Run out of a new TV series to binge watch? How about catching up on all the online Assemblies in one go.
In our monthly online Assembly, gurus and paraplanners share top tips and best practice on current topics. Most folk tune-in and ask questions on the day, but for those times when you can’t make – or if you just want to watch it all over again – we’ve recorded it.
So, go on and have watch – it’s like netflix for paraplanners!
2020 assemblies
FE Analytics follow up with Edward Bateman
More on the FE analytics tool covering calculators on ex-ante charges and RIY, account admin and archiving, the bespoke report builder, guide to charts and lots more. Bonus extras can be found on the blog here.
Platform due diligence with the lang cat
With FCA’s new platform rules coming into force in July 2020, platform pro Mike Barrett from the lang cat came in to talk what the rules mean, share due diligence, plus gave a live demo of the the platform analyser.
Let us introduce you to the new-ish Sheriff in town; PROD!
Partnering with Ascentric for a five part technical series called the Magnificant Five. To get the ball rolling we started with with the new-ish sheriff in town, PROD. We covered things like the rules and responsibilities, segmentation, and reporting in attempt to make PROD a little more digestible for paraplanners. Plus there’s CPD up for grabs too.
Communicating pensions with Quietroom
In designing the a new Standard Annual Statement in collaboration with the DWP, Eversheds, and in consultation with lots of different parties and over that time, Quietroom learnt lots of lessons. Many that are relevant to Paraplanners and our ongoing task to turn the complex into something meaningful to clients in reports.
Managing paraplanning teams
For leaders or managers of paraplanning teams, this Howwow was for you. Our panel explored how to lead, manage and inspire your team and set them up for success during this time. Answering your questions we had Powwow favourite, leadership coach and consultant Rachael Hurdman of Arch inspire, and Powwow volunteer Aleks Sasin, Founder and Chief Paraplanner at NavigatusPlus, you can grab some of the resources from that Howwow here.
Design principles for reports
If the chatroom was anything to go by, discussing the design of reports proved a very popular topic with much (friendly) debate. Luckily Mike Bond, Strategy & Client Director of Bond + Coyne, was on hand to explain why some design works and why some just doesn’t. This included fonts, columns, colour, presenting data and lots more (including whispers justification of text). You can find a copy of Mike’s slides here too.
Talking vulnerable clients
Having a robust strategy for vulnerable clients has always been important but during the Covid-19 crisis it is now more than ever. Joined by Martin Lines from Just, this Howwow will give you the tools you need to ensure your approach is robust. Plus get all the resources shared here.
2019 howwows
january howwow: MIFID II – communicating charges to your clients with the lang cat
Joined by Mike Barrett from the lang cat and Paraplanner Benjamin Fabi, we explore the different approaches platforms are taking to communicating charges as MiFID II starts to bite.
February howwow: CRP – What is it, who is it for and needs one?
For this Howwow, we’re joined by Tim Coverdale – Head of Business Development in the North of England and Scotland at 7IM and Martin Lines – Business Development Director at Just.It covers:
- What is a CRP – is it a CIP with a different name?
- Who is it right for?
- Building a process and strategy
- Tools and stress testing
- Reviews
There is also a follow up blog to address further questions that came up.
March Howwow: Paraplanning Open Mic
We’re joined by Rebecca Lucas – Owner of Lime Outsourced Paraplanning and Andy Marshall to explore the day-to-day paraplanning questions. True to the unconference principles of the Powwow, the topics unfurled on the day and the participants answered them with gusto!
May Howwow: Putting protection through its paces with Aegon
In this Howwow we talk through the key aspects of protection for a client joined by Mike Williams, Protection Development Manager, at Aegon.
Join us as we talk through not only why it’s needed and what the solutions are, but also get some practical insight into policy set up and what happens when a claim is made.
June Howwow: Polishing your investment research skills
In this Howwow we’ll take you through the steps needed to understand investments all from a paraplanner perspective. Covering things such as the long scan from FE Analytics, as well as how to research a fund and start building an investment policy statement.
Joining us as a guest guru was Nicki Hinton-Jones, Founder of XPM Investment Consulting.
july Howwow: All about later life planning
In this Howwow we’ll discuss the latest financial planning issues that paraplanners should be considering with regards to later life planning. We’ll also share some of the useful resources the Powwow community have uncovered on care fees planning and support.
UTMOST 2019 series: exploration of investments bonds
Join Utmost for a deeper dive into the workings of investment bonds. Exploring this topic in a three episode series covering, basic, intermediate, and advanced.
Watch Episode 2 – Intermediate
October Howwow: deep dive into fe analytics
FE Analytics is one of the most popular tools in the paraplanning community, so we were rather happy when were joined by them for this interactive session.
October Howwow: Making sense of FOS – A TWO PARTER
Ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes at FOS and how it affects you and your role? We’re joined by FOS veteran, Chris Wells who now runs his own consultancy IFAs Included, to make sense of it all.
november Howwow: digging in to dfm due diligence
As a core task for many paraplanners DFM due diligence is a topic that deserved a Howwow all to itself, which is why we were delighted to be joined by Chris Jones of DD|hub to provide exactly that.
December Howwow: Cash Management with Octopus investments
Back joining us for another Howwow is Octopus Investments, and this time we are talking cash management, a topic that is increasingly on our radar.
2018 Howwows
January Howwow: MiFID II & Costs – What happened next…?
Looking at the practical implications and issues of finding accurate information, the various anomalies, how to report it and paraplanning experiences so far. Our panel had already posted some blog pieces. On trading cost anomalies and negative costs catch Nathan Fryer’s piece here. Read Mike Barrett’s MiFID II reality check here and excellent reporting of what’s happening on the ground here.
February Howwow: What does GDPR mean for you?
Our panel talked through how businesses measure up against the 12 ICO GDPR principles, the legal basis around processing personal data, and lots more. Due to technical difficulties the slides didn’t appear, so we’ve popped them here.
March Howwow: Report writing surgery with Quietroom
Word meisters, Quietroom (of report writing Howwow fame) held a surgery on all those report writing bugbears, from writing and communication techniques, language usage, and how to proofread like a boss. Before you watch the Howwow, make sure you watch this animation first.
Finished? Good. All will be revealed once you’ve watched the Howwow.
April Howwow: What do the FCA papers mean for DB transfers?
This month’s Howwow looked at DB transfers in light of the recent FCA Policy Statement PS18/6 and Consultation Paper CP18/7. Joined by Aegon’s Pension Director, Steven Cameron, we talked through the application of these papers and their potential to improve the quality of pension transfer advice to clients.
May Howwow:Rory Percival talks cash flow planning
In this Howwow our panel looked at cash slow planning from a paraplanner’s perspective with Rory Percival. We discusssed how to research and do due diligence on a tool, review it’s continued suitability, the various tools and their uses, and lots more.
Powwow original: The Utmost Tax and Trust Howwows
In 2017 we asked you what content you wanted us to try and bring to you, and you asked for more tax and trust content. So, not ones to disappoint, we’ve partnered with Utmost Wealth Solutions to bring you five episodes on Tax and Trusts, covering wrapper taxation, pension death benefits, FICs and lots more.
july Howwow: Building & running a paraplanning team
A panel of paraplanners and Rachael Hurdman – founder of Arch inspire, shared their practical tips and experience on how to build and run a paraplannning team. This Howwow is perfect for anyone wanting tips on working within a team, anyone thinking of career development or for any team leaders or managers out there.
October and November: Powwow original: OCtopus IHT howwows
If helping clients plan better for inheritance tax is your thing, then this series of three online Howwows is essential viewing. For this series, we partnered with Powwow supporter Octopus Investments.
The series ran over three episodes.
Episode 1: IHT planning. Getting it right for every client
Exploring three of the most popular estate planning strategies – gifting, trusts and Business Property Relief.
Episode 2: Using trusts as part of a client’s estate planning
For many clients, trusts will be the backbone of their estate planning. So we’ll look at how trusts interact with other strategies.
Getting to grips with Business Property Relief
Business Property Relief (BPR) is a well-established investment incentive and estate planning tool so we’ll take a closer look at BPR-qualifying investments and how they can complement other inheritance tax planning strategies.
november howwow: mifid ii suitability with dynamic planner
Chris Jones, Proposition Director from Dynamic Planner joined us to take a deep dive into the suitability requirements introduced by MiFID II.
2017 Howwows
February Howwow: Day-to-day paraplanning
Joined by paraplanners who work from home full time, part time and even Canada, we talked through top tips for the day-to-day managing of work-flow, as well how to successfully work from home.
March Howwow: Later Life Planning
With experts in the field of later life planning, we tackled this important issue that is becoming more and more relevant for clients with the increased longevity and greater awareness of care fees.
April Howwow: Outsourced Paraplanning
The Howwow for anyone thinking of setting up and running an outsourced paraplanning business – covering what you need in order to set up to how to stay on top of CPD. There’s also a useful blog post accompanying this Howwow click here.
May Howwow: The next paraplanner generation
As a relatively new role within financial services, we discussed the training, recruiting and the career opportunities for the new generation of paraplanners.
June Howwow: TECHNICAL Chat with Rory Percival
Rory Percival – former Technical Specialist at The FCA, frequent contributor at conferences and the Powwows, talked best practice on topics such as DB transfers, evidencing suitability, and risk profiling tools. You’ll find a copy of notes Rory’s Howwow here.
July Howwow: Demystifying the Residential Nil Rate Band
Carol Wells, Head of Wills, Trusts and Estate Planning at Abbey Tax and an expert speaker on this topic. Carol talks us through the technical aspect of RNRB including, relief limits, impact on trusts, and downsizing rules. Once you’ve watched the Howwow, head to blog and download a copy of Carol’s slides here.
August Howwow: Study, revision & exam techniques for paraplanners
Our exam guru, John Reynolds shares the proven techniques that deliver measurable results in exams. His research uses predictive modelling to support the development of today’s paraplanners and financial planners, with the aim of making learning and development as effective as possible.
September Howwow: What is social impact investing?
We discussed the emerging field of social impact investing from a paraplanning perspective. Our experts talked through the true definition of social impact investing, how to research and review funds and portfolios, and manage clients expectations.
October online: Revisiting risk with Rory Percival
Rory Percival – the former Technical Specialist at The FCA did is second Howwow of the year on risk profiling covering the concerns the FCA have flagged in 2017 and what are firms still getting wrong. Plus we chat through the main findings from Rory’s recent research paper into risk profiling tools.
December Howwow: What does MiFiD II mean for paraplanners?
We rolled November and December into one Howwow. Why? Because we wanted to talk MiFID II and felt Christmas jumpers would soften the blow. The panel tackled annual cost disclosure, 10% reporting rules and suitability.
Got an online assembly question? Try these answers on for size
What are the Online Assemblies?
Online Assemblies are for those times when we want to focus on ONE topic in depth. Sometimes we meet in person, and at times we just like a good chinwag online. Enter the Online Assembly.
I can’t seem to get this replay to work
Viewing the Assembly on browsers such as Chrome or Firefox work best.
Are there more Online Assemblies?
You bet your bottom dollar there are, and on lots of useful topics for paraplanners. We aim to hold one every last Wednesday of the month, at lunchtime (1-2pm for most folk). Sometimes we’ll throw a curve ball and change the date. That’s because we want to bring you amazing panel members and they can’t make Wednesdays. It’s as simple as that.
You can watch past Assemblies by clicking the links above or on our Online Assembly channel. For a list of any upcoming events, take a look here.
There isn’t an upcoming Assembly listed, when will the next one be?
Sorry about that. We’re just confirming the topics and putting together an A-Team panel for it. It’ll probably be the last Wednesday of the month, but to make sure you never miss an Assembly sign-up for the Post!
Can I suggest an Assembly topic or be on the panel?
Absolutely, the more the merrier. Drop us an email.
Actually, my question was on something else
Ooh, we like new questions. Just pop it in an email and send it on its merry way to [email protected]