When you step into the world of financial services, it's easy to see how confusion can arise between the roles of a Conduct Regulator and a Professional Body. Let’s clear that up. If you’re a financial services professional, you are (hopefully!) qualified and an active member of a professional body. These professional bodies bind their … Continue reading The Difference Between a Conduct Regulator and a Professional Body in Financial Services
Tag: Financial Planning
Financial Planner Engagement: A Pathway to Professional Success Without Product Selling
In today’s rapidly evolving financial services landscape, many aspiring financial planners find themselves disillusioned with traditional career pathways that focus on sales targets and commission-based incentives. At the Academy of Life Planning, we offer a different approach—one that champions the role of the financial planner as an independent professional, not a product salesperson. Here, you … Continue reading Financial Planner Engagement: A Pathway to Professional Success Without Product Selling
The Comfortable Lie of Bundling Advice and Product
There’s a silent deception happening in the financial advice industry—one that blends the lines between advice and product sales. This is where advisers, who double as product distributors, create what they call "adviser alpha." The supposed value they claim to add often revolves around investment management. Yet, retail investment management has long been commoditised, with … Continue reading The Comfortable Lie of Bundling Advice and Product
What the Financial Advice Industry Can Learn from MiFID II’s Unbundling of Research and Trading
In 2018, the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II (MiFID II) brought about significant reforms in the institutional investment world by mandating the unbundling of research and trading costs. Before this, asset managers often paid for both services through opaque, bundled fees, which obscured the true cost to clients. MiFID II forced these costs to … Continue reading What the Financial Advice Industry Can Learn from MiFID II’s Unbundling of Research and Trading
Stamping Out Investment Fraud: The Case for Separating Advice and Product Sales
Investment fraud remains a serious problem, with millions of pounds lost to fraudsters every year. In the first half of 2024 alone, £56.4 million was stolen, despite a 29% drop in the number of investment scams compared to last year. While some progress has been made, the truth is, we're not moving fast enough. The … Continue reading Stamping Out Investment Fraud: The Case for Separating Advice and Product Sales
The Finfluencer Dilemma: Navigating Social Media Advice Safely
In today’s digital age, social media platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube are buzzing with financial tips and investment strategies from a new breed of content creators known as finfluencers. While it’s fantastic to see financial topics becoming more accessible, it’s crucial to understand the difference between information and advice. This distinction can help you … Continue reading The Finfluencer Dilemma: Navigating Social Media Advice Safely
Become a Certified Holistic Wealth Planner (HWP®) with the Academy of Life Planning
Are you looking to make a real difference in the world of financial planning? At the Academy of Life Planning, we offer you the chance to take your career to the next level by becoming a certified Holistic Wealth Planner (HWP®). This certification goes beyond traditional financial advice, without product distribution, and empowers you to … Continue reading Become a Certified Holistic Wealth Planner (HWP®) with the Academy of Life Planning
Holistic Wealth Planning Advice Without Product Recommendations
The traditional financial advice model, long reliant on product recommendations, has failed to serve a large portion of the population. It’s outdated, restrictive, and neglects the broader needs of today’s diverse financial landscape. As the world evolves, so must our approach to wealth management. A holistic, comprehensive financial planning strategy that looks beyond investable assets … Continue reading Holistic Wealth Planning Advice Without Product Recommendations
Phased Retirement: Your Next Chapter as a Financial Planner
At the Academy of Life Planning, we believe retirement doesn’t have to mean walking away from the career you’ve built overnight. Instead, it can be a gradual and meaningful transition into the next chapter of your professional life. That’s why we offer a phased retirement option for owners of financial advice firms who are considering … Continue reading Phased Retirement: Your Next Chapter as a Financial Planner
The Academy: A Safe Haven for Holistic Financial Planners Seeking a New Chapter
If you're a financial adviser, you may have felt the growing pressure—mounting regulations, outdated technology, and the temptation (or necessity) to sell out to a consolidator. It’s an all-too-familiar story. But what if there’s another path forward? One that allows you to continue doing what you love, with a better work-life balance and potentially the … Continue reading The Academy: A Safe Haven for Holistic Financial Planners Seeking a New Chapter
