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 join us online at 1pm on Wednesday 24 April 2024 for an Assembly with Les Cameron for starters.
Because M&G Wealth’s head of technical will be taking us on a guided tour of the new allowances regime following the abolition of the lifetime allowance (LTA).
What to expect from this online Assembly
During this lunch-hour event, hosted by Richard Allum of The Paraplanners, Les will explore what’s changed, what matters, and what it all means for you and your clients.
In a session that will be jam-packed with examples, case studies and practical tips, Les will be covering 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 expects to share will be 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.
And if time allows, he’s promised to recap the legislative position as well as share some good-to-know quirks that the changes are throwing up.
Don’t miss out. Save your spot.
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.
AI, eh? (That’s artificial intelligence, obvs.) It seems to be everywhere these days doesn’t it?
From virtual assistants on our smartphones to advanced algorithms in the workplace, AI is becoming increasingly prevalent.
But what does this mean for you as a paraplanner? How will AI impact your day-to-day work and the financial advice world as a whole?
Whether you’re an in-house paraplanner grappling with the implementation of AI within your firm or an outsourced paraplanner navigating various AI tools across multiple clients, the rapid evolution of AI can be both exciting and daunting.
That’s why we designed this online event – to provide a space for you to explore the realities of AI in paraplanning, learn from real-life experiences, and discover how to adapt and thrive in this new landscape.
Joining us online on 10 April 2024 for an insightful and practical discussion were two special guests:
- Jonny Stubbs, director of risk at LIFT Financial (and former host of THREE Big Days Out), will share real-life examples of how AI is being used and how paraplanners are adapting.
- Benjamin Fabi, director of outsourced paraplanning practice, Principled Paraplanning, and Big Tent regular, who will share his insights on how individual paraplanners can leverage AI technology to their advantage.
As a paraplanner, staying informed about AI is crucial for your professional development. We encourage you to set aside an hour or two each week to familiarize yourself with AI – and this event is the perfect starting point.
To begin with, tune into this collaborative exploration of AI in paraplanning.
Save your spot now – we can’t wait to see you there!
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?
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, annual allowance and pretty much any other allowance you can think of.
How many of the Budget measures trailed in the media in advance of the Chancellor’s speech actually materialised or turned out to be Treasury sleight of hand?
As regular Assembly participants know, Les absolutely loves fielding questions on tax and investing (especially from paraplanners) so tune into to see what issues cropped up.
Finally, grab a record of attendance for your CPD visit the dedicated event page for this Assembly at M&G Wealth’s Tech Matters site.
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).
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.
Join paraplanners from all over the country as we gather for the Paraplanners’ Assembly’s BIG DAY OUT on 12 September 2024.
What’s more, on the eve of the main event – so that’s from 1900 on 11 September 2024 – we’ll be hosting THE BIG NIGHT IN.
For both events we’ll be gathering together at a breathtaking destination – FarmED – right in the heart of the Cotswold countryside.
Tickets for the BIG DAY OUT 2024 cost £40. Tickets for THE BIG NIGHT IN cost £20.
12 September: The Big Day Out 2024 / 1000-1700 / £40
We’re still tuning up the plan for the day but don’t let that stop you booking.
After all, it’s an Assembly. So expect an informal gathering which combines a blend of topic-specific small group sessions – which we’re calling Crop Rotations – and all-together sessions.
Lunchtime drop-ins
Last year we ran an informal drop-in session during the lunch break for day trippers who were starting out as outsourced paraplanners, thinking about it, or already were. In 2022 the drop-in was for people new to paraplanning. Basically, we’re saying that there will be a drop-in and there’s every chance it will be right up your street!
Special Assembly
We bring everyone together for some kind of life-affirming exploration of all things paraplanning!
Provisional running order
0900: Breakfast and gathering
1000: Hello!
1015: Crop Rotation
1115: Break
1145: Crop Rotation
1245: Lunch + drop-ins
1345: Crop Rotation
1430: Crop Rotation
1515: Break
1545: Special Assembly
1630: Cheerio
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.
If you’re a paraplanner who lives or works in Bristol, north Somerset, south Gloucestershire, west Wiltshire or just across the bridge in Wales then our Bristol Assembly at 9.30am on Wednesday 12 June 2024 will be right up your street.
Organised by Plan Works’ Sian Davies Cole and Maddy Gooding of In Step Paraplanning this is your chance to catch up with paraplanners from your neck of the woods.
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 at Little Stoke Community Hall, Little Stoke in north Bristol. (Why a community centre? Take a look at our recent blog post.)
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.
It’s 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.
Expect the same kind of thing from the Bristol Assembly on 12 June.
So how about it? Book your spot now.
How are other paraplanners feeling about the state of advice in the UK these days? What do they really think about working with advisers? The adoption of technology? How about regulation and The Consumer Duty?
The Lang Cat’s Steve Nelson joined us to reveal insights gathered from paraplanners who responded to the research and communications consultancy’s annual State of the Advice Nation survey of advice professionals.
Despite being in its sixth year, this is the first time that The Lang Cat has cut the survey’s data to reveal paraplanners’ perspectives.
And to explore what the study tells us, Steve and Assembly host, Richard Allum, was joined by two leading outsourced and in-house paraplanners – Alan Gow of Argonaut Paraplanning and Jackie Manning from Evelyn Partners.
Together they asked what this year’s results reveal. The conversation:
- revealed a surprising finding (to The Lang Cat team, at least) about clarity of communication between advisers and paraplanners
- reflected on how the attitudes and sentiment towards some of the biggest issues in the sector are more aligned with the rest of the profession than you might expect; and
- explored attitudes towards technology – and AI in particular.
In a confessional post at The Lang Cat’s site back in November, Steve admitted that he’d wished he’d explored paraplanners’ perspectives a while back.
Well now he has.
So why not join with other paraplanners, Richard, Alan and Jackie, as Steve shares what he’s learned exclusively with the Assembly?
Want to join in? Then save your spot now.