A brilliant start with Professional Paraplanner’s Technical Insight Seminars – with our first of nineteen events in the UK completed. This article shares some of the highlights and upcoming dates for you to register for.
The Exeter Technical Insight Seminar opened with a topic covered by M&G that felt reassuringly familiar.
Sole or joint ownership is something paraplanners encounter day in, day out. It appears in investment bonds, portfolios and retirement planning discussions, often framed as a practical or administrative choice.
The focus in this session, was far from a straightforward recap – instead, paraplanners delved in on what can happen when ownership decisions are made quickly or based on assumptions about simplicity.
Through a series of realistic client scenarios, the session explored how choices that look neat at outset can become more complicated once life events start to intervene.
Changes in relationships, family dynamics, access needs and tax positions were all part of the discussion. These are the sorts of situations paraplanners deal with in their everyday work.
Importantly, the session wasn’t about potential recommendations, it was about sharpening judgement. It encouraged paraplanners to pause, challenge default structures and think carefully about long‑term consequences, rather than focusing solely on ease at the point of implementation.
M&G’s session definitely set the tone for the rest of the day and one paraplanner said that even though she’d seen a version of this session a few days previously, it was great to go through it a second time and pick up other bits she’d missed.
Technology as support, not a shortcut or replacement
A later session turned to technology and the growing presence of AI within paraplanner work. Once again, the discussion resisted hype.
Rather than positioning AI as a transformational fix, the emphasis was on where tools can genuinely support paraplanners by reducing repetitive drafting, handling information more efficiently, and helping reclaim time that can be better spent elsewhere.
A clear message emerged that suitability reports and client communications remain complex and very nuanced documents. Technology may help with first drafts or structure, but paraplanners remain firmly responsible for the way they are interpreted, their accuracy and their tone, something that can differ greatly from one client to another.
Preparing for change in pensions and estate planning
As the day progressed, pensions and inheritance tax was unsurprisingly a hot topic, and is an area that paraplanners are seeing increasing complexity.
With changes on the horizon, sessions focused less on readiness. What does this mean for long‑term planning conversations? For record‑keeping and nominations? For how estates are administered when time pressures and liabilities come into play?
Rather than offering definitive answers, speakers acknowledged that this is an evolving area. That honesty reflected the reality paraplanners are working with at the moment, supporting advisers and clients through decisions that are becoming more interconnected, and where the implications may only become clear many years down the line.
Retirement as a process, not a moment
Retirement planning sessions reinforced another theme that ran quietly throughout the day – that retirement is no longer a single event.
Longevity, shifting priorities and uncertainty mean retirement needs should be revisited and reshaped over time.
There was a really holistic viewpoint throughout the day and a lot of focus in recognising the role paraplanners play in testing assumptions, modelling outcomes and helping advisers keep sight of the bigger picture.
A great first event and our next stops for our Technical Insight Seminars
Exeter was our very first Technical Insight Seminar of 2026, and we are delighted with the feedback so far from paraplanners, speakers and providers that joined us for the day.
Our thanks to M&G, Bordier UK, IDAD, Legal & General, ammonite, Dentons and Puma for helping us to put on a great day for the paraplanners of Exeter.
These events give the paraplanning community the opportunity to hear important updates and explore what is an increasingly complex technical landscape.
The presentations are designed to encourage discussion, for paraplanners to feel comfortable in asking questions and provide an opportunity to share ideas.
Our next stops during our tour of the UK are:
29th April – Cardiff
6th May – Belfast
13th May – Birmingham
3rd June – London (on waitlist – consider Oxford!)
10th June – Oxford
18th June – Warrington
7th July – Southampton
9th July – Brighton
To register for your preferred location, head here: Register for Technical Insight Seminar
