You'd be forgiven for thinking that a gathering of previous award winners could turn into a smugfest.

But it’s PARAPLANNERS that we’re talking about.

So this episode – recorded specially to mark the tenth annual Professional Paraplanner Awards – is far from self-congratulatory. In fact, it's packed with thinking that will inspire every paraplanner wherever you are in your career.

Why? Because it illustrates how entering an award – or even just thinking about it – is one of the most helpful ways to reflect on your career, what you’ve achieved and what you would like to achieve in the future.

Host Caroline Stuart of Sparrow Solutions is joined by Natalie Dawes, editor of Professional Paraplanner, along with three paraplanners who've been through the process themselves: Hannah Hirons of Navigatus, Luke Sparkes of Sparkes Paraplanning, and Hannah Wynick of Core Financial Paraplanning.

In an hour-long chat they talk about:

• overcoming your imposter syndrome
• why nominating yourself is OK even when it might not feel like it
• why being nominated by someone else feels ACE
• whether there’s a difference entering awards when you’re in-house versus outsourced
• why writing an award entry helps you realise what you're actually good at
• what it's like to sit in an interview with judges – and why it’s so valuable

What’s more, the conversation also recognises that some people just don’t want to enter awards or feel the need to do so and explores ways in which paraplanners can receive the recognition their work deserves.

Above all, this is an episode that shows how powerful it can be for paraplanning practitioners to reflect on their professional progress. And how the peer-led evaluation of entries has established the Professional Paraplanner Awards as the preeminent standard for the paraplanning profession.

Useful links

The Professional Paraplanner Awards 2026 shortlist

Visit the episode page at the Assembly website

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The rules are changing and from April 2027 unspent pension pots will fall within the scope of inheritance tax. Draft legislation is now published, and there’s plenty for paraplanners to get to grips with.

This Assembly looks at how we got here, and where we need to go with less than nine months to go. We looked at what the May 2026 HMRC technical note and draft legislation actually confirmed, what it means in practice, and, what it means for the planning advice paraplanners are helping to shape right now.

Host Richard Allum is joined by guest Mark Devlin, Senior Technical Manager at M&G, to practically address some of the trickier questions the changes raise.

Together, they covered:

• The background: how we got here, and what the consultation process did and didn’t address
• Discretionary vs directed schemes: a refresher on the distinction and why it matters for IHT treatment
• How the new process will work in practice, including the role of personal representatives
• Planning implications: is it still worth funding a pension, and at what level?
• Balancing pension use for retirement income against IHT exposure, and keeping an eye on taxable funds for beneficiaries
• A common income tax misconception, and why some recent press coverage has muddied the water

What can you expect to take away?

At the end of this Assembly, you’ll have a better understanding of the confirmed changes, a better grasp of the planning considerations that flow from them, and some practical frameworks to bring to your paraplanning work, whether you’re reviewing existing pension strategies or helping to shape new ones.

Useful links

Here are the links you need from this event.

CPD: Request your certificate

Slides: Pensions and IHT for Paraplanners' Assembly - 1 Jul 2026

Watch at Crowdcast (with chat)

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Setting up your own outsourced paraplanning business can be an exciting prospect but going into it with your eyes open and with the benefit of other people’s hard-won experience makes for a much stronger start.

This Assembly brings together three paraplanners who’ve recently done exactly that, for an honest conversation about what it’s really like.

Join us online at 1.00 pm on Wednesday 3 June for an honest, practical conversation about what it really takes to start an outsourced paraplanning business.

Host Richard Allum is joined by three paraplanners who’ve recently done exactly that: Jawaad Tanwir founder of ParaplanX, Ellie Bailey founder of Paraflo, and Phillip Williams of Beyond Paraplanning (and author of ‘What If?…: A Guide To Working Smart & Building Your Own Path In Paraplanning‘).

Together they’ll reflect on their own experiences and share what they’ve learned, covering:

• what the outsourced paraplanning market looks like right now, and whether it’s a good time to be thinking about this
• the questions worth asking yourself before you take the leap and how to know if it’s genuinely what you want
• how to go about setting up an outsourced business in practice
• what they wish they’d known at the start, and what they’re still figuring out
• how they’re finding balance in work, in business, and beyond

What can you expect to take away?

You’ll leave with a clearer picture of what outsourced paraplanning business life actually looks like including the opportunity, the reality, and the things worth thinking through before you commit. Whether you’re seriously considering it or just curious, this is an opportunity to hear from people who’ve been exactly where you are.

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

Host Leanne Pickering from Pivotal Paraplanning is joined by James Jones-Tinsley, self-invested pensions technical specialist at Barnett Waddingham, to catch up on what's been happening in Parliament and politics and what it means in practice for paraplanners and their clients.

They cover the:

• local election results
• state opening of Parliament
• new Enhancing Financial Services Bill
• Pension Schemes Act 2026 and the salary sacrifice changes due in April 2029; and
• HMRC technical note on IHT and pensions – including what's still unclear and why that's causing real headaches for estates that need to be settled within six months of death.

There's also a discussion about what a change in Labour leadership might mean for the pensions landscape, and whether the IHT on pensions rules could yet change before April 2027.

If you've been keeping one eye on the news and another on a client's estate plan, this one's well worth your time.

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Trusts used to be the kind of thing you’d come across every now and again. Something to dust off the knowledge for, handle carefully, then put back on the shelf.

That’s changing. With pension IHT changes on the horizon, trust planning is becoming a regular fixture on paraplanners’ desks and the paraplanners best placed to support their clients will be the ones who can approach it with genuine confidence, not just familiarity.

This Assembly is designed to help you get there.

This practical Assembly takes you from the foundations right through to real-world trust planning decisions.

Shaun Moore, Tax and Financial Planning Expert at Quilter, joins host Richard Allum for this Assembly. Together they work through the essentials and the less obvious bits that every paraplanner working with trusts needs to have at their fingertips.

During this Assembly, we:

• explore why trust planning has moved from the occasional to the everyday, and why the pension IHT changes expected from April 2027 are likely to accelerate that further
• get to grips with the types of trust you’re most likely to encounter (loan trusts, discounted gift trusts and reversionary interest trusts) and how to tell them apart when different providers call them different things
• use the three circles of access, flexibility and tax efficiency as a practical framework for matching the right trust to the right client
• explore the common mistakes and questions that come up again and again
• understand the ongoing practical obligations that come with trusts, from the Trust Registration Service to trustee bank accounts, and when a professional trustee makes sense

What can you expect to take away?

You’ll leave with a clearer, more confident grasp of trust planning, not just the theory, but the practical judgement to apply it. Whether you’re doing in-depth trust research or writing up recommendations that involve one, this session gives you a framework and a reference point you can keep coming back to.

Useful links

CPD: Request your certificate

Watch in Crowdcast (with chat)

Resources on trust planning from Quilter

Quilter’s trust range

Bond chargeable event hub

Tools and calculator

Quilter's paraplanner page

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The tax landscape has shifted significantly over the past couple of years. Allowance reductions, rising dividend tax rates and the proposed extension of IHT to unused pensions means there's plenty for paraplanners to get to grips with — and plenty of opportunity to add real value for clients.

This Assembly cuts through the complexity and gives you a clearer picture of how different tax wrappers work in practice, so you can make more confident decisions about which solution is right for which client.

Host, Richard Allum is joined by Elaine Cruickshank, tax and trusts manager at Aegon for a practical, no-nonsense look at onshore bonds, offshore bonds, GIAs and trust solutions with an agnostic perspective that keeps the focus firmly on what's best for the client in front of you.

What we explored

We looked at how recent tax changes are prompting advisers and paraplanners to revisit wrapper choice, and went through the kind of comparative thinking that helps you work out when a bond might be preferable to a GIA or when onshore makes more sense than offshore.

We also looked at how onshore bonds are actually taxed (including a common misconception that's worth clearing up), which wrapper tends to suit which client circumstances, and how trust solutions fit into the picture, particularly in the context of the proposed IHT changes to pensions.

What can you expect to take away?

After catching up on the Assembly, you'll have a clearer understanding of the tax treatment of different wrappers, a more confident sense of when each option is likely to work best, and some practical frameworks for thinking about trust planning solutions.

Useful links

CPD: Request your CPD certificate

Download slides: Navigating recent tax changes

Watch the Replay at Crowdcast (with Chat)

Listen to the podcast episode

View the event page

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