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.
Perennial Assembly favourite, Les Cameron of M&G Wealth, joined us to share his thoughts on Labour’s Budget on 30 October.
As well as the fact that Rachel Reeves made history by becoming the first woman to deliver a budget as Chancellor of the Exchequer, were there measures that are sure to feature when Budget history is written?
Or were the widespread jitters among savers and investors ill-founded as Labour delivered its first Budget since Alistair Darling’s on 20 April 2010 – no fewer than 5,334 days earlier.
What actually happened?
Were the headlines screaming about capital gains and inheritance tax? How about pension tax relief and fuel duty? Or national insurance and the British ISA? Perhaps even VAT on school fees or measures affecting non-doms? And what about a wealth tax?
Les was on hand to offer his thoughts and insights, and address lots of questions and comments posted by paraplanners in the Chat.
So did it turn out to be one of the most consequential Budgets of recent years? Was it more of a ‘pitch-rolling’ statement in preparation for future measures? Or something else altogether?
Tune in and find out.
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.
A special tax year end Assembly combining expert insights and Chat-powered Q&A.
Coming just a week after the Budget statement on 6 March, a little over a fortnight before tax year end, and while the Finance Bill from last October’s statement is still making its way through Parliament, it was the ideal time to tune in to what you really need to know as the tax year hits its paraplanning peak.
To help, we gathered together a stellar panel of experts to share their knowledge and know-how: Les Cameron from M&G Wealth, James Jones-Tinsley of Barnett Waddingham and Transact’s Brian Radbone. (Scottish Widows’s Tom Coughlan, was due to join us but technical gremlins proved too much of an obstacle.)
Expect a lunch-hour discussion laden with lashings of insights on allowances, reliefs and exemptions spanning pensions, ISAs, capital gains tax and inheritance tax (and everything in between).
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.
What can you do to treat a case of fluctuating emoluments?
Join Barnett Waddingham’s James Jones-Tinsley as he takes us on a third exploration of old pensions jargon for paraplanners – that’s what.
James joins host Richard Allum to shed light on acronyms and concepts that paraplanners may encounter in the wild including FURBS, UURBS, cash balance schemes, the difference between final salary and career average, CARE, fluctuating emoluments and straddling PIPs.
Didn’t catch the previous two episodes in James’s popular plain English trilogy? Scroll down in a moment and help yourself.
In part one, which was recorded in May 2022, James covers s226, s32, AVC, FSAVC, EPP, GMP, with profits annuities, GAR and SSAS.
And in part two, he lifts the lid on UFPLS, NMPA, master trusts v deeds, SERPS, S2P, QROPS, ROPS and TIEA. This episode was recorded in January 2023.
This bite-sized Assemblies is available as a podcast episode too. You can listen now on Acast or search ‘Paraplanners’ Assembly’ in your favourite podcast app.
Part one
Part two
Meanwhile, in part one, he covers s226, s32, AVC, FSAVC, EPP, GMP, with profits annuities, GAR and SSAS.
Host Richard Allum was joined by experts Rachel Geary and Murray Smith from Barnett Waddingham for a lunch-hour session exploring what clients need to know if they want to invest in property as part of their pension
Together, they covered the technical, regulatory and legal issues that influence pensions and property, and served up really valuable insights along the way.
Among the topics covered were:
- Why buy a commercial property with a pension?
- SIPP vs SSAS. What, why and when?
- Rules about property in a pension
- Technical and legal things to know about investing in commercial property with a pension
- FAQs. Which things crop up time and again?
- What can go wrong – and how to avoid it happening
Listen now
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James Jones-Tinsley of Barnett Waddingham joins host, Richard Allum, for a second short video in which James translates old pensions jargon into something more understandable for today’s paraplanners.
Want to see Part One? Here’s the link: A plain English guide to old pensions jargon: Part One
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.
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…
- Who they are suitable for?
- How they work – SSAS
- SSAS versus SIPP
- Loan back and self investment
- Planning tips