Annuities are now firmly back on advisers’ radars, driven by improved rates and a renewed focus on income certainty in retirement. But while demand is rising, delivering annuity solutions is not always keeping pace.
Why the tech challenges plaguing the super sector may ultimately lead to better service, stronger protections and a superior member and client experience.
After a period in the background of financial planning, onshore and offshore bonds have come back into sharper focus over the last couple of years, with tax being a key driver. Changes to capital gains tax (CGT), alongside the proposed inclusion of inherited pensions within inheritance tax (IHT) from April 2027, are reshaping wrapper selection across advice firms.
As artificial intelligence moves from experimentation to enterprise adoption, GBST has appointed Jai Swaminathan as AI Transformation Lead to accelerate the responsible integration of AI across core products and operational workflows, with a focus on measurable efficiency, scalability, and governance.
Brianna Dobing, GBST’s Risk, Compliance & ESG Manager, returned from parental leave to step into a completely new function and has since shaped the way GBST approaches governance, sustainability, and risk management. In this People Spotlight, Brianna shares her journey, the lessons learned in a steep first year, and why ESG is both a responsibility and an opportunity for GBST.
Over the last twenty years, platforms have become a core part of the adviser tech stack, streamlining administration and helping to cut costs. Although much has changed in that time, and most platforms have moved away from wet signatures and printed applications, many of the underlying online processes continue to mirror the paper form-filling that predated them.
As Cyber Security Awareness Month draws to a close, it’s a good time to reflect on how far we’ve come, and how much more we can do to keep our digital world secure.
As we celebrate National Coding Week, an initiative that champions digital skills and encourages people to explore the world of coding, we shine a light on one of GBST’s talented software engineers: Thao La, based in our Vietnam office.
Pension fund consolidation, and the creation of “mega-funds” has emerged as a way to deliver meaningful improvements for savers and increase investment into UK infrastructure.
For years, trustees have focused their energy on the visible levers of performance: fees and returns. Yet lurking beneath the surface are inefficiencies that may be doing just as much damage to member outcomes: the operational drag of outdated technology.
