A hostage negotiator and the founder of platform wrap Nucleus are on the top billing for a Financial Planning conference in Scotland starting today.

The event organised by the IFP, which has become part of the CISI, takes place at the Norton House Hotel in Edinburgh today and tomorrow.

Hostage negotiator Richard Mullender, a regular at past IFP events, will be sharing some of his insights and communication secrets, which can be applied to Financial Planning situations. Mr Mullender will be speaking during the second day.

Also on day two, David Ferguson, founder and chief executive of Nucleus Financial Group, will give a presentation on tips for platform success.

Today, there’s a 'hot topics' workshop, where the focus will be on pensions and investments.

Sessions will explore pension freedoms, pension transfers, the changes to pensions and what it means for clients, insistent clients and so on. The investment session will provide an update on where global markets, asset classes and economies are heading, key challenges to growth, what to watch out for and investment due diligence.

The workshop is followed by an informal dinner, sponsored by IRESS.

Alan Barr from Brodies, who received exceptional feedback in 2014, will be providing an update on tax and trusts.

Practitioner Stephen Whitby CFPCM will be delivering a session on planning for care: a multi-discipline approach with the support of Nicola Gibson at Morisons LLP and Andrew Senew of Home Instead.

The conference is being supported by Henderson Global Investors and Nucleus.

Tim McEwan will present his tried and tested session on followership: a fresh look at the leadership of your business.