We bring our technical experts and leading industry commentators together to help you gain knowledge and insight on a range of relevant topics, guaranteeing you’re kept informed in an ever-changing landscape.
If you weren't able to attend in person, we're pleased to offer the opportunity to see our presenters online with four virtual events that will share the wisdom of Christian Markwick with more leading market insights from our pensions, tax and trust specialists. These sessions will contribute towards CPD accreditation.
There'll also be the chance to hear how we’re busy combining the best of both our businesses to develop a service that truly meets the needs of advisers and their clients.
Introducing our speaker line up
Christian Markwick
from The Verve Group
Tuesday 25 October
2pm - 3pm
Good old Consumer Duty
Good old Consumer Duty. It feels like we have been discussing it for a lifetime, but it’s finally here and we can’t escape it (nor should we want to!) The countdown clock has now started for implementation, so here’s exactly what you need to do to prepare for it.
By the end of this session you should be able to:
Understand the key aspects of the FCA’s new Consumer Duty Policy Paper.
To enable you to develop your own internal roadmap to implementation within your business (forecast to be April 2023).
Be able to assess your current policies and procedures and understand which of those will need to adapt to the new Consumer Duty Principles and Outcomes.
To consider what additional resources are needed within your business and where to find them.
Previously a financial adviser, Compliance oversight, T&C officer, and then Senior Manager, Christian now heads up the Adviser Support Team within The Verve Group. Working with firms of all shapes and sizes, assisting them in developing their businesses to achieve their long-term goals and objectives, all within the confines of staying on the right side of all things regulated.
John Dunn
Technical Manager, Pensions
Thursday 27 October
10am - 11am
Pension commencement lump sum: permitted maximum guide
For many individuals, the option to take a portion of their retirement fund as a lump sum, usually tax free, is an attractive feature of saving for retirement through a registered pension scheme. As a result, an important question for advisers and their clients is how much tax free lump sum can be obtained from a pension arrangement?
The lump sum in question is referred to in legislation as a pension commencement lump sum (PCLS) and the same legislation sets out the conditions for accessing it as well as restricting the amount available.
This session provides a guide to:
(1) The conditions associated with the payment of a PCLS
(2) The tax treatment of a PCLS
(3) The maximum PCLS permitted by legislation.
He'll be speaking at our events in Glasgow, Southampton, Leeds and Birmingham.
By the end of this session you should be able to:
Know the conditions under which a PCLS may be paid.
Recognise the circumstances under which a PCLS attracts a tax charge.
Given a client’s circumstances, be able to identify which of the four PCLS permitted maximum categories is applicable to them.
Be able to calculate the PCLS permitted maximum under each of the four categories.
John has over 30 years’ experience working within the financial services industry. During this time he has accumulated a substantial level of pension expertise, gained through the varied roles he has undertaken.
Drawing on this knowledge, in his current role, John interprets and provides guidance on legislation affecting pensions for the benefit of advisers.
Ian Linden
Technical Manager, Pensions
Thursday 3 November
10am - 11am
Lifetime allowance -
exploring some myths
The lifetime allowance (LTA) is one of the subjects the Technical Support Unit receive many enquiries on, and for some pension members, who may exceed the LTA and therefore pay a tax charge, it can be a very emotive subject.
Over the years Ian Linden, one of our pension technical specialists, has been approached by advisers over ways of mitigating the LTA charge for individuals in other money purchase arrangements.
In this session Ian will consider some of the ‘myths’ that have developed around this area and the potential outcomes of following such a course of action.
He'll be speaking at our events in London, Southampton, Bristol and Birmingham.
By the end of this session you should be able to:
Outline the key criteria of the lifetime allowance (LTA) and summarise how its usage works from a practical perspective, including where LTA protection is applicable to your clients.
Define some of the issues facing clients when considering the impact of the LTA from their own perspective.
Apply some practical ideas through building on the presentation case studies to facilitate analysis of real-life scenarios.
Ian has been involved in financial services for over 30 years, spending the early years as an IFA, including management positions with national firms. His roles have included responsibility for a centralised operations centre, project management and senior sales management.
He subsequently moved into consultancy with asset management companies and IFAs before taking time out to complete an MBA, majoring in strategy. On completion of his postgraduate qualification, he held business development roles with a number of specialist pension providers.
In his current role as Technical Manager, Pensions, Ian provides guidance on pension tax legislation. As well as his MBA, he holds the Diploma in Financial Planning from the Chartered Insurance Institute and the Retirement Provision Certificate from the Pension Management Institute.
Neil MacGillivray
Head of
Technical Support
Thursday 10 November
10am - 11am
Tax planning for married couples and civil partners
In this session, Neil will cover how being married or in a civil partnership brings certain tax privileges for income tax, capital gains tax and inheritance tax.
However, there are a lot of quirks to the rules and if not fully understood, or the correct actions taken in the right order, then even the most basic of tax planning strategies can fail.
Case studies throughout will help put the theory into practice.
He'll be speaking at our events in Glasgow, London, Leeds and Bristol.
By the end of this session you should be able to:
Understand how the allowances and exemptions work and by what means they can be maximised ensuring hazards are avoided so that the steps taken as part of tax planning are beyond challenge by HMRC.
Outline the advantages and disadvantages of holding investments jointly.
When dealing with couples divorcing or separating, know the steps that should be taken to avoid the impact of additional taxes.
Neil MacGillivray heads up our Technical Support Unit of Tax, Trust and Pension specialists and has over 40 years’ experience in financial services.
He speaks at conferences throughout the UK on current tax and trust topics and is a regular contributor in the financial press.
Neil has over 17 years’ experience working in the banking profession and he's a Chartered Banker of the Institute of Bankers in Scotland and former Chairman of the Association of Member-Directed Pension Schemes.