Latest Editions

• 

  JULY/AUGUST 2020

  THIS ISSUE

  CLICK HERE TO ACCESS ONLINE

  OR DOWNLOAD IT AS A PDF HERE: ProfessionalParaplanner-July-Aug 2020

  Inside our biggest issue yet you’ll find:

  All the winners from our 2020 AWARDS

  The Paraplanner Awards

  Winners of the six Paraplanner awards including interviews

  The Provider Awards

  The companies nominated by you as the best in their category

  Paraplanner profile

  Editor Rob Kingsbury talks to Alistair Cartwright, winner of this year’s Paraplanner of the Year (in-house) award, about being promoted, his views on paraplanning and studying beyond the usual qualifications

  Viewpoint

  Understanding your client’s capacity for loss

  Tax

  John Humphreys, IHT specialist, WAY Investment Solutions, uses a case study to illustrate the disadvantages of putting off tax planning

  TDQ: Tax

  A look at the tax position of self-employed taxpayers whose income is affected by the Coronavirus lockdown

  Being a happy human

  Will we enter the ‘new normal’ able to feel better about ourselves or will we revert to our old ways?

  Pensions

  Practical tips for paraplanners needing to research SSAS providers

  Professional Body

  A book on resilience has Jacqueline Lockie, head of Financial Planning, CISI, re-assessing motivation and what it means for paraplanners.

  The Investment Committee

  Sector considerations: Correlation

  Crunching the numbers in respect of correlation of asset classes during the C-19 crisis

  Where next for income?

  Charles Luke, Aberdeen Standard Investments, considers income investing during the current pandemic and what is affecting the market outlook

  Avoiding Waterloo

  Current corporate bond markets offer rare opportunities but managers warn there will be clear winners and losers in the sector

  PLUS our regulars: Test your Knowledge, Parameters, data download and CPD

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• 

  JUNE 2020

  THIS ISSUE

  CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE ISSUE ONLINE

  OR DOWNLOAD IT AS A PDF HERE: Professional Paraplanner_JUNE 2020

  What you’ll find inside:

  Paraplanner profile

  Katherine Harvey, client services director, Russell Gibson had a novel means of winning her role at interview, particularly as it didn’t exist at the time, she tells Rob Kingsbury

  Locked down

  Dan Atkinson shares his thoughts on the unusual situation of starting a new job when the office is in lockdown.

  Tackling R06

  The 2019 pass rate for RO6 dropped by 10%. Catriona Standingford, MD of Brand Financial Training, looks at the October 2019 exam, what may have affected the pass rate and what future candidates need to consider

  The Power of Process

  Paraplanners are perfectly positioned to see where firms’ processes are working or not, which is why they should get involved in business improvement, says Michelle Hoskin, MD of Standards International

  The Scheme Pension trap

  Can scheme pension continue to have a place in financial planning? Stephen McPhillips, Technical Sales Director, Dentons Pension Management Limited, considers its use in financial planning

  IHT planning

  Exemption for BPR investments doesn’t apply until two years after the initial investment. What happens if the client is elderly or unwell?

  THE INVESTMENT COMMITTEE

  Dividends done?

  Aberdeen Standard Investments’ Will James considers the impact of recent cancelled and delayed dividends and what this means for equity income investing

  Under the microscope

  Darius McDermott, managing director, FundCalibre looks at the Healthcare sector, which has a number of positive factors in its favour including a potential uplift in demand post the current crisis

  Sustainable investing

  Mike Appleby, Investment Manager, Liontrust Sustainable Investment team considers potential economic changes post Covid-19 and how they may affect sustainable investing. Could we see an economy that is cleaner, healthier, safer and more equitable?

  Professional comment

  Tom O’Hara of the PFS Paraplanners Practitioners Panel reflects on what has been achieved in the five years since the panel was started

   

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• 

  MAY 2020

  THIS ISSUE

  CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE ISSUE ONLINE

  OR AS A PDF HERE: PP_May 2020

  Paraplanner profile

  Tony Slimmings, Managing Director, Paraplanning Hub talks to Rob Kingsbury about establishing his paraplanning businesses and why he thinks the days of the freelance outsourced paraplanner are numbered

  Viewpoint

  Rebecca Kowalski, paraplanner and compliance officer at Cornerstone Asset Management, explains how a new project for work has been key in fulfilling her personal aspirations too

  Suitability: Being human

  In the current climate, it is more important than ever that suitability reports are personal to the client and provide the reassurance they need, says PFS Paraplanner Panel member Rebecca Tuck

  Compliance: Agent as Client

  Many advice firms use discretionary investment managers to run client portfolios, often on an ‘Agent as Client’ basis. However, this can increase risks for advice firms, as explained by Steve Bailey, director ATEB Consulting

  TDQ: Investing for Children

  It’s important to be prepared for a question on the subject of investing for children, says Catriona Standingford, MD of Brand Financial Training, as questions can arise in R02, R03 and R04 and could also be included in case studies in R06.

  Remote working

  Enforced remote working could be the chance to prove how awesome you are, says Michelle Hoskin, managing director, Standards International

  Financial tidy‐up

  There are things to think about today to pre-empt the things we may have to deal with in the future. John Humphreys, inheritance tax specialist at WAY Investment Services, offers up some items for the checklist

  THE INVESTMENT COMMITTEE

  ESG catalyst?

  The current pandemic is seeing greater focus on ESG issues across the globe. The investment industry may not be the same from now on, says David Smith, head of Corporate Governance, Asia Pacific, Aberdeen Standard Investments

  Asia ahead

  Darius McDermott, managing director, FundCalibre, considers whether the

  Covid-19 pandemic will result in an acceleration of the rise of the east, providing greater investment opportunities

  Sector analysis

  The return of negative correlation. FundCalibre analysts reveal the effect of the Coronavirus crisis on correlation between sectors and what that means for portfolios.

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• 

  APRIL 2020

  THIS ISSUE

  CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE ISSUE ONLINE

  OR AS A PDF HERE: Professional Paraplanner April 2020

  Paraplanner profile

  Rob Kingsbury spoke to Kimberley Tyson senior paraplanner at Telford Mann in Kettering, who recently received an award for her exam achievements, reflecting a career progression that started when she joined the firm five years ago

  Advice during a pandemic

  Dan Atkinson considers the effects of situations like the Corona virus pandemic and what can be learned from it in terms of relationship with clients.

  Career progression

  When you’ve reached the top of your game what do you do next? A look at the options and the challenges many people face and key questions to be asking others and yourself in this situation

  Viewpoint

  A recruiter’s experience on why paraplanners leave their jobs. It’s an important point and firms need to take action on it

  TECHNICAL & PRACTICAL

  This issue’s TDQ feature looks at pension input periods, including a useful example calculation

  Access to insurance

  Signposting for vulnerable customers means going beyond TEXAS, says Johnny Timpson, Technical and Industry Affairs manager, Scottish Widows

  PROFESSIONAL COMMENT

  Life expectancy is not the same as the likely age at death. Jackie Lockie, head of Financial Planning, CISI, looks at why and what impact it has on financial plans

  Exam study tips

  PFS Paraplanner Practitioner Panel member Alan Gow, provides some tips and useful practices that have worked for him in his recent studies

  THE INVESTMENT COMMITTEE

  Pitfalls of fund picking

  Asked to pick funds for a client, Rebecca Kowalski, paraplanner and compliance officer at Cornerstone Asset Management, came to realise that outsourcing has distinct advantages for her firm.

  Passive vs active

  David Coombs, multi-asset manager at Rathbones, considers the downward pressure on portfolio cost and whether, when it comes to passives, the ultimate price we pay could be far higher than first anticipated

  VCT clients

  There are three client types that could benefit from a VCT, suggest Octopus Investments’ Paul Latham

  Tech apples and pears

  You can’t compare today’s technology sector growth to the ‘90s bubble, says Darius McDermott, managing director, FundCalibre

  Impact leaders

  European companies feature high in the ranks of sustainability listings. Sarah Norris, European Investment director at Aberdeen Standard Investments, looks at companies with business strategies that take them beyond economic profit

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• 

  MARCH 2020

  THIS ISSUE

  VIEW YOUR MAGAZINE ONLINE HERE

  OR AS A PDF HERE: PP_March_2020

  What you’ll find  inside this issue:

  Paraplanner profile

  Luan Mahoney tells Rob Kingsbury how she progressed her career from mortgage administrator to head of operations and a partner with Chadney Bulgin

  SPECIAL REPORT

  Insights from the recent Professional Paraplanner Team Leader Seminar

  TAX SPECIAL: End-of-year tax planning

  Preparing for Tax Year End
  Paraplanners talk about the increased workload, how they tackle last minute demands and share their top tips for staying in control.

  Business Property Relief
  Business Property Relief is helping advice firms to unlock estate planning opportunities, says Paul Latham, Octopus Investments

  Pension tax planning
  Which clients do you need to focus on at this busy time running up to the end of the tax year?

  TECHNICAL & PRACTICAL

  Pensions
  Denton’s Stephen McPhillips, looks at unauthorised payments from registered pensions schemes that are SIPPs or SSAS

  Trusts
  Trust registration deadlines are changing and paraplanners need to know about them

  Portfolio performance evaluation
  Use of money-weighted and time-weighted rate of return measurements when evaluating performance of an investment portfolio

  Business Protection
  Ensuring business owners have the right insurance protection in place not just for their personal circumstances, but also for their business, can be a valuable part of their financial planning, says Scottish Widows’ Chris Dunne

  Viewpoint
  Natalie Bell, co-founder & director of The Art of Finance, on finding and keeping good people

  Para-meters
  This issue we asked you about pension tax relief

  Recruitment rights and wrongs
  How do you ensure you employ the right paraplanner for the role? Michelle Hoskin looks at where firms get it right – and wrong

  Professional comment
  What are goals’, ‘objectives’, ‘strategy’ and ‘tactics’ and how do you use them? Robert Harper, PFS Paraplanner Panel member considers this question in relation to client portfolios

  THE INVESTMENT COMMITTEE

  Average performance
  When is average better than average? Simon Evan-Cook, senior investment manager, Premier Miton Investors, uses the body size of 1940s US Airforce pilots to explain.

  Markets
  Are US equities still worth the risk? Darius McDermott, managing director, FundCalibre looks at the pressures on the US economy and markets

   

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• 

  FEBRUARY 2020

  THIS ISSUE

  VIEW THE MAGAZINE ONLINE HERE

  OR DOWNLOAD IT AS A PDF HERE:  PP FEB 2020 issue

  IN THIS ISSUE

  Paraplanner Profile

  Benjamin Fabi talked to Rob Kingsbury about the first two years of running his outsourced paraplanning firm Principled Paraplanning, his ethos and why he has specialised

  In this month’s Viewpoint paraplanner Damian Zhang contemplates whether cashflow modelling is king.

  PFS comment

  As well as setting up her firm Unity Paraplanning, in late 2019 Kat Mock joined the PFS Paraplanner Panel. Here, she talks about why and her goals for 2020

  SIPPS

  How can a SIPP make a loan to an unconnected party? Using a case study to illustrate, Stephen McPhillips, technical sales director, Dentons Pension Management, explains

  TDQ (Training Development Qualifications)

  We look at Discounted Gift Trusts, useful IHT planning schemes and are often tested in the CII AF1 Personal Tax and Trust paper

  Protecting a client’s home

  Scottish Widow’s Chris Dunne looks at insurance necessary to protect a client’s family home

  In our 5 minutes with… article, Rebecca Lucas talks to Rob Kingsbury about her decision to launch her App, WrapCompare

  What happens when a client dies?

  Advice firms should make supporting a client’s executors their New Year’s resolution, says Octopus’s Ben Charrington

  The Investment Committee

  Outlook for 2020

  David Jane and the Premier Miton Multi Asset team give their collective assessment of themes and trends to consider in 2020 and beyond

  Infrastructure investing

  Darius McDermott, managing director of FundCalibre looks at the evolution and growth opportunities of infrastructure investing

  Guide to…

  This issue we look at Investment trusts. The AIC’s Elmley de la Cour provides insight into investment companies and how they can be used in client portfolios

  CISI comment

  F.I.R.E. Could this be a new strategy for a new decade? Maybe, says Jacqueline Lockie, head of Financial Planning, CISI

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• 

  DECEMBER 2019

  THIS ISSUE

  VIEW THE MAGAZINE HERE

  OR DOWNLOAD IT AS A PDF HERE: PP_DEC 2019

  Where are they now?
  For this issue’s Paraplanner Profile Rob Kingsbury revisited three of our cover stars to see how their careers had progressed since last we spoke with them.

  Viewpoint: Suitability report writing
  When engaging with clients it’s all about ‘you’, says Dan Atkinson, head of Technical at EQ Investors

  Vulnerability and capability
  Does being vulnerable mean a client isn’t capable of making financial decisions? Jacqueline Lockie, head of Financial Planning at the CISI, uses a case study to delve deeper into this question

  Millionaire ISAs and Tax
  We might all like to be an ISA millionaire but with it can come a range of financial planning headaches, says John Humphreys, Inheritance Tax Specialist, WAY Investment Services

  Protection
  Obtaining insurance for clients with diabetes is being made easier by improvements in underwriting, explains Helen Dick, senior manager Underwriting and Claims Strategy, Scottish Widows

  Guide to…
  Curtis Banks’ Greg Kingston looks at key considerations when considering property purchase within a SIPP

  TDQ: Tax
  Self-assessment dates and fines imposed may seem like a fairly straightforward piece of knowledge but that is why they are often forgotten and exam marks are lost. Exams include the CII’s R03 and AF1

  5 minutes with…
  Rob Kingsbury talked to Andy Schleider, director and paraplanner at Tunbridge Wells-located Haven Paraplanning Ltd

  Pensions and divorce
  Obtaining a fair capital value of pension assets to assess a future income stream is crucial in achieving a fair outcome for clients in divorce. But often this is easier said than done

  Research focus
  Rob Kingsbury spoke with Zahid Bilgrami, CEO of Defaqto, about the company’s ethos and what the company offers paraplanners to help provide better outcomes for clienta

  THE INVESTMENT COMMITTEE

  Emerging markets
  The nature of emerging markets is changing, says Darius McDermott, managing director, FundCalibre. So is now the time to be looking at the sector, with a long-term view?

  Fund manager interview
  Rob Kingsbury talked to Jamie Ward, fund manager of the FP CRUX UK Fund, about the fund’s focus on risk to capital and why his investment approach means he tends not to meet company management

  Trends in sustainable investing
  Mike Fox, head of UK sustainable investments at  Royal London Asset Management, outlines how sustainable investing might develop over the next decade

  Top 5 VCT tips
  There are five core things to remember when investing in a VCT, says Luke Barnett, analyst at MJ Hudson Allenbridge

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• 

  NOVEMBER 2019

  THIS ISSUE

  VIEW THE MAGAZINE HERE

  OR DOWNLOAD IT AS A PDF HERE: PP_NOV 2019

  Paraplanner profile

  Rob Kingsbury talked to Siân Davies Cole, head of paraplanning at Aspirations, about what she believes it takes to run a paraplanning team and how she had to adapt her plans to get her dream role when it arose

  NEW SERIES

  5 minutes with…

  We kick off a new series with a quick fire interview with Chris Sandfield, CEO of digital investment platform Coinvestor

  NEW SERIES

  Guide to….

  In the first article in another new series, providing insight for paraplanners new to the industry, Paul Darvill, Administration and Technical director, Talbot and Muir, looks at the structure and use of a SSAS and the effective way to establish the vehicle for a business

  Outsourcing/freelance: Challenges of going it alone

  The promise and excitement around setting up your own outsourced paraplanning firm is not always matched by the reality. Fiona Bond talked to two experienced paraplanners about the challenges they faced and how they overcame them

  TDQ: Tax planning

  Confused by EISs, VCTs and SEISs? Catriona Standingford, managing director of Brand Financial Training, takes a look at these tax efficient investing products

  Protection

  Chris Dunne, proposition manager Scottish Widows highlights key points for paraplanners required under the EU’s Insurance Distribution Directive

  Pensions: Tax case study

  Stephen McPhillips, technical sales director, Dentons Pension Management uses a case study to spotlight how using a SSAS in pension planning can help to mitigate inheritance tax

  Tax: Estate planning

  Overcoming clients’ reluctance to relinquish control of their assets can be the first step on the road to effective estate planning

  Parameters

  This issue’s survey looks at longevity assumptions

  The Investment Committee

  Unloved Japan

  Japan could be worthy of long-term investments, particularly with the low valuations of Japanese companies and the yen also at a low price, says Darius McDermott, managing director, FundCalibre

  Ethical investing: bonds

  Martin Foden, head of Credit Research at Royal London Asset Management, explains how ESG and credit analysis must be integrated to achieve superior investment returns

  Funding under threat

  The sources of funding for new and smaller companies are being challenged and we should be worried about the longer term ramifications

  Markets

  Europe is a misunderstood market but you need to look for quality, says Kurt Cruickshank, investment director European equities, Aberdeen Standard Investments

  Sector considerations

  This issue we look at capital protection and absolute return funds vs bonds

  Professional body

  Jackie Lockie head of Financial Planning at the CISI considers the impact of advancing technology on vulnerable clients

  Plus our regular Test your knowledge Q&A, CPD and Data Download pages.

   

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