New consumer duty rules come into force on 31 July (for new products and services, that is).
Yet as recently as last month, Citywire reported that 59% of advisers have not started preparing for the July deadline – that’s according to a survey of 1,000 advice firms commissioned by Aviva.
It got us wondering: what’s going on in advice practices across the UK?
Are firms comfortable with the deadline because they’re confident they’ve got all the consumer duty bases covered?
Or could they be underestimating the effect the consumer duty rules will have on how we all communicate with clients?
What’s happening where you work? And with client communications at the heart of the Duty – and the role of paraplanners – should we be worried?
To explore what’s going on, we invited Aegon UK’s public affairs director, Steven Cameron, and Gemma Knight, a director of Compliance and Training Solutions (CATS), to join us online for a lunch-hour Assembly.
Is your firm ready for the 31 July deadline?
Watch the replay or listen to the podcast to find out!
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.
Today, we’ve published our most recent online Assembly on getting in the right headspace for tax year end as our very first podcast episode.
From now on, we’ll be publishing a podcast edition after each online Assembly – as well as bonus content from time to time.
In addition to the library of videos from more than 100 online Assemblies, it’s another way in which the Assembly hopes – no matter whether you’re a contributor or listener – you’ll be able learn things, fix things and share things that help you become the paraplanner you want to be.
Where can I find the podcast?
It may take a while for episodes to appear on your favourite podcast app but you can already find us on Spotify – and we’ve popped the episode below for good measure. (Depending on the privacy settings you accepted for our site, you may need to click a ‘Load content’ button for the Spotify player to appear.)
What’s in this episode?
Our first podcast episode features the conversation from our recent Assembly on getting in the right headspace for tax year end. Facilitated by Becca Timmins, the discussion involved guests with loads of in-house and outsourced paraplanning experience between them: Zoe Hitchcock from Crowe UK, Emery Little’s Satu Flynn, and Kez Condy and Jo Parkes from Navigatus.
With the upcoming tax year end deadline in mind, our guests tackled 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?
Tune in to hear paraplanners share their insights and experiences and perhaps you’ll pick up some ideas, tips and techniques you can apply to your own run in to this year’s tax year end.
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.
An exploration of the factors paraplanners should consider when planning for couples.
Learning objective
During the session we covered…
- Examples from other professions on working with couples
- An overview of the new Consumer Duty rules (currently in consultation)
- Why it’s important you know who you are working with and how to know
- Considerations around partners who are passive in financial decision making
- Where gender bias can play into risk discussions The dynamics introduced age, longevity, divorce and same sex partnerships and marriage
A large number of clients have an objective to pass their wealth on to the next generation or generations. We explore the issues paraplanners should be thinking of when creating a suitable strategy.
Learning objectives
During the session we covered…
- Gifting during life vs gifts made after death
- Access and control
- Using the right tax wrappers
- Trusts Investment strategies