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.

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.

Chair: Mark Polson, Founder & Principal, the lang cat

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.

TBC

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.

The furore surrounding contingent charging and bad DB transfer advice has consumed the last 12 months of news in the retirement space, with the FCA wanting to ban the practice to stop poor advice and many advisers now terrified of advising on transfers altogether. However, some have been critical of a propose ban arguing that this could potentially reduce access to advice. Our panellists will provide an overview of the controversies around the last 12 months, discuss the implication of a ban and consider possible alternatives.

Chris Daems, Director, Cervello Financial Planning

Professional indemnity (PI) insurance is a given for advisers, however the FCAs noted disparity between fees paid by smaller firms who often pay very large bills, and the advice giants who comparably pay very little is leaving a bitter taste in many adviser’s mouths. How can smaller firms take the necessary steps to protect themselves in the first instance so that the need for PI insurance is drastically reduced. Do claims management companies (CMC) offer a viable solution for example?

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.

TBC

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.

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
Chair: Rohan Sivajoti, Co-Founder, NextGen Planners

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?