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.
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.
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the surface are inefficiencies that may be doing just as much damage to member outcomes: the operational drag of outdated technology.
Delivering large-scale technology change is often likened to changing a plane’s engine mid-flight. The stakes are high: how do you modernise critical systems while maintaining uninterrupted service for clients? At GBST, we understand the challenge because we’ve experienced it first hand.
The recent cyberattack on Marks & Spencer has highlighted just how quickly a digital breach can spiral into a full-blown business crisis.
One of the key pressures custodians face is the management of disparate data sources. They often contend with information scattered across various systems, investment vehicles, and stakeholders, making it challenging to establish a single source of truth for tax reporting.
As the 30 June financial year-end approaches, investment operations and unit pricing teams are preparing for one of the most intense periods of the year.
Scaling with purpose: How mid-size advice firms can grow while maintaining client excellence
