Stop wondering if you’re doing the right things to grow your business: A power-up for outsourced paraplanners

Here’s a question that might keep you awake at night: how do you know whether what you’re doing to promote your outsourced paraplanning business is actually working? Or perhaps more fundamentally – where on earth do you even start?

If you’re nodding along, you’re definitely not alone. Whether you’re a new business needing to generate leads and build awareness, or you’ve been established for a while but want to grow and increase enquiries, the challenge is the same: cutting through the noise and actually getting noticed.

The good news? You don’t need an MBA in marketing or a hefty advertising budget to make meaningful progress. Just book your ticket to join us and your fellow paraplanners at this business power-up, Marketing that actually works (for outsourced paraplanners).

A full day focused entirely on practical marketing for outsourced paraplanners

Join us at Aegon’s London offices on Thursday 14 November for a day designed specifically for outsourced paraplanners who want to take control of their marketing – without the jargon, without the overwhelm, and definitely without walking away with more questions than answers.

We’ve partnered with New Tradition, marketing and brand experts who specialise in making the complex simple, to deliver a hands-on workshop that cuts straight to what actually matters for your business.Plus, we’re delighted that Dr Tom Mathar from Aegon will be joining us to share his insights on achieving better success from referrals – because we all know that word-of-mouth remains a powerful tools in your arsenal.

What makes this day different?

This isn’t about theory or abstract concepts. You’ll spend the day building your own marketing plan using practical tools that you can take away and continue using long after the event ends.

We’ll focus on four fundamental areas that every successful outsourced paraplanning business needs to get right:

Who should attend?

This day is designed for outsourced paraplanners at any stage of their business journey:

What will you take away?

By the end of the day, you’ll have:

Most importantly, you’ll leave with the reassurance that comes from having a clear plan and the tools to execute it.

Agenda

Morning session

Afternoon session

Ready to take control of your marketing?

If you’re tired of wondering whether you’re doing the right things to promote your business, and you want to walk away with a clear plan and the tools to implement it, this day is for you.

Places are limited to ensure everyone gets the individual attention they need to build their own marketing plan.

Book your place now.

This image displays text promoting Aegon's association with the workshop outsourced paraplanners. The text reads "A personal and business power-up for outsourced paraplanners would not be possible without the generous support of Aegon UK". On the far right of the image is Aegon's logo. The overall design is minimalist with black text on a white background.

Host Richard Allum is joined by Barnett Waddingham’s James Jones-Tinsley for a bonus episode exploring the government’s announcement of an independent review of the state pension age review and its potential consequences for retirement planning. 

As well as considering the scope of the review, which is being led by Dr Suzy Morrissey, deputy director of the Pensions Policy Institute (PPI), and what it means for the future, Richard and James discuss 

They discuss:

The review’s call for evidence closes on 24 October 2025. And with its focus on life expectancy and intergenerational equity, this episode is essential listening for paraplanners keen to stay ahead of the debate and its likely effects on retirement advice long into the future.

A horizontal image with a dark background. On the right hand half of the image, large white text says 'An informal Assembly for outsourced paraplanners'. Beneath it in smaller text is 'An online gathering in Zoom. 1-2 pm on Thursday 16 October 2025'. At the top of the image in an orange rectangular block, white text reads 'Save your spot now'. On the left-hand side the word 'Gather' is displayed with the Paraplanners' Assembly beneath it.

Are you an outsourced paraplanner?

Whether you’re the only employee of your paraplanning practice, or you lead a paraplanning powerhouse with employees and a hefty bank of clients, outsourced paraplanners share lots of things in common.

You just do.

But here’s the thing: despite the growing number of outsourced paraplanners in the UK these days, opportunities to get together to talk only about things that matter in the outsourced world, are surprisingly few and far between.

Switch off. Show up. Join in. 

So, if you’re an outsourced paraplanner, here’s our invitation: at 1pm on Thursday 16 October 2025, set your notifications to ‘do not disturb’, click on the Zoom link in your event invitation and gather with other outsourced paraplanners across the UK for an hour of conversation, ideas and practical insights.

There’s nothing to prepare. Just come along ready to share your answer to one question: 

‘What’s on your mind today?’

Spaces are limited. To save a spot hit ‘Book Event’ and look out for the calendar invitation in your inbox.

Here’s a question that might keep you awake at night: what do you tell clients who’ve spent years building pension pots specifically because they were IHT-free, only to discover that’s all changed?

On 21 July 2025, HMRC published their response to the pension IHT consultation, along with draft legislation that will bring unused pension pots into the inheritance tax net from April 2027. The writing’s been on the wall since Rachel Reeves’ October 2024 Budget announcement, but now we have the detail and it’s time to work out what this means for our clients.

As paraplanners, we’re about to face some of the most fundamental shifts in retirement and estate planning strategy we’ve seen in years. The days of treating pensions as the IHT-free golden goose are numbered, and clients will be looking to us for answers.

This isn’t just about understanding the new rules. It’s about completely rethinking how we approach pension planning, estate planning, and the delicate balance between the two.


Your crash course in the new pension IHT landscape

In what turned out to be an essential Assembly, we were joined by M&G’s Les Cameron to dive deep into the practical implications of these seismic changes. We strongly recommend reading M&G’s detailed response before watching the Assemly as it provides crucial context for our discussion.

During this Assembly, we evaluated the different options to mitigate pension-driven IHT liabilities, including:


What can you expect to take away?

You’ll leave this Assembly with a clear understanding of how the new IHT rules will work in practice and with strategies you can implement immediately to help clients navigate this changing landscape. We hope to give you the confidence to tackle those difficult conversations about restructuring retirement plans that took years to build.

Fair warning: there’s so much ground to cover that we may run slightly over our usual 60 minutes. If we do, we’ll schedule a follow-up session to tackle any outstanding questions.

A horizontal cover image featuring a bright lime-yellow coloured background. The title ‘Developing as a paraplanner: 'How do I build a career plan?’ appears in large text on the right of the image. Across the bottom of the image are five cut-out head-and-shoulders shots of - from left to right - Caroline Stuart of Sparrow Paraplanning, Joe Jacob of FLP Financial Life Planning, Ellie Bailey of Succession Wealth, Pete Spence of Fintuity and Sarah Purves of Aegon. At the top-right of the image, the words ‘Online. 1pm on 1 October 2025. 1 hour CPD available.’ are displayed.

Whether you’re just starting out in paraplanning or looking to make your next move, having a clear career plan makes all the difference. But how do you actually build one that works?

In the fourth episode of our career series, we’re focusing on something practical: creating a strategy for your next career step that you can actually use, whatever stage you’re at.

Your career roadmap in just one lunch hour

Join us online at 1pm on 1 October as we help you map out your next move with clarity and confidence.

Caroline Stuart, owner and founder of Sparrow Paraplanning, will guide this conversation with four brilliant guests: Ellie Welling paraplanning team leader at Succession Wealth, Joe Jacob, paraplanner at FLP, Peter Spence, advice and paraplanning team leader at Fintuity, and Sarah Purves, learning and development expert at Aegon.

Together, they’ll take you through a practical framework for career planning that goes beyond wishful thinking to create actionable next steps.

What can you expect when you listen?

During this lunch-hour Assembly we’ll:

What will you take away?

You’ll leave with a practical framework you can use immediately to plan your next career step, plus real-world insights from paraplanners who’ve successfully navigated their own career transitions at different stages.

Most importantly, you’ll have a clear action plan rather than just good intentions.

Thanks to Aegon

This Assembly would not be possible without the generous support of Aegon. Thank you to the team at Aegon for supporting and for backing the development of paraplanners and paraplanning in the UK through their support of the Paraplanners’ Assembly.

Catch up on the series

This builds on our previous career episodes:

Ready to turn career planning into career action? Save your spot now.

You’ve established yourself as a paraplanner, but now you’re thinking: ‘What next?’

For many paraplanners, staying in paraplanning is exactly what they want to do. But what does career development look like within the profession? How have people built on their paraplanning skills and experience? And what about those considering a move into other areas like financial planning or specialising in research or operations?

This Assembly, recorded on 3 September explored some of the career routes within and from paraplanning.

Our host Caroline Stuart, owner and founder of Sparrow Paraplanning, is joined by Ellie Bailey, paraplanning team leader at Succession Wealth, Farida Hassanali, client manager at Paradigm Norton, Rebecca Tuck, operations director at FLP Financial Life Planning and Sian Greenhill, operations executive and centralised investment and product committee at Brooks Financial – all sharing their perspectives on career progression and specialisation.

Over the course of the Assembly, they discuss:

You’ll leave this Assembly with your head full of good ideas for potential career development and a bucket load of insights from people who’ve successfully made these transitions and you can claim one hour’s CPD.

Catch up on previous Assemblies in this series

This continues our series on paraplanning career development. Don’t miss our previous sessions exploring how to break into paraplanning and choosing the right place to work for your early paraplanning career.

Thanks to Aegon

This Assembly would not be possible without the generous support of Aegon. Thank you to the team at Aegon for supporting and for backing the development of paraplanners and paraplanning in the UK through their support of the Paraplanners’ Assembly.

Once upon a time, when taxes were relatively low, ISAs and unwrapped investments seemed like pretty obvious choices for clients’ money.

But the big cut in the capital gains tax allowance and rises in tax on gains and dividends has changed things. Tax wrappers that once seemed like more hassle than they were worth (like investment bonds) could now be the ideal vehicle – especially for higher rate taxpayers.

But which wrapper is right in which circumstances and why?

That’s the question that guest Neil Macleod from M&G’s technical team was invited to answer when he joined host, Leanne Pickering, for this Assembly.

What you’ll learn by listening

Over the course of one lunch hour, Leanne and Neil explored when bonds are more suitable, when offshore makes sense, and why the ‘best’ mathematical answer might not actually be the right choice for your client. In this Assembly you’ll:

You’ll discover that the right choice for your clients isn’t just about what the spreadsheet says but about the broader thinking

What’s more, once you’ve listened, follow the link below and you can request a record of 1 hour’s worth CPD too.

Last Monday (21 July 2025), the UK Government published draft legislation which means that, from April 2027, most unused pension savings and death benefits will count towards your estate when you die.

If you’re wondering…

…you’re not alone.

So in this bonus podcast episode, host Richard Allum met up with Barnett Waddingham’s James Jones-Tinsley to talk through the Government’s planned changes, what they mean for paraplanners and your clients, and suggest practical steps that you can already take to help clients get ready for the change.

The measures, which feature in the Finance Bill 2025-26, could still change as the proposals make their way through Parliament from September. But if you’re wondering where things stand right now and what you should be thinking about for clients with decent-sized pension pots, this is a fantastic update that gives you the current picture.

Speaking of the Finance Bill…

If you’ve ever wondered how Budget measures become law, James met up with Leanne Pickering of Pivotal Paraplanning last year to walk through each step in the process. Follow the link for more:

Listen: From Parliament to paraplanner: How do Budget measures become law?


And speaking of pensions…

James has recorded a series of really helpful jargon busters on new and old pensions exclusively for the Assembly. Help yourself by following these links:

New pensions jargon: part one
Listen: A plain English guide to new pensions jargon: part one
Watch: A plain English guide to old pensions jargon: part one

New pension jargon: part two
Listen: A plain English guide to new pensions jargon: part two
Watch: A plain English guide to old pensions jargon: part two

And if that’s not enough and you want OLD pensions jargon, here are links to James’s trio of episodes:

Podcasts: old pensions jargon
Listen to part one: A plain English guide to old pensions jargon: part one
Listen to part two: A plain English guide to old pensions jargon: part two
Listen to part three: A plain English guide to old pensions jargon: part three

Videos: old pensions jargon
Watch part one: A plain English guide to old pensions jargon: part one
Watch part two: A plain English guide to old pensions jargon: part two
Watch part three: A plain English guide to old pensions jargon: part three

Event pages: old pensions jargon
Event details for part one: A plain English guide to old pensions jargon: part one
Event details for part two: A plain English guide to old pensions jargon: part two
Event details for part three: A plain English guide to old pensions jargon: part three

Are you an outsourced paraplanner?

Whether you’re the only employee of your paraplanning practice, or you lead a paraplanning powerhouse with employees and a hefty bank of clients, outsourced paraplanners share lots of things in common.

You just do.

But here’s the thing: despite the growing number of outsourced paraplanners in the UK these days, opportunities to get together to talk only about things that matter in the outsourced world, are surprisingly few and far between.

Switch off. Show up. Join in. 

So, if you’re an outsourced paraplanner, here’s our invitation: at 1pm on Wednesday 13 August 2025, set your notifications to ‘do not disturb’, click on the Zoom link in your event invitation and gather with other outsourced paraplanners across the UK for an hour of conversation, ideas and practical insights.

There’s nothing to prepare. Just come along ready to share your answer to one question: 

‘What’s on your mind today?’

Spaces are limited. To save a spot hit ‘Book Event’ and look out for the calendar invitation in your inbox.

With recent changes to capital gains tax rates reaching up to 24% and the CGT annual exemption frozen at just £3,000, many clients are looking for tax-efficient ways to structure their investments.

In his latest ‘Technically speaking’ session for the Paraplanners’ Assembly, Utmost’s Steve Sayer explores how offshore bonds and trust structures work together – offering inheritance tax planning options that provide flexibility for clients who want to be prepared for the ‘what ifs’ of life.

Packed with helpful examples and case studies

Steve brings the options to life with a series of examples of different trust arrangements and how they can be combined.

He’ll show you how discounted gift trusts can provide an immediate reduction in estate value, how loan trusts offer capital access, and why reversionary interest trusts might help hesitant clients take their first steps with inheritance tax planning.

The session includes a detailed case study showing how married clients in their sixties, with £3.5 million in assets, could use multiple trust structures to meet their annual income needs all while reducing their inheritance tax liability.

What’s more, you’ll learn about the planning opportunities that come with non-UK long term residence status and how offshore bonds can keep assets outside the UK inheritance tax net.

And to round off his session, Steve shares a decision-tree approach that you’re bound to find useful when you’re weighing up client needs.

What are the learning outcomes?

Once you’ve watched or listened to this episode, you will:

Once you’ve watched or listened, make sure you grab your CPD

CPD: Take the quiz to receive your certificate