How do you bring AI into your advice firm the right way?Not by bolting it onto broken processes, but by rethinking how your business could run using the latest technology.In this live conversation, Melo's Chief Innovation Officer, Ben Wright, sits down with Tom Hind of Saturn AI and Head of Progress at Melo, Kath Harvey, to explore how AI is reshaping financial planning.You’ll learn:💡 Where AI adds real efficiency (and where it doesn’t)⚙️ Why process design must come before tech🧠 How to build firm-wide adoption that actually sticks🚀 What an “AI-empowered paraplanner” could look like📊 How the best firms are using AI to create more human advice experiencesIf you’re a leader or operations head in financial planning and want to use AI to make your firm run better, this one’s for you.00:00 – Show intro01:00 – Why “make shift happen”05:40 – What AI is (and isn’t) for advice firms13:10 – Process before tech: the non-negotiable21:30 – Note-taking & data quality wins30:45 – Report writing reality check39:20 – The AI-empowered paraplanner48:10 – Getting client consent to record meetings54:00 – Hiring, roadmaps & picking providers58:30 – Final takeaways & next steps👉 Listen now, take notes, and get ready to make shift happen.📥 Download our free guide: “Approaching AI in Financial Planning”🌐 Learn more at https://melo.co.uk/events-ai-financial-planning/📧 Or get in touch at hello@melo.co.uk#FinancialPlanning #ArtificialIntelligence #AIForAdvisers #WealthManagement #FinTech #FinancialAdvice #Melo #SaturnAI #BusinessEfficiency #AIImplementation #AdviceFirms #FinancialServices #FutureOfFinance

Consumer Duty has raised the bar (and the cost) of running financial planning businesses. In this practical session, and with the help of 8AM Global, we unpack advisory vs discretionary models, demystify co-manufacturing/insourcing, and show how to reduce burden without losing control of your proposition.Who it’s for: financial planning firms using advisory or discretionary model portfolios, and providers working with advisers who want to be able to have smarter conversations about investment management.You’ll learn:* What “manufacturer” means under PROD & Consumer Duty* How responsibilities, reporting, and liability differ across advisory, outsourced MPS, and co-manufactured solutions* How much control you keep with co-manufacturing—and how to evidence value* Migration, comms, and positioning with clients (without losing trust)* Objective MPS comparisons * Asset levels needed to launch a fundSpeakersBen Wright (Melo), Paul Hogg & Ash Weston (8AM Global)

Here's what we talked about:

00:46 – Introduction
05:31 – Jargon buster: advisory vs discretionary vs MPS vs co-manufacturing (what’s what?)
09:18 – Who’s responsible for what under each model? (permissions & duties)
10:36 – If we run advisory model portfolios, are we a “manufacturer”?
11:05 – How do reporting and evidence requirements differ across models?
15:32 – Considering co-manufacturing: how much control do we keep?
24:43 – If we gain discretionary permissions later, can we take over the models?
29:14 – What’s the easiest way to migrate clients from advisory to an insourced/co-manufactured solution?
32:37 – How do we reposition with clients without “losing face”?
38:15 – Value chain: where (and how) can firms fairly take value for investment work?
42:49 – “Aren’t model portfolios just fancy multi-asset funds?”
46:54 – If we blend several multi-asset funds, are we co-manufacturing?
48:46 – We currently use 3 multi-asset funds per risk level—what’s the smarter next step?
49:28 – One multi-asset fund vs moving to an MPS provider—how to choose?
51:30 – What about blending outsourced MPS ranges—smart or messy (and are we manufacturers)?
54:14 – Quick-fire: best way to compare MPS propositions objectively
56:00 – Quick-fire: how much AUM do you need to start a fund?

To find out more or get in touch visit https://melo.co.uk.#ConsumerDuty #FinancialPlanning #FinancialPlanner #AdvisoryVsDiscretionary #ModelPortfolios #CoManufacturing #Insourcing #Outsourcing #MPS #WealthManagement #BuildingBetterBusinesses #Melo

Hey everyone - it's been a while, but we're back with the new show name of Growing or Going.

Every financial planning firm is unique, but most face similar challenges. In this live, unscripted Q&A session, we tackled real questions from owners and leadership teams, getting to the root cause, sharing fixes that work and giving ideas you can apply in your financial planning firm.

Here’s what we talked about:

00:05 Introduction

01:25 Start

06:20 Advice on selling to local firms or consolidators

11:33 When should owners step back from giving advice?

17:38 How to get your staff to step up and deal with underperformance23:59 The main factors that determine sale value33:35 What’s EBITDA?37:16 What’s a good profit margin?38:57 Do you need to segment your clients?41:27 Top 3 tips to make a business more effective49:48 How to tell your team you’re selling56:50 What’s the average ongoing service fee?57:36 Closing remarks

For more useful ideas visit our website at www.melo.co.uk. If you’d like to talk either GROWING or GOING from your financial planning firm, get in touch by emailing hello@melo.co.uk or calling 0113 4656 111.

What to know how AI works? Want to catch a glimpse into the future of the technology financial advice firms will use? Want to hear first hand what advice Defaqto CEO John Milliken would give to his 10 year old self? Good news - you're in the right place! John has worked in and around AI for years and knows more than you're average Joe. He's also incredibly good at explaining it simply so if you've always wanted to understand AI, this is the episode for you. Thanks as always to our wonderful long term sponsor Owen James Events. There are some awesome events coming up which are free to attend for those who work in financial advice firms. Go to https://www.owenjamesevents.co.uk to find your next event or learn more about how they can put on awesome events for you. Go to https://www.melo.co.uk to find out what the heck a business lifecycle agency is and how we build better business in the financial advice space.

This episode is guaranteed to blow your mind!

Ben talks to founder of the 311 institute and Fanatical Futurist, Matthew Griffin about everything that going to happen, and what will happen after that.

Matthew works with NASA, leaders of G7 and G20 countries, banks, technology providers and even Disney!

Our conversation covers;

· Is the future as bad as people think? 2.08

· Are we backsliding to pre-pandemic thinking? 09.36

· What should employers think about flexible working?12:48

· What does a world without work look like? 19.12

· What does the future of financial services look like? 39.12

· AI advisers? 41.52

· AI assisting advisers? 1.00.00

· What to do with all the knowledge in the world? 1.05.04

· How to deal with AI Hallucinations? 1.08.00

· What does AI mean for large v’s small businesses? 1.11.52

· Liability for algorithms? 1.26.00

· Marine biology to futurist? 1.38.52

· Quickfire questions 1.47.29

If you want to find out more about Matthew’s work and access his free codex’s, visit www.311institute.com

As always, a massive thank you to our sponsor Owen James Events. There are loads of great events coming up including Meeting of Minds, WealthTec Matters and Retirement Matters. Check out www.owenjamesevents.com to book your place – you’ll probably see Ben there!

If you want to build a better business, Change Squared can help. We help leadership teams be more effective, teach soft skills and help firms launch change projects and make them stick.

Find out more at www.changesquared.com.

In this episode Ben Wright interviews industry titan and CEO of Dynamic Planner, Ben Goss. We talk about Ben's early days, his successes and failures in business, what's next for Dynamic Planner and his secret love of compost management, only on The Effective Adviser! Special thanks to today's sponsor, Owen James Events! If you've not been to an Owen James event, you really should. They bring together the right people from across the industry to have meaningful discussions and share ideas. If you need help hosting your own event, Owen James can help. From breakfast briefings to annual conferences. Find out more at https://www.owenjamesevents.com/ If you want to future proof. your financial advice business, get in touch at https://www.changesquared.com. We hope you enjoy the show!

Ever wondered what makes a great event? If you’re anything like me, you can come away from an event thinking about it was a waste of time attending, or alternatively, you can come away wanting to tell everyone about it.

Turns out there are several parts that make an event memorable and in this episode, I get the secret recipe from James Goad, Founder or Owen James Events.

If you’re not been to an Owen James event, they are like no other. Feedback from delegates and sponsors alike is amazing and there’s a real buzz of openness and collaboration.

In this episode, James talks candidly about:

· The changes he seeing in financial services

· How AI is disrupting everything

· The secret sauce to putting on a great event

· How to get the most from sponsoring an event as a provider

· Why hybrid events don’t work (yet)

· Hiking in the Welsh mountains

· Just saying “yes”

If you want to find out more about attending an Owen James event, or getting them in to run your event, visit their website https://www.owenjamesevents.com.

If, like most of the people who attend Owen James events, you’re worried about how to become more productive, get in touch at https://www.changesquared.com. We share the best practice from the industry with our clients to cut out years of trial and error.

Also now running negotiation and soft skills training for advisers. A necessity for those advisers who have come from a paraplanning/admin background and a great refresher for those who are slightly longer in the tooth.

Don’t forget to subscribe to the show. It means more than you can possibly imagine!

Ben

Financial advice is becoming a service only available to the most privileged people. Consumer Duty and increased regulatory reporting make it commercially impossible for financial advisers to provide traditional advice to most of the UK population - the advice gap.

In this episode, Ben talks to Bill Bottomley and Andy Wealthall of Lifetime, a financial advice firm who have made a very profitable business looking after clients other firms turn away.

They do things a little differently though!

We cover:

· Why Lifetime set their sights on the mass market

· Making financial advice a “team sport”

· The role of the non-qualified financial coach

· The vital role of technology (including AI avatars) in their business

· How to deliver financial advice for £149!

If you want to find out more about lifetime, you can do so on their website (www.lifetime-fm.com. If you’re thinking about stopping service to some of your lower value clients, get in touch with Andy (https://www.linkedin.com/in/andy-wealthall-0b71a435/) to see how Lifetime could help.

A huge thank you to Owen James for sponsoring the podcast!

There are some great Red Folder events coming up and it’s never too early to book onto 2024’s Meeting of Minds events.

You can see all events on their website https://www.owenjamesevents.com/listing/events.