like there aren’t enough hours in the day? Maybe you feel like you never seem to have control over how you spend your time?
There are so many tools and hacks out there to try and make us feel we can do more in less time. Perhaps it’s time to think about it a bit differently? That’s why we will set some valuable time aside to explore the way we approach time managing.
About workshop facilitator, Becca Timmins
Our workshop will be led by Becca Timmins.
Becca’s workshops give you lots of room to reflect on things both individually and in conversation with other paraplanners.
Her style makes for an energising and enriching learning experience. In fact, you can see for yourself because we’ve added a few shots from Becca’s sessions at this year’s Big Day Out.
Coach and facilitator Becca has not only worked as a paraplanner in the past but – these days – is director of operations at financial planning practice Emery Little.
How to join the event
The event will be taking place online using Zoom. Once you’ve bought your ticket, you’ll receive the Zoom link and details of how to join the event on 12 May 2023.
Price
£25 per participant. This includes VAT and Eventbrite booking fees.
How to book
Just tap the Buy tickets button and book online now.
Steve Sayer from Utmost Wealth Solutions joined us for the second of two online Assemblies tackling the issue of top slicing relief.
In the first Assembly – held on 29 June this year – Steve invited us to look at more technical considerations and calculations.
In this second session, he took a look at planning strategies for top slicing relief. The session covered:
- How to avoid trustee rates of tax on gains
- When should new money top up an existing bond or go into a new bond?
- How to apply time apportionment relief
- How to plan for ongoing income
From now on, there’s no need to visit Crowdcast to save your spot at an online Assembly. Just tap ‘Book event’ and follow the step-by-step instructions.
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Is advicetech getting any better at helping advice professionals deliver a great advice experience to clients? Or are we destined for a future in which we struggle to get platforms, services and software to work the way we really want?
That’s what platforms, pensions and investments consultancy, the lang cat, wondered. That’s why they spoke to paraplanners, advisers and administrators for their latest report – A Fragmented World – published late last month.
The report combines findings from in-depth interviews with nearly 40 financial planning firms with responses to a comprehensive online survey completed by scores of financial advice professionals.
But will the lang cat’s findings chime with your own day-to-day experience of advicetech?
To find out, watch the replay of this online Assembly where the lang cat’s insight director, Steve Nelson, shares what they learned – and what it means for paraplanners and your use of advicetech in future.
From now on, there’s no need to visit Crowdcast to save your spot at an online Assembly. Just tap ‘Book event’ and follow the step-by-step instructions.
Broken link or duff information?
If something’s not quite right on this page, please tell us what you spotted now at our bug list.
Heather Hopkins of NextWealth and Andrew Nash from Pru joined host, Richard Allum, for an online Assembly at 1pm on 12 October 2022.
During the hour-long event they covered the emerging trends in CRPs including thoughts on the effect that consumer duty is having on propositions.
They also covered other topics such as whether secure income is making a comeback and insights into client perspectives on the information that advice professionals provide to them.
From now on, there’s no need to visit Crowdcast to save your spot at an online Assembly. Just tap ‘Book event’ and follow the step-by-step instructions.
Broken link or duff information?
If something’s not quite right on this page, please tell us what you spotted now at our bug list.
Planning for small and medium size businesses can often feature in a paraplanner’s role. But guess what? We don’t think we’d ever explored the issues that affect small businesses – and the people who run them – in an Assembly.
So we decided to fix that. And to help us navigate the topic, we were joined by Les Cameron from M&G Wealth.
Whether you already have experience in this area or are new to it we’re confident that this Assembly will be right up your street. Over the course of an hour, we expect to cover:
- how corporation tax works
- what the changes mean and how will they work
- corporate investments for surplus profits
- profit extraction and remuneration strategies
From now on, there’s no need to visit Crowdcast to save your spot at an online Assembly. Just tap ‘Book event’ and follow the step-by-step instructions.
Broken link or duff information?
If something’s not quite right on this page, please tell us what you spotted now at our bug list.