Programme
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Tom Ellis, Editor, Professional Adviser
Paul Speight, Head of Key Account Development, Canada Life
PA360 sets out to offer advisers an all-round, 360 view of their profession and retirement and investment landscapes. And so, in this talk, Tom and Hannah will address the biggest issues and opportunities facing the advice sector, from professional indemnity insurance and regulation to the reputation of the profession.
Tom Ellis, Editor, Professional Adviser
Hannah Godfrey, News Editor, Professional Adviser
The FCA is clamping down on pricing practices in the financial advice industry, holding firms to account and establishing whether prices are representative and fair to the consumer. This year, the conduct regulator released a fair pricing framework which gives firms a clearly defined assessment of pricing practices and in what cases intervention becomes unavoidable. In this session, our panel of experts will discuss the implications of the framework and discuss what their pricing strategies will be going forwards.
Chris Daems, Director, Cervello Financial Planning
Nick Evans-Rakowski, Head of Compliance, Schroders Personal Wealth
Kerry Nelson, Managing Director, Nexus Independent Financial Advisers
Chair: Tim Sargisson, CEO, Sandringham Financial Partners
That is indeed the much-debated question for ESG investors. We will draw upon lessons from literary greats to discuss the key themes and challenges facing multi-asset investors, advisers and portfolio builders. We will also delve into the strategies that can be used in portfolios to navigate these risks in the best of times and in the worst of times.
Justin Onuekwusi, Head of Retail Multi-Asset Funds, Legal & General Investment Management
Stream Chair: Philip Martin, Managing Director, Unique Financial Planning
TBC
Canada Life
The platforms market has entered a state of increased volatility in recent years, with several of the big platform’s providers snapping up smaller firms and creating a monopoly in the marketplace. In amongst these big players, however, are the new kids on the block – the disruptors who are looking to do things a little differently. In this session, our panel will discuss the monopolisation of the platforms market, the open spaces available to newer providers and the ever-changing state of the financial advice market.
James Hay
Multrees
Hugo Thorman, Co-Founder, Seccl
Chair: Mark Polson, Principal, the lang cat
As a financial adviser, having a solid plan in place to save your clients’ families thousands of pounds in inheritance tax (IHT), can make a huge difference to a surviving family. The latest figures show that people in the UK paid just under £5.5bn in IHT last year according to the latest figures from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) which is a 3% increase on the previous tax year. There are a few different options in place, such as gifting, trusts and business relief (BR), but what strategy is best when looking at saving your clients from IHT? This session will consider best practice when it comes to personal tax planning and how to ensure your client isn’t subject to an unnecessary visit from HMRC.
Neil MacGillivray, Head of Technical Support, James Hay
The decumulation journey is one of the key stages in all retirement portfolios. Your clients are beginning to think about accessing their pension pots and there are so many different avenues to drawdown, from encashment, annuitisation or a combination of strategies. However, there are a multitude of risks associated with investing for income including longevity, inflation, volatility and sequencing risk that all need to be considered when approaching decumulation. This session will hone in on the key focus areas that advisers need to consider when reaching the decumulation stage of clients’ portfolios.
Sam Liddle, Sales Director, Church House Investment Management
With the public conversation on the environment moving rapidly forward in large part due to vocal public figures such as Greta Thunberg and David Attenborough – the average consumer has switched on to the impact that their investments have on the planet. Sustainable investing has grown 107.4% annually since 2012 and currently accounts for 18% of AUM. However, is there more that can be done? This session will outline the benefits of managing an ESG portfolio and why this makes business sense for your clients.
First State Investments
The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) annual plan and budget report released earlier this year shone a spotlight on self-invested personal pension (SIPP), highlighting the rise in claims, up 114% year on year, and raising the overall levy to £635m. Advisers will have to foot a £213m bill in the 2020/21 financial year and a large proportion of blame has to be placed upon the mis-advice given to clients on the wrapping of risky and illiquid investment into SIPPs. However, despite this – SIPPs remains a viable option for your client’s investments and when done properly and with the right provider can offer huge flexibility to their future plans. This panel session will explore the recent controversies in the SIPPs landscape, what is being done to combat this, whether unregulated investments should be allowed and why it could still be seen as an attractive option despite all the noise surrounding it.
Greg Kingston, Group Communications Director, Curtis Banks
Stream Chair: Lee Robertson, Managing Director, Octo Members Group
It’s predicted that trillions of pounds of assets will be passed down between generations in the next 30 years. This session will consider what that will look like, and how advisers can:
- Quantify the opportunity for their business
- Maximise this and consider strategies for the retention of assets
- Understand the next generation and the delivery of an advice proposition
- Support their clients with potentially difficult family conversations
- Identify how this relates to their own succession plans and investment solutions
Gillian Hepburn, Intermediary Solutions Director, Schroders
Despite weak prospects, 2019 saw nearly all asset classes post solid performance. In this session we explore why an active approach to management is important in 2020. The economic outlook appears more attractive, with continued falling interest rates and central banks adding to market liquidity. Combining this with less uncertainty around trade tensions and politics, should help support growth. However, we shouldn’t get carried away as the rebound in economic activity is likely to be short lived and a secular slowdown and abundant liquidity should reinforce longstanding convictions. We believe the most robust way to achieve long-term returns is to identify business models that can generate powerful growth and substantial profits over the long term. We favour companies with strong visibility on earnings, ones that can benefit from structural trends, and most importantly ones that can grow independently of the economic cycle.
Kevin Thozet, Member of Investment Committee, Carmignac
The bedrock of modern financial advice businesses is the technology used to service their clients. But the issue that keeps plaguing advisers is how to integrate your tech, as more often than not – it is all located disparately and rarely serves to function well together. Add to this the increasing requirement for RegTech to remain compliant across all functions of your business and it can leave even those well-acquainted with these innovations scratching their heads. This panel will consider how to embed technology into business practices, how you can make it all work seamlessly together and what the essential innovations are in the space that you need to be aware of.
Nick Eatock, CEO, Intelliflo
Max Maxwell, Senior Business Development Manager, Iress
Chair: Adam Higgs, Head of Research, Adviser Services, Financial Technology Research Centre
Protection is an oft-overlooked section of the financial advice industry, with certain advice firms specialising solely in the practice and others forgetting about it entirely. But protection is an incredibly important part of this market and should be integrated into all financial planner’s tool belts. Protection is not just about your client’s health – it’s about protecting their lives and livelihood in all instances and getting them to the finish line. In this session, our expert speaker will highlight recent innovations in the protection landscape and outline the importance of sound financial advice.
In financial services there are many rules and regulations that aim to keep firms performing to the best of their abilities. The FCA publishes best practice guides and offers advice but is there a one-size fits all document/process that can be adhered to so that your clients can get their desired outcomes? What does good really look like and how can you tweak your business to work better?
Our session looks beyond outsource vs in-house, financial planners evolve quickly due to the rapidly changing regulatory backdrop. We’ll learn lessons from the regulatory past and ask if they’re still relevant, we’ll look at the impact of MiFID II, PROD and SMCR on the running of investment portfolios and finally look to the future to address how models will have to evolve. By the end of our session you will be in a position to take time to consider what option is best for you, your business, the financial plans you create and most importantly the clients who trust you with their financial wellbeing.
Jim Stacey, Head of Intermediary Business Development, Aberdeen Standard Capital
Stream Chair: Hannah Godfrey, News Editor, Professional Adviser
Maintaining high standards within your firm is not only important for business, but also to remain in a state of readiness. This could be for a bid, in which case you are preparing your business for sale or it could be for an FCA visit – either way, it’s important to make sure that your house is in order. Hear from an expert on how to achieve this and which areas you need to focus on.
Lawrence Cook, Head of UK Intermediary Distribution, Sanlam
Regulatory change is part and parcel of working in financial services. With so many new and confusing regulations entering the lexicon every year, it can be hard for advisers to keep up with this ever-changing landscape. Hear from a leading expert and regulatory body on the latest regulations and concerns for 2020.
Has there ever been a better time to be a financial adviser? Well, it depends who you ask. Advisers have had a tumultuous last 12 months, from DB transfers to issues around fair pricing, the world of financial advice is as always in a state of flux. In this session, PFS chief exec Keith Richards will explore the regulatory issues concerning advisers, their business and the profession. From the 'good guys pay' FSCS levy and rising PI premiums to duty of care and conflicts of interest, the professional body leader will set out what advisers need to be doing now and what they should be aware of for 2020.
Keith Richards, CEO, Personal Finance Society
2019 saw a massive focus on dodgy DB transfers hitting the headlines, with Professional Adviser beginning their defining broken transfers series, chronicling the poor advice given to so many due to contingent charging. And now with the news that CMCs will be more heavily regulated by the FCA, a clamp down on these firms will likely see DB transfers vanish from the vernacular with many advisers steering clear of offering advice, for fear of being accused by the FCA. This session will explore the latest scams in the pensions space and what due diligence advisers can perform to ensure their clients savings aren’t unnecessarily depleted.
Nick Gannon, Policy Lead, The Pensions Regulator
Last year in The Health Report Three, the average age of an adviser was in their mid-50s. However, a new tranche of advisers are entering the market and picking up where the old left off. But challenges have emerged, and many questions need to be answered, chiefly how do you talk to you clients when they’re old and you’re young, are these advisers taking over or building their own businesses and is diversity in this market now a given?
Amyr Rocha Lima, Partner, Holland Hahn & Wills
Chloé Moran, Chartered Financial Planner, Rose & North
Chair: Rohan Sivajoti, Co-Founder, NextGen Planners
TBC
Simply Biz
The DB transfer market continues to be problematic for all concerned. The FCA has been undertaking policy development and supervisory work for several years now but it has highlighted problems still occurring. In this session, Rory Percival will discuss core issues around DB suitability to highlight possible differences in opinion between the FCA and sector about what is suitable advice.
Rory Percival, Consultant and Former FCA Technical Specialist
Smart financial planning is critical if advisers want to make the most of flexibility offered by the introduction of pension freedoms nearly five years ago. Depending on the type of life people wish to lead once they give up work, retirement income needs will need to consider individual lifestyle, health, aspirations and life stage. In this session we will analyse the range of options on offer and look at what advisers can do to create the finest tailored solution possible to meet individual client’s demands.
Chair: Kay Ingram, Director of Public Policy, LEBC
Laura Kuenssberg, Journalist, Broadcaster & Political Editor
Tom Ellis, Editor, Professional Adviser
Please note: programme is subject to change