In November, the Kent and Sussex branch welcomed David Lane, senior technical sales manager with AXA Wealth.

Mr Lane gave his third presentation to the branch, on the subject of QROPS & QNUPS. With around 5.5 million British nationals living overseas and more people looking to retire abroad, this is an area where planners need relevant knowledge although Axa research sees it more as an area for specialists.

Phil Billingham CFP^CM of threesixty then analysed ethics in Financial Planning. Do planners refer to punters rather than clients? Do they let freebies and treats sway their advice?

Mr Billingham stressed the importance of acting as the agent of the client and therefore being accountable to the client for all actions. This fiduciary duty requires a higher standard than simply giving ‘best advice’. He finished with a case study, however by majority vote it was decided that members would rather work on this alone and adjourn to the bar! Branch chairman Lance Baron CFP^CM said: “We thank both speakers, Phil for raising important ethics considerations and David whose three presentations all received great feedback.”