The way pensions are treated for inheritance tax (IHT) is set for a big shake up in April 2027 when unused pension funds will count as part of a client’s estate and become liable to IHT.
In preparation for the change, the government announced a consultation on the liability, reporting and payment of IHT at last October’s Budget.
That consultation ended late last month. But what are its conclusions likely to be? And what do paraplanners need to know now so you, your firm and its clients are ready when the reforms go live?
What do you and your clients need to know?
Join us online at 1pm on Wednesday 19 February 2025 as technical specialist Les Cameron from M&G explores what the changes could mean for paraplanners and clients.
What you can expect to take away from this Assembly?
Together with Assembly host Richard Allum, Les will share his thoughts on how the new IHT framework will affect pension death benefits after 2027. Expect the conversation to cover things like:
- Whether it makes sense to think about taking money out of pensions earlier than planned
- Why bypass trusts might be making a comeback
- How the pension reforms could affect red-amber-green assessment
- Practical steps paraplanners can take now to prepare for the changes
There will be plenty of time for questions so, whether you’re wondering about specific client situations or broader planning strategies, this is a great chance to gain expert insight into a big change for pension planning.
Plus, there’s one hour’s CPD available when you tune in.
Interested? Then save your spot now
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 10am on Thursday 27 February 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.
Do you find that, even though you spend each and every day working on financial plans for clients, you hardly ever get mixed up in protection?
Well you’re not alone. Because despite being a foundational long-term financial security, for paraplanners, the topic of protection often takes a back seat compared to consideration of investment and retirement strategies.
Which invites the question: what happens to that carefully crafted financial plan if a client’s income falls or they’re faced with the financial consequences of a bout of serious illness or worse?
In other words, what does every self-respecting paraplanner need to know to make sure their clients plans don’t unravel when the unexpected happens unexpectedly?
Protection: get up to speed
To find out tune into the recording of this Assembly held online on 5 February 2025 when Jon Hall, protection specialist at Scottish Widows, joined us to explore protection essentials for paraplanners.
Whether you’re new to protection or need a refresher, the recording of this session will help you understand:
- Why protection deserves a place in holistic financial planning (and how to make the case for it)
- Current trends in the protection market and how to tackle common misconceptions
- The fundamentals: from product types and processes to remuneration options
- Practical tools and technology that can help you research and recommend solutions
What you’ll discover when you tune in
Jon brings real-world experience as both a protection specialist and former adviser focusing on high-net-worth and complex cases. He shares insights on how paraplanners can help build protection into the advice process, even in firms where it hasn’t traditionally been a focus.
Straight after the event, Jon popped over to The Big Tent and created a thread where he answered questions that paraplanners had raised during the gathering but he hadn’t had time to answer live. Be sure to take a look at his responses.
For our very first online Assembly of 2025, we asked whether we’d absolutely definitely seen the back of all the corrective legislation, clear-as-mud HMRC guidance, and lifetime allowance (LTA) limbo that paraplanners, advisers and clients endured for long periods over the previous two years.
So for those who wanted to be certain where things stood, and confirm for themselves that the LTA saga was absolutely definitely over, James Jones-Tinsley from Barnett Waddingham and Transact’s Brian Radbone joined us to put us all straight – once and for all.
Over the course of one lunch hour, James and Brian offered their insights on all the corrections, clarifications and considerations that you could possibly want to know when it comes to the lifetime allowance.
Paraplanners came armed with their questions and comments to share in the chat, and tuned in to hear what our experts – and paraplanners just like them – learned from the saga of the LTA abolition.
Each of us shares an ever more complex and connected planet. One where we’re all facing the consequences of a human-made climate emergency and conflicts. A world of profound inequalities in health, economic and social outcomes between – and within – populations.
So it shouldn’t be a surprise to learn that more and more clients are looking for returns that aren’t measured financially, but by effecting positive economic, social and environmental change.
But how many of your clients think this way? And if you did know how many, how confident are you that you can help clients make their social and charitable ambitions part of a practical financial plan?
What you’ll learn from this Assembly
To explore this topic we gathered together three wise people (appropriate for the time of year) to help us:
- look at different ways in which clients can give these days
- why they might want to give in the first place; and
- the evidence that clients do want to give but their advisers don’t seem to realise
Host Richard Allum is joined by pioneering ethical investing advocate and financial planner Jeannie Boyle of EQ Investors, Jack Chellman chief project officer of the innovative Global Returns Project and David McIntosh of chief executive of ShareGift – a brilliant service that has turned the shareholding equivalent of spare change into more than £50 million in donations to UK charities since 1996.
Watch or listen now
Once upon a time, philanthropy was something that only the very wealthiest would consider. But in this season of goodwill – and in a world that doesn’t half need it – find out why that’s no longer true – and how paraplanners can help clients put their money to work in powerfully positive ways more easily than ever before.
Think you know how to stay safe online? No matter how tech security savvy you think you are, even people who have never known a world without the web can fall victim to sophisticated scams (listen out for the case of a 20 year old digital native who nearly lost £000s in a fake HMRC email scam).
Which is why you should tune in to this eye-opening conversation with Sarah Coles, Parmenion’s head of cyber and resilience.
As a seasoned cybersecurity expert, whose blog posts have acquired almost cult status among readers of the Assembly’s monthly newsletter, Sarah has spent a decade protecting wealth management professionals and practices. In this conversation with host Richard Allum, Sarah shares five practical tips that will help shield you and your business from a world of cyber threats.
Be in the know
Want to know why storing passwords in your browser might be riskier than you think? Or why relying on SMS codes for two-factor authentication could leave you vulnerable? Sarah breaks down complex security concepts into actionable steps you can implement right away.
In fewer than 30 minutes, you’ll discover:
- Why length matters more than complexity for password security
- The truth about backup solutions (no, Dropbox sync isn’t enough)
- How to spot sophisticated phishing attempts that can fool even experts
- Simple ways to protect client data that meet regulatory requirements
- Real-world examples of common security mistakes and how to avoid them
Whether you’re a solo paraplanner or part of a larger team, this conversation offers valuable insights for protecting not only your practice and your clients’ sensitive information but your personal information too.
Tune in and adopt healthy habits
These days, good security isn’t just about the tech you use. It’s about developing smart habits that become second nature. Tune in and, in half an hour, you could be setting out on a lifetime of freshly minted healthy cyber security habits.
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 10am on Thursday 12 December 2024, 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.
Aegon UK’s Sarah Purves and Succession Wealth’s Ellie Welling return for a follow-up to last month’s ‘What kind of paraplanning leader will I be?’ Assembly.
Picking up where they left off in November, Sarah, Ellie and host, Richard Allum, explore a topic that every aspiring and existing leader will experience during their career: difficult conversations.
Sarah shares ideas and techniques that can help paraplanning leaders successfully prepare for and navigate discussions that you might otherwise dread.
During the second half of this episode, our guests focused on questions, ideas and topics raised by paraplanners during the first Assembly.
But whether or not you joined Sarah and Ellie last time, and haven’t had a chance to listen or watch it on catch up yet, you’re sure to gain plenty to inform your reflections on successful leadership by tuning into this discussion.
Watch or listen now
So if you’re on the lookout for an hour that’s packed with practical ideas and insights that could prove vital to your next steps in paraplanning, look no further.
Perhaps you’ve been thinking about stepping into a leadership role in paraplanning. Or you’re already managing others and want to build your skills. Either way, our specially extended lunchtime Assembly at 12.30pm on Wednesday 13 November is for you.
What’s in it for me?
Over 90 minutes, you’ll explore what kind of paraplanning leader you could be and discover how you can make that step with confidence – all from the comfort of your own desk (or canteen, cafe, or kitchen table).
Wherever you’re joining from, we’ll have Aegon UK’s learning and organisational consultant, Sarah Purves, on hand to help. Throughout the Assembly, Sarah will be inviting you to try out a series of exercises that will help you:
- Identify the paraplanning leadership qualities you already have (you might be surprised)
- Discover your natural management style by learning from what’s worked (and what hasn’t) with your own managers
- Get better at those tricky conversations that come with leading others
- Build a practical toolkit you can use straight away to have more impact in your role
What’s more, Sarah will be joined by paraplanner Ellie Welling from Succession Wealth who will be sharing her own experience of moving into a leadership role – what she’s learned, what she wishes she’d known, and how she’s gone about developing her own approach to managing a team.
It’s an Assembly that’s specially designed so you can:
- share your thoughts about the challenges of leadership without judgment if you’d like to
- learn from the experience of others at different stages of their career
- gain practical tips you can actually use right away
- work out if leadership is right for you and what it could look like
- ask questions you’ve always wanted to ask about managing others
Save your spot now
There’s no magic formula for becoming a leader. But there are tools and techniques that really work. Whether you just want to tune in to listen and learn, or get stuck in and share your thoughts in the Chat, you’ll be really welcome.
So how about it? Save your spot now.
Don’t miss part two!
This Assembly was the first of a two-parter on paraplanning leadership. In the second part, Sarah, Ellie and Richard will dig into dealing with difficult conversations as well as exploring the questions raised in the Chat at today’s Assembly.
To save your spot for that Assembly, visit the event page.
Scottish Widows’ pensions specialist (and Big Day Out 2024 ‘Quiz the Expert’ alumnus), Gareth Davies, joins host, Richard Allum, for the follow-up to his popular ‘Is there a recipe for successful retirement income advice?‘ Assembly which we held back in June.
Why a second helping?
An unbelievably busy Chat meant that Gareth fielded a fair few comments and questions which left too much ground to cover in just one lunch hour. So Gareth agreed to come back later in the year to conclude his survey of the retirement advice landscape.
In this concluding Assembly, Gareth and Richard…
- Revisit the annuities vs. drawdown debate – examining the case for ‘annuities plus drawdown’, exploring the latest annuity features, and discussing strategies for annuitising fully crystallised pension pots.
- Dig into pension death benefits: they’ll consider the options and potential pitfalls of death benefits – plus focus on the importance of nomination forms and their regular review.
- Assess the effect of regulatory change: if there’s time, they’ll consider how the FCA’s thematic review is influencing retirement income advice, what it may mean for centralised retirement propositions, and what it means for your ongoing assessment of suitability.
It makes for a lunch-hour Assembly that’s packed with valuable insights and practical ideas that you can apply to client cases right away.