FT Adviser

Many in the advice profession have debated the benefits of face-to-face versus digital advice for several years. But over the past 18 months, many advisers have been unable to offer face-to-face advice and many robo-advisers have retreated from the market after finding the market wasn't as big as they thought.

So what does the future of advice look like? M&G Wealth, which is currently expanding into the advice market after launching last year, believes the answer is hybrid advice. But what does that mean, and can other advice firms imitate its approach.

This week, Damian Fantato, digital editor of FTAdviser, is joined by Richard Caldicott, deputy chief executive of M&G Wealth Advice, Terry Donohoe, European chief executive of Ignition - which is working with M&G Wealth on its hybrid advice proposition, and Sam Turner, a consultant at Altus Consulting who has recently written a white paper on the issue of hybrid advice.

They discuss what, if anything, went wrong with pure robo-advice, what hybrid advice actually consists of and why it's different to just calling clients on Zoom, how algorithms can be used and what impact hybrid advice can have on fees, charges and the type of clients served.

The FTAdviser Podcast is the weekly podcast for financial advisers, brought to you by FTAdviser. Each week, FTAdviser is joined by guests from the industry to discuss the week in news and pressing industry issues.

The FTAdviser Podcast is designed to inform regulated UK advisers on a range of topics, covering investments, pensions, regulation and other key issues.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

According to data published by the government, in 2018-19 there were more than 34,000 taxpayers who reported their pension contributions exceeded their annual allowance - with excess payments amounting to £817m.

Savers also struggle to stick within the lifetime allowance with more than 7,000 people exceeded the allowance, incurring a tax charge.

This week reporter Amy Austin examines why so many savers struggle to stay within their allowances and why the number of people exceeding them has continued to climb.

She is joined by Tom Selby, senior analyst at AJ Bell, and Rachael Hall, a financial adviser at Sandringham Medical.

They discuss how government policy has contributed to this problem, why the problem might get worse rather than better in the short term and why the issue is leading to savers leaving their pension schemes.

The FTAdviser Podcast is the weekly podcast for financial advisers, brought to you by FTAdviser. Each week, FTAdviser is joined by guests from the industry to discuss the week in news and pressing industry issues.

The FTAdviser Podcast is designed to inform regulated UK advisers on a range of topics, covering investments, pensions, regulation and other key issues.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Great Wealth Transfer is about to begin in earnest, where a predicted £5.5trn is set to pass from older to younger generations over the next couple of decades. While this may well bypass the so-called 'squeezed middle' - or Generation X - the financial services industry is well aware of the need to help all generations understand the value of money.

But what we are also starting to see is the importance to advisory firms of getting more young people into good savings habits, and reaching out across generations to help today’s less wealthy youth become tomorrow’s wealthy pensioners. And educating them on the importance of compound interest, education and communication across the generations are vital components of this.

Joining senior editor Simoney Kyriakou on the latest FTAdviser In Focus podcast to discuss these issues are: Roy McLoughlin, associate director of Cavendish Ware; Kay Ingram, director of public policy for LEBC, and Effie Datson, global head of family office for Barclays Private Bank.

The FTAdviser Podcast is designed to inform regulated UK advisers on a range of topics, covering investments, pensions, regulation and other key issues.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Over the course of the past 18 months, the government has spent a lot of money to get the UK through the Covid-19 pandemic. But Rishi Sunak, the chancellor of the Exchequer, has made repeatedly clear that the bills we have racked up during this period will soon be coming due.

This puts into sharper relief the debates around tax which have been rumbling on in the background for several years. Reforms to capital gains tax, inheritance tax and pensions tax relief are often discussed, but might they finally become reality?

This week FTAdviser's digital editor Damian Fantato is joined by the Office of Tax Simplification's Bill Dodwell to discuss some of the recent reports the body has published for HM Treasury on CGT and IHT, as well as its recent proposals to move the beginning and end of the tax year.

They discuss whether the OTS proposals on CGT would lead to a significant tax rise and whether they will lead to more people paying that tax. They also discuss whether the OTS will be pursuing the work is has considered conducting on the taxation of trusts.

The FTAdviser Podcast is the weekly podcast for financial advisers, brought to you by FTAdviser. Each week, FTAdviser is joined by guests from the industry to discuss the week in news and pressing industry issues.

The FTAdviser Podcast is designed to inform regulated UK advisers on a range of topics, covering investments, pensions, regulation and other key issues.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The year 2020 was a landmark one in lots of ways, including for ESG investing - if for no other reason than it finally put to bed the idea that you need to choose between investing ethically and investing for performance.

But where next for ESG? In this podcast, sponsored by BMO Global Asset Management, FTAdviser digital editor Damian Fantato takes a look at what the future might hold for these mandates. He is joined by Keith Balmer and Simon Holmes, portfolio managers at BMO, and David Macdonald, founder of financial advice firm The Path.

They discuss whether the outperformance seen in 2020 was a flash in the pan, how regulatory developments will affect ESG and how these funds might evolve.

Listeners to this podcast will qualify for 30 minutes of CPD by banking it on ftadviser.com.

After listening to this podcast, you will be able to:

• Understand what changes there have been to the advice process regarding ESG investing
• Describe how ESG investing might evolve in the next few years
• Identify how investor demands are changing in relation to ESG

The FTAdviser Podcast is the podcast for financial advisers, brought to you by FTAdviser. Each week, FTAdviser is joined by guests from the industry to discuss the week in news and pressing industry issues.

The FTAdviser Podcast is designed to inform regulated UK advisers on a range of topics, covering investments, pensions, regulation and other key issues.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Private equity interest in adviser platforms has continued to grow over the past year or so.

Recently Novia, James Hay and Parmenion have all been bought by private equity firms and according to analysis by the Lang Cat, the proportion of platform assets owned by private equity has gone up from 2 per cent in 2016 to 15 per cent in 2021. Meanwhile life companies, which have traditionally owned platforms, have fallen from 55 per cent to 17 per cent over the same time period.

So what does this mean for platforms and, by extension, advisers?

This week FTAdviser digital editor Damian Fantato discusses this issue with Dan Marsh, head of customer at Seccl, and Martin Jennings, chief executive of Parmenion.

The FTAdviser Podcast is the weekly podcast for financial advisers, brought to you by FTAdviser. Each week, FTAdviser is joined by guests from the industry to discuss the week in news and pressing industry issues.

The FTAdviser Podcast is designed to inform regulated UK advisers on a range of topics, covering investments, pensions, regulation and other key issues.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The steep rise in popularity of sustainable investment solutions has led to a similar rise in valuations in many of the qualifying asset classes.

On top of this many of the companies which address environmental or social problems tend to be technology businesses - which are more attractive for their growth characteristics rather than for their value.

In this special episode of the FTAdviser Podcast, sponsored by Schroders, special projects editor David Thorpe talks to a panel of experts about where to find value when constructing a sustainable investment portfolio.

He is joined by Roberta Barr, head of ESG in Schroders's value team, Ben Palmer, head of responsible investment at Brooks Macdonald, and John Leiper, chief investment officer at Tavistock, to discuss these issues.

They discuss avoiding how investors can avoid bubbles when a sector is attracting the level of flows which the ESG sector has seen recently, how it's possible to find value in this area, how it's possible to achieve diversification and what impact the market cycle has on this.

The FTAdviser Podcast is the podcast for financial advisers, brought to you by FTAdviser. Each week, FTAdviser is joined by guests from the industry to discuss the week in news and pressing industry issues.

The FTAdviser Podcast is designed to inform regulated UK advisers on a range of topics, covering investments, pensions, regulation and other key issues.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The self-employed - and particularly younger gig economy workers - desperately need some solid pension solutions to help them make long-term provision for their retirement. 

Joining Simoney Kyriakou, senior editor for FTAdviser, are some of the pensions world’s great and good: Jamie Jenkins, director of policy and external affairs for Royal London; Jonathan Greer, head of retirement policy at Quilter; and Nigel Peaple, Director of Policy & Advocacy for the Pension and Lifetime Savings Association.

This podcast also features a short report from Joy Brooks-Gilzeane, who is interning with FTAdviser, examining why the self-employed need urgent pensions attention from industry and government alike.

The FTAdviser Podcast is designed to inform regulated UK advisers on a range of topics, covering investments, pensions, regulation and other key issues.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Finding new clients at any time in a financial adviser’s working life can be a challenge, but imagine having to do that at the beginning of your career, at the start of the lockdown last year.

This week, deputy features editor Ima Jackson-Obot talks to Emma Prince, an adviser at Quilter Financial Advisers, who previously worked in banking, and James Wallace from David James Wealth, a former pensions lawyer, about their first year as financial advisers - which happened to coincide with a global pandemic.

They discuss why they became financial advisers, how they transitioned into advising during 2020, how they built their client bases, despite not being able to meet clients face-to-face, and why they think a hybrid model of advice is the way forward.

The FTAdviser Podcast is the weekly podcast for financial advisers, brought to you by FTAdviser. Each week, FTAdviser is joined by guests from the industry to discuss the week in news and pressing industry issues.

The FTAdviser Podcast is designed to inform regulated UK advisers on a range of topics, covering investments, pensions, regulation and other key issues.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week the FTAdviser Podcast speaks to Keith Richards, the chief executive of the Personal Finance Society, who will be standing down at the end of this month after nearly nine years in the role.

During this time he was involved in the Financial Advice Market Review process, he established the PFS's pro-bono advice schemes and helped set up the European Financial Planning Association.

He joins FTAdviser digital editor Damian Fantato to discuss his time at the PFS and what comes next for the organisation and the advice profession.

They discuss the FAMR process, why it didn't live up to expectations and whether the government is likely to take another look into reforming the advice market. They also discuss the growth of professionalism in the advice sector and what it ought to focus on next. Richards also touches on the future of the PFS and seeks to reassure advisers over what might come next.

The FTAdviser Podcast is the weekly podcast for financial advisers, brought to you by FTAdviser. Each week, FTAdviser is joined by guests from the industry to discuss the week in news and pressing industry issues.

The FTAdviser Podcast is designed to inform regulated UK advisers on a range of topics, covering investments, pensions, regulation and other key issues.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.