IFA Talk

M&P Podcast #9: The role of building societies in the specialist lending market

On today’s episode of IFA Talk, we bring you a mortgage and property special with a focus on the role of building societies in the specialist lender market and the mortgage market in general.

To help us through this discussion, our guest this week is Laura Sneddon, Head of Mortgage Sales and Distribution at Hinckley and Rugby Building Society.

Podcast #86: Succession shares their strength and passion for the present and future of the M&A market

This week on the IFA Talk Podcast, Jenny and Brandon explore a growing theme in the financial services industry: Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A).

More and more businesses are choosing to explore a potential merger or sale of their companies, whether it be due to upcoming retirements or increasing regulatory costs, as a way of ensuring their and their client’s legacies can continue. 

Podcast #85: Axyon AI explores the transformative impact of AI on the asset management industry

This week’s podcast will be focusing on a hot topic of the moment, AI and how this impacts the investment industry. We are living in a world of rapid technological innovation, where AI is on an exponential upward curve. The asset management industry stands on the edge of a transformation and has potentially a lot to benefit from these advancements. 

I&P Podcast #6: Getting it right first time – the importance of policy ownership with Gregor Sked, Royal London

Insurance and protection as part of financial planning can often be overlooked or treated as an afterthought when in reality it should form part of the cornerstone of financial planning for many clients. 

So, on this week’s podcast Jenny and Brandon focus on insurance and protection, and in particular policy ownership, with their guest Gregor Sked, Senior Protection Technical Manager at Royal London. 

Podcast #84: What does the FCA’s Retirement income review mean for advisers? With BNY Investments’ Richard Parkin

Has your client retirement proposition evolved following the publication of the FCA's thematic review of retirement income advice? In March, the FCA wrote to the Chief Executives of financial advice firms asking them to review their processes when providing retirement income advice. 

This thematic review has pretty massive implications for the advice profession. The regulator will be looking for clear evidence that advice firms are heeding its messages, making sure that they are delivering robust retirement income advice to clients.

So, what do advisers need to know? What do they need to do? Sue and Brandon’s guest on this week’s IFA Talk podcast is Richard Parkin, Head of Retirement for BNY Investments – someone who is hugely knowledgeable on this subject.

In this conversation, Richard succinctly sums up the five key findings of the review and discusses not only what they mean for advisers but also what advisers could/should be doing in response.   With retirement income advice forming such an important part of the advice process, this is a podcast not to be missed.

Podcast #83: Purely Paraplanning - The lang Cat’s Steve Nelson on the findings from the recent State of the Advice Nation report

Are you a paraplanner? Or maybe you’re an adviser or wealth manager who works with paraplanners? If so, this week’s podcast is for you.

This week, Sue and Brandon speak to The Lang Cat’s Steve Nelson about their sixth annual State of the Advice Nation report – all about Paraplanning.

It’s refreshing to hear such an influential and successful organisation highlighting what can often be an underrepresented profession within financial services.

Steve was a pleasure to have on the podcast and his dynamic personality really brought this project to life. He talked passionately about the results of the report including what can be done to make sure Paraplanner roles are more clearly defined going forward and whether Paraplanning is starting to bring more diversity to the industry. To wrap up Steve gets his crystal ball out and we got his thoughts on what he thinks the future holds for Paraplanners.

This conversation certainly uncovered some interesting stuff.

I&P Podcast #5: Why protection is the key to your clients’ financial resilience, with Lloyds Banking Group’s Rose St. Louis

On this, the latest Insurance & Protection special edition of our IFA Talk podcast, Sue and Brandon are joined by the highly charismatic and influential voice that is Rose St Louis, Protection Director at Lloyds Banking Group.

Their conversation with Rose, formerly a financial adviser herself, is perfect for today’s Consumer Duty landscape. Not only does it delve into the importance of financial resilience and all-round holistic advice -  but the conversation also draws out plenty of practical tips from Rose. There’s much food for thought for advisers and paraplanners to consider in relation to how you approach and deliver protection advice, providing even better outcomes for clients.

Podcast #82: What have been the main impacts of Consumer Duty on advisers so far? With Benchmark’s Gillian Hepburn

Sue and Brandon’s guest on this week’s IFA Talk is Gillian Hepburn, Commercial Director of Benchmark, a leading provider of financial planning solutions and a part of the Schroders Group. 

In this episode, their conversation drills down into why Consumer Duty is about evolution not revolution and also some of the finer points about how the industry is adapting to life in this new regulatory environment, including the increased drive towards networks.  

Podcast #81: Should CGT replace IHT? Talking tax fallout after the Spring Budget with Ex-HMRC tax inspector, Gravita’s Tom Adcock

Sue and Brandon’s guest on the podcast today is Tom Adcock, Tax Partner at Gravita – and a former HMRC tax inspector.

I&P Podcast #4: What do protection policies mean for your clients? With Beagle Street’s Ryan Griffin

In this week’s Insurance and Protection special edition of our IFA Talk podcast, Sue and Brandon’s guest is Ryan Griffin. Ryan is Protection Director at dedicated life insurance provider, Beagle Street.