The Paraplanners' Assembly Podcast

Think you know how to stay safe online? No matter how 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...

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...

This online Assembly focusing on professional development would not be possible without the generous support of  Aegon UK . Thanks to the team at Aegon for supporting this week’s event – and for supporting the development of paraplanners and paraplanning in the UK through their support of the Paraplanners’ Assembly. --- Perhaps you’ve been thinking about stepping into a leadership role in par...

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-fo...

Rachel Reeves will become the first woman in UK history to deliver a Budget statement on Wednesday 30 October. But how exactly will the measures that she has announced become law – and how quickly? That’s the question that host Leanne Pickering of Pivotal Paraplanning and James Jones-Tinsley of Barnett Waddingham tackle in this Assembly.  Together, Leanne and James explore how Budget changes...

What steps can you take to make sure your client’s plan will deliver a reliable income in retirement nowadays? After all, it’s an area of advice that is coming under some significant regulatory attention. Because not only is it the subject of a thematic review but the arrival of The Consumer Duty has also turned the spotlight on the suitability of advice too.  Retirement income advice: why al...

You can’t beat a good case study or two for discovering and consolidating technical knowledge, insights and practical ideas.  So you’re going to love this special episode in which Steve Sayer of Utmost International explores not one, not two, but three case studies that – together – spotlight essential planning considerations for clients who have spent time overseas, and have invested abroad...

How are other paraplanners feeling at the moment? About regulatory change? About day-to-day pressures and workload? About emerging technology and its influence on advice? About perception of paraplanning as a profession and career?  Upbeat? Pretty neutral? A bit meh? Well wonder no more as Craig Spittal of Scottish Widows reveals the findings of Scottish Widows’ latest annual survey of parapl...

There's nothing paraplanners love more than a case study to help bring a technical topic to life. And that’s especially true when it comes to getting to grips with the complexities of inheritance tax (IHT) calculations. Which is why you’re going to love our latest podcast episode: a case-study led online Assembly that’s all about calculating IHT. Recorded on 20 September, host Richard Allum is joi...

Ever wondered how platform’s manage your client's cash? In this bite-sized Assembly, Transact’s Glen Sweet reveals all. You'll learn how a platform like Transact calculates the aggregate interest earned across a client’s daily trading and longer-term deposit accounts. And also that, because of differences in charging from platform to platform, it’s important to take a closer look at whether and ho...

It's been just over a year since the arrival of The Consumer Duty. So, whether you've been neck-deep in its implementation or still feel like you're getting to grips with it, this lunch-hour Assembly asks how we’re all getting on with it. To explore the topic, we were joined by founder of Compliance and Training Solutions (CATS) , Mel Holman, and Tom Lloyd-Read, technical planning manager at Stone...

When it comes to gaining and maintaining inheritance tax (IHT) planning know-how and expertise, nothing beats a good case study. So this special case study investigation, which features not one but two client examples, is bound to be right up your street. Because in this 50-minute episode, Utmost International’s Steve Sayer joins host, Richard Allum, to explore why reversionary interest trusts (RI...

Working out what to do with your client’s wealth after their death is all part of a paraplanner's life. But settling on the best strategy can be complex – especially when missing a vital detail can have costly consequences. So what can you do about it? Stay up to date with the latest thinking, that’s what. Which is why Neil Macleod, senior technical manager at M&G Wealth , joined us to explore...

To mark Independence Day in the United States, we thought we'd treat you to a bonus episode: a bite-sized Assembly that's all about investing for US expats living in the UK. Because despite being citizens of the 'land of the free', once they leave the USA's shores, expat savers and investors often face complex challenges to stay on the right side of the US equivalent of HMRC: the Internal Revenue...

Brian Radbone, Technical Counsel at Transact, joins Richard to unpack the post-lifetime allowance (LTA) world and its consequences for paraplanners. In a bite-sized Assembly lasting less than eight minutes, Brian explores transition certificates, new lump sum allowances, and why timing is everything when it comes to crystallising benefits. Plus he discusses the importance of understanding provider...

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, h...

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...

In a special bite-sized Assembly, Transact’s Stuart Fleat explains how model portfolio services offered by discretionary investment managers are able to be 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, pract...

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 pa...

Parmenion's head of strategic partnerships, Patrick Ingram, joined host Richard Allum for a lunch-hour Assembly to explore how paraplanners can approach the art of cashflow forecasting these days. Why? Because two years ago, the Bank of England had raised interest rates to break a 1% ceiling that had been in place since February 2009. Ten more rate rises followed. Inflation peaked at 11.1% in Octo...

It’s no secret that top slicing relief offers a powerful method of reducing tax liability by spreading bond gains across each year of the lifetime of the bond.  But no matter how experienced a paraplanner you may be, working out the best way to make use of the relief, and getting the top slicing calculations right, can be tricky. That’s why we think this case study investigation (CSI) on top...

A bit of extra time with Les Cameron following his online Assembly on the post-LTA allowances regime.  We ran out of time for Les to deal with a large number of questions in the chat at the main Assembly session, so Richard and Les met up later to address the questions instead. To watch the online Assembly session visit https://www.crowdcast.io/c/beeglny38q63 You can listen to the podcast epi...

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...

How will AI affect paraplanners' day-to-day role? Jonny Stubbs of LIFT Financial and Benjamin Fabi from Principled Paraplanning joined host, Richard Allum, for an online Assembly exploring how paraplanners are adapting to - and adopting - AI tools. As well as learning about real-life examples of the role AI is already playing in paraplanning, this Assembly offered participants a chance to share th...

With the dust settling on the Chancellor’s Budget, Assembly favourite, Les Cameron from M&G Wealth, joined us to cast his expert gaze over the measures announced and what they mean for advice firms and their clients. Over the course of one lunch-hour, Les explored what Jeremy Hunt’s Budget statement meant for things like inheritance tax, non-dom status, national insurance, lifetime allowance,...