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 Friday 5 July 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.
Canaccord Genuity’s chief investment officer, Tom Becket, joins Richard Allum for a primer on fixed interest investments that is ideal for paraplanners wherever you are in your career.
During a 20-minute conversation, Tom explains the basics of bonds and gilts, how interest rates affect their values, and how the recent spikes in interest rates have affected returns and revived annuities – putting an end to years of fixed interest investments’ appearing to be ‘uninvestable’.
The likelihood of lower inflation combined with potential interest rate cuts is positive for fixed interest markets.
But Tom is keen to stress that all bonds aren’t created equal and he offers his thoughts on where – depending on the risk appetite of your clients – opportunities might lie across a spectrum of fixed interest investments, from government debt to high-yield credit.
For paraplanners looking to get a handle on this significant but possibly misunderstood asset class, this bite-sized Assembly offers valuable insights to help navigate the fixed interest landscape.
In a special bite-sized Assembly, Transact’s Stuart Fleat explains how model portfolio services offered by discretionary investment managers are able to accessed on platforms like Transact.
In less than six minutes, Stuart explains how platforms and MPS providers are able to handle access to client accounts and data securely and confidentially, how portfolio rebalancing works in practice, practical considerations around capital gains tax, and how clients are invested into the model portfolios.
Believe it or not, it’s already been nine years since the introduction of pension freedoms. And while it’s fair to say that the arrival of drawdown has transformed the way that clients can plan income in retirement, when the new measures were announced back in 2015, they were made against the backdrop of a generally benign economic climate.
What had changed and what could paraplanners do?
Today, high interest rates and stubborn inflationary pressure, coupled with greater regulatory scrutiny courtesy of The Consumer Duty and the FCA’s retirement income review, make for altogether more changeable weather.
So how are paraplanners expected to make forecasts and hatch plans that will deliver sustainable incomes for clients in their retirement? Plans that stack up under scrutiny – and against the demands – of The Consumer Duty?
During this lunch-hour Assembly, Gareth not only explored these issues but dug into other considerations that could influence paraplanners, advisers and clients when thinking about accumulation and decumulation strategies including:
- Cash flow modelling and stress testing – and its importance
- Is it ‘annuities vs drawdown’ or ‘annuities + drawdown’?
- Platform selection and what to consider
- The abolition of lifetime allowance – what does it mean?
No matter what your experience or expertise as a paraplanner, this 60-minute session offers insights and ideas when considering options for successful and sustainable income in retirement for your clients.
Once upon a time, we were scouring our library of previous online Assemblies and realised something: we had never covered the topic of inheritance tax (IHT) planning using the alternative investment market (AIM)!
So we thought it was high time to fix that with a whistle-stop tour to discover why investing in AIM is right up there as a strategy for IHT planning.
Whether you’re new to paraplanning and in search of a primer, or you’ve been paraplanning for absolutely ages and want to make sure you really know what you’re talking about, tuning into this Assembly will be well worth your while.
To help us navigate the topic we were joined by the ideal tour guide: Canaccord Genuity’s senior investment director and head of IHT investments, Paul Parker. During our lunch-hour gathering we explored:
- why AIM is so appealing for IHT planning
- business relief and how it works
- why AIM has a reputation for riskier investments
- how clients can invest in AIM – investment managers and DFMs
- researching the suitability of AIM portfolios and their managers
- things to consider when designing an IHT strategy using AIM
As ever, the chat was open for paraplanners to pose questions, or share ideas and observations – and the quality of contributions was great!
In a world where even HMRC doesn’t seem too sure what the score is, how can paraplanners get to grips with the new allowances landscape so clients know what they need to know right now?
Well you could tune into this recording of our Assembly with Les Cameron on 24 April 2024 for starters.
Because M&G Wealth’s head of technical took us on a guided tour of the new allowances regime following the abolition of the lifetime allowance (LTA).
What you’ll gain from this Assembly
During this lunch-hour event, hosted by Richard Allum of The Paraplanners, Les explored what has changed, what matters, and what it all means for you and your clients.
In a session that was jam-packed with examples, case studies and practical tips, Les covered all the essentials including
- individual starting allowances
- allowance excesses
- transitional allowances – including transitional tax free amount certificates (TTFACs)
- ongoing allowance availability and use
- death benefits and beneficiaries drawdown
- the importance of the order of benefits
Among the nuggets that Les shared were his analysis of the winners and losers under the new regime, nine things you need to know about TTFACs, and planning opportunities for clients as a result of the changes.
What’s more, he recapped the legislative position as well as shared some good-to-know quirks that the changes are throwing up.
With the post-LTA world still in an apparent state of flux, this is a timely chance to take stock in the company of one of the Assembly’s most popular experts. Want to join in? Then save your spot now.
Back in the days of pandemic restrictions, we would throw open the doors of a Zoom room for an hour on a Friday morning so – whether in-house or outsourced – any paraplanner who was working from home and fancied a natter could drop in (we called them Coffee Mornings).
Despite the return to a more traditional office hours for part of the week, the world of hybrid working and WFH continues to leave loads of us craving a bit of watercooler-style conversation once in a while – if only to stay sane.
Which is why we’re reviving our informal one-hour drop-ins once again.
Pop the kettle on, it’s Elevenses
We’re calling them Elevenses and we’ll be opening the Zoom room for the next one at 11am on Friday 15 March 2024.
To join in, just click the ‘Book event’ button, fill out your details and you’ll receive a calendar invitation with the Zoom link in your inbox (so you don’t forget).
What to expect
There’s nothing to prepare or anything – although a frequent topic of conversation is ‘What’s for tea?’ so be ready for that – so just pour yourself a cuppa, grab a biscuit or two or three or four…and click the link.
Expect to be greeted by a friendly-faced paraplanner or two (Caroline Stuart will definitely be one of the hosts for this gathering).
There might only be two or three of us. And then there might be 20.
You can stay for the whole hour. Or just five minutes. It’s entirely up to you.
See you there?
If you’re a paraplanner who lives or works in Dorset, Hampshire and the New Forest, and south Wiltshire, then our New Forest Assembly at 10am on Thursday 25 April 2024 is just the thing for you.
Organised by Evelyn Partners’ Jackie Manning and Sarah Lees from Mazars, the Assembly, which is being hosted at Greyfriars Community Centre in Ringwood, Hampshire, is your chance to catch up with paraplanners from your neck of the woods. (Why a community centre? Take a look at our recent blog post.)
When you book your spot, you’ll be invited to shape the agenda by suggesting topics that you’d like the Assembly cover during the get-together.
But to give you an idea of what to expect, at last October’s gathering of paraplanners at the equivalent event in London (The Other London Assembly), we exchanged ideas and perspectives on:
- the role of AI in paraplanning
- how The Consumer Duty was going in each others’ firms
- Recruitment
- Qualifications
- how to help new paraplanners joining your firm get on board and still be able to do your day job; and
- practical ideas about how to progress in your career when exams and you just don’t get on.
The New Forest Assembly is the ideal chance to learn what’s going on in each other’s worlds, share ideas, and discover practical tips and illuminating insights – and tackle any other paraplanning topics that are on your mind when we gather.
See you on 25 April 2024? Then save your spot now.
Paraplanners from all over the country gathered for the Paraplanners’ Assembly’s Big Day Out 2024 on 12 September 2024.
From its first meeting in 2013, the Paraplanners’ Assembly’s annual gathering has created space for sparking collaboration and conversation among paraplanners that is unlike any other event in the world of wealth management.
Why?
The Big Day Out is an informal gathering that offers six hours’ worth of CPD thanks to its combination of tailor-made interactive sessions led by hand-picked experts (and designed especially for the event), and group discussions facilitated by paraplanner hosts.
It makes for a supportive and encouraging space in which you can listen and learn, and share ideas, knowledge and insights. And it’s a unique environment in which you can really focus and flourish – both professionally and personally.
You’ll feel you belong at The Big Day Out because The Big Day Out belongs to you. Here’s what happened at The Big Day Out 2024.
Welcome!
Assembled paraplanners joined us in the conference barn for a welcome from Big Day Out hosts, Sam Tonks and Chris Wormwell.
Then we got straight into…
Hone it. Own it: One hour to perfect your development plan
New for this year, and designed especially for the Paraplanners’ Assembly, we open and closed the day with two really interactive sessions led by Arch Inspire’s Rachael Hurdman.
What were they all about? How to create an actionable and practical plan to achieve your personal and professional development goals.
But this wasn’t some dry run-of-the-mill classroom-type session because IT WAS A BIG DAY OUT! So Rachael shared practical tools, techniques and insights that (1) participants could try out throughout the sessions at your Big Day Out and (2) will last participants (and people back at the office they shared them with) for years.
Crop Rotations
Following the opening session, the Assembly split into three groups (called Crop Rotations) to tackle three topics over three 45-minute sessions.
ROTATION A
Quiz the experts
Our technical sessions are a perennial favourite among paraplanners.
After all, it could be the one chance you get this year to fire any question you can possibly think of at experts who – we’re pretty certain – will be able to answer them. (As long as it’s a technical paraplanning question and not e.g. ‘Yes, but what’s the universe expanding into?’)
This year is no exception. Your stellar quartet of experts includes:
– Les Cameron of M&G Wealth
– Gareth Davies of Scottish Widows
– Natalie Howard of Canaccord Genuity
– Brian Radbone of Transact
So begin collecting your questions today and you’ll be all set to quiz the experts on the day.
ROTATION B
Productivity tips you live by. Apps and tools you can’t live without.
Because the Big Day Out attracts paraplanners from companies large and small, and from in-house and outsourced teams, we know that the ability to influence things such as report content and formats, and choice of software and tech tools varies widely among participants.
But one thing that won’t vary widely is the way we go about getting our own stuff done.
So that’s what this session is all about: what’s the secret to your day-to-day personal productivity? What are the tips or techniques that help you get things done? And what tools, apps or websites do you keep coming back to?
Whether you’re the world’s leading expert on the application of the Pomodoro method, Eisenhower matrix and tried all the task management apps – or are thinking ‘Pomodoro what?’, this will be a fantastic chance to discover how and why other paraplanners do what they do, the way they do.
ROTATION C
You, clients and the future of advice technology.
You already know how influential technology is in day-to-day paraplanning. But what does the future of work look like for paraplanners with the arrival of AI? In this crop rotation – designed especially for the Big Day Out – NextWealth founder and managing director, Heather Hopkins, will lead a conversation that’s all about how technology is changing advice, what innovations are coming down the line, and how they’re likely to influence the practice of paraplanning.
This is a fantastic opportunity for you and your paraplanning peers to share what you think and feel about the future – and technology’s role in it.
From due diligence to data, and research to report writing, this is a unique chance to explore how emerging technologies will influence paraplanning facilitated by one of the most influential figures in UK advicetech today
Lunch
Locally sourced and freshly prepared, we tucked into pulled pork or vegetarian chilli (or both!) along with loads of healthy salads and slaws that were grown on the farm.
Hone it. Own it: Part Two
Rachael Hurdman returned and, in this closing session, invited participants to take a couple of practical steps that will enable you to gather the loose ends of your personal action plan. It was another really interactive session where you could try out your new tools, and round off your development plan – and Big Day Out – perfectly.
And finally…
The Paraplanners’ Assembly
It was time for the session after which the Assembly is named. Just like at our first gathering in 2013, Sam and Chris will opened up the floor for you to share anything that’s on your mind.
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.
Why an event for outsourced paraplanners?
At last year’s Big Day Out, we invited Christina Georgiou and Andy Schleider to host a drop in session for participants who were starting out as outsourced paraplanners, thinking about it, or already were. (The session was an IRL version of the ‘Outsourced Paraplanners banter + chat group’ hosted by Andy on WhatsApp.)
The popularity of that session illustrated three things (1) the appetite to get together face-to-face as well as via messaging apps (2) the role the Assembly can play to bring outsourced paraplanners together and (3) how the Assembly can support informal networks that already exist for outsourced paraplanning.
After all, it’s exactly what the Paraplanners’ Assembly has always been about since our very first gathering in 2013: creating spaces – in person and online – that spark collaboration and conversation. Spaces where paraplanners can exchange views, learn things, fix things and share things.
Switch off. Show up. Join in.
Here’s our invitation: set your notifications to ‘do not disturb’, click on the Zoom link in your event confirmation 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. Save your spot now.