The kids heading back to school is always a time for me to reset and refocus. In our conversations and research with financial advice professionals, that focus is coming through too. We’re hearing a renewed commitment to organic business growth supported by tech change. Clients are nervous about the Chancellor’s plans; their advisers are ready to navigate them through whatever comes. This is precisely what they do best.

“When times are volatile, we’re needed. What I hate is nothing happening. The ‘Goldilocks zone’ is anathema to me because it means you’ve got no input to make.” Financial Adviser

There’s a higher appetite for change this year than we’ve seen before. Our Advice Tech Stack report, out last week showed that the desire for change isn’t down to failures from individual tech providers—far from it. Transact, Quilter, True Potential, and Fundment were all rated ‘excellent’ by advisers in our latest research. intelliflo also deserves recognition for making significant gains in user reviews in the back-office systems category. But while individual tools are performing well, the overall tech stack isn’t coming together as advisers would like. As a result, many are planning shifts to harmonise their workflows and ensure all their systems work seamlessly together.

One driver of this change is the enthusiasm around AI and its potential to improve efficiency. New tools are coming to market, and advisers are keen to adopt technology that supports smoother, more integrated processes within their businesses. We heard two fantastic case studies at our recent AI Lab event, (latest podcast).

While tech innovation is driving change to the operating model, regulatory and legislative shifts continue to eclipse all else as a force for transformation.
Clients and advisers are braced for potential pension and CGT changes as Budget Day draws near. Changes to the CGT allowance seem fairly certain. At one of our recent roundtable discussions with heads of large advice businesses, the consensus was that anticipated changes to CGT allowances will impact high-net-worth clients who will look to use multi-asset funds for any unwrapped (GIA) assets. In our Multi-Asset Distribution Dynamics report, we reported that about one third of advised clients were affected by the changes to CGT allowance under the Tory government. Multi-asset funds are seen as more tax efficient, with one fifth of advisers saying they use the funds to manage client tax liabilities. Changes to CGT will have an impact but we don’t anticipate a sudden or swift shift in assets away from MPS. We’ll explore this in our December report on discretionary MPS.

The other big theme – for the regulator and financial advisers – is retirement advice. We hear from advice firms who are giving thoughtful consideration to retirement advice propositions, with implications for product providers. We’re on the road in November heading to 10 cities across the UK to explore this topic in-depth. The purpose is to share the most relevant and helpful NextWealth data and insights back to the advice community. This will include a sneak peak at the early results of our annual retirement research. We will unplug risk, product and support and look for a morning of discussion alongside the regulator providing attendees a little bit of extra clarity and good practice examples. If you are an adviser, paraplanner, administrator, compliance professional, research or anyone working in an advice firm we would love to see you. The link is here to sign up but please note spaces are limited in each venue or get in touch with emma@nextwealth.co.uk directly.

As we head into the autumn, we remain optimistic about financial advice and wealth management. We’re hearing a renewed commitment to organic growth (look out for our FABB report next month, click here to pre-register and learn more) and to driving business efficiency. At NextWealth, we look forward to continuing to weave the threads of our industry together, be that through face-to-face connections or insightful analysis.

Heather