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.

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A video cover image showing the title 'CRPs and the consumer duty effect' in large letters. Beneath it, the subtitle reads 'Recorded on 12 October 2022'.

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.

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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:

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For the first time in three years paraplanners from all over the country were able to gather for real for the Paraplanners Assembly’s Big Day Out at FarmED near Chipping Norton in Oxfordshire on 15 September 2022.

Learning objectives

We opted for a blend of small group sessions – which we called Crop Rotations – and all-together sessions.

Crop rotations: Morning

For the pre-lunch sessions, we split the Assembly into three groups: Barley, Oats and Wheat.

Participants were assigned to a group and each group rotated around the three topic sessions. Conversations in each topic session were facilitated by hosts and experts. Each session lasted for 45 minutes. The topic session for rotations 1, 2 and 3 were:

What will consumer duty mean to you?

Experts: the lang cat’s Mike Barrett and Mel Holman from CATS.

The art of challenging conversations

Expert: Becca Timmins from Time to Think and Emery Little led a session on challenging conversations.

Pep up your paraplanning processes

Experts: LIFT Financial’s Jonny Stubbs and Chris Baigent-Reed from Jigsaw Tree.

After lunch, participants were assigned to a NEW group: Apples, Cherries, Pears or Plums.

That’s because we combined two groups for the session on report writing but – by the miracle of organisation – ensured each group gets a technical Q&A all to itself. So the topics for rotations 4 and 5 were:

Technical Q&A

Panellists: Les Cameron and Neil MacLeod from M&G Wealth, and Transact’s Brian Radbone and Barnett Waddingham’s James Jones-Tinsley.

Three things that get in the way of clear, compliant and client-friendly report writing

Experts: Melissa Kidd of Motem with Mel Holman from CATS.

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Our guests – Guy Anderson from Just, Sarah Lees from Plan Works, Ben Mastel from 7IM and Sam Tonks from Succession Wealth – discussed the case of Holly Gennero – a divorced mother of two. (Can you spot the film reference? It was the last CSI before Christmas). The team covered the following retirement income options:

Plus concepts including:

Interested? Then just tap ‘Book now’ to save your spot. (And look out for the link to the retirement income case study in a couple of days before the event.)

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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You don’t come across SSAS very often, but when you do you need to know what you’re doing with them. We can help with that.

Learning Objectives

During the session we covered…

Brian Radbone of Transact and Richard Allum of The Paraplanners discuss how new regulations designed to prevent pension scams will affect advice professionals and providers dealing with pension transfers.

James Jones-Tinsley of Barnett Waddingham and Richard Allum pick their way through the potpourri of jargon associated with old pensions contract.

Many paraplanners may never have worked on an annuity or have less experience since pension freedoms came in. In this session, we cover the basics of guaranteed income.

Learning objectives

During the session we covered…

In this brief but wide-ranging conversation, Will Mcintosh-Whyte of Rathbones talks with Richard Allum of the Paraplanners’ Assembly tackle the question of what ‘responsible investment’ is and whether it differs from ideas like ESG, or ‘ethical’ and ‘sustainable’ investing.