Fortnightly bulletin 22nd february 2017

WMA Bulletin 22nd February 2017 Dear WMA member WMA Bulletin is a fortnightly snapshot delivering the latest news and current affairs from within the wealth management industry and WMA.

WHAT'S HAPPENING IN OUR INDUSTRY?

Asset & Pension Transfers and Re-registration Following the recent cross-industry consultation last December, WMA and the other trade bodies involved have begun analysing the responses. In total, there were 44 responses from across the different sectors of the financial services industry.

Raconteur Report on Wealth Management WMA has teamed up with Raconteur to produce a special report on Wealth Management, published recently in The Sunday Times newspaper.

Written by some of the UK’s leading finance journalists, the report provides an outlook for wealth managers, financial advisors and private clients on the future of the industry and the markets in 2017.

Download your free copy of the report here.

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Weston Hill Global Private Wealth Forum - London This international forum will bring together 200+ executives representing Family Offices, UHNWI, and Asset Managers from the UK, Europe, the Middle East, and the Americas to discuss wealth preservation, governance and risk-management in an uncertain environment.

The gathering, an excellent networking opportunity, will see leading industry players will provide strategic insight through several panels and presentations.

March 9th - 10th 2017 St. Ermin’s Hotel

For more information, call +1 (212) 213-9525 or email registration@globalprivatewealth.org.

Westminster Register here today

Scotsman Conference: Investment in a Post-Brexit World

As details about Brexit emerge and Trump's presidency develop, investors remain nervous about strategy: UK equities appear expensive, interest rates look to be on the way up, and the market is due a correction after such a strong rise.

There are many questions: - Have we seen The Last Hurrah for defensive investments and income funds?

- Are emerging markets due a further rally?

- Are there particular sectors- infrastructure, biotech, IT– that investors should be looking at?

- Should we rule out continental European equities, and what about cash?

Expert speakers will cut through the political and economic noise and give their view on where the markets are going and the safest havens for your money. View the agenda here.

Details 28th March 2017, 08:00 – 10:30 Hilton Edinburgh Grosvenor £40 + VAT - WMA Members will recieve a 20% discount - please quote INVEST20 Fees include refreshments, networking breakfast and exclusive access to the Post Conference Reports. For more information please email conferences@scotsman.com or call on 0131 311 7233.

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WHAT'S WMA WORKING ON? WMA February Brussels Visit The WMA held meetings at the European Commission and Parliament (EP) on 9th February. The focus was two-fold: (i) to showcase the WMA’s research on retail distribution channels (including the Millennial Forum) as an input to the Commission’s mid-term review of the Capital Markets Union project; and (ii) to initiate the process of ensuring that the WMA, with its unique membership and positioning, remains a credible interlocutor with European institutions after Brexit.

The WMA presented insights on robo-advice at an EP forum on Fintech organised by the European Retail Financial Forum (ERFF), of which we are a member. Our engagement with the ERFF will be further consolidated this year with continued work on Fintech issues and the role of intermediaries in converting savings to investments.

New QI Agreement and Common Reporting Standard WMA recently ran a series of events in London, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester on the new QI Agreement and the impact of the OECD’s Common Reporting Standard on Trusts. These were run in conjunction with HMRC, Deloitte and KPMG and copies of the presentations are available here in the Media Library on the members’ area of WMA's website.

European and International Policy Committee The EIPC met on 9th February to examine the Government’s Brexit White Paper and consider WMA actions going forward. It was agreed that the situation had materially altered with the Government changing tack from asking industry what its objectives should be in Article 50 negotiations, to seeking advice from industry on how best to achieve its objectives. The WMA will respond accordingly and will develop relevant material matching the 12 Principles of the White Paper to feed into Government Departments, notably Treasury and DExEU. This accords with a request from Treasury officials to organise information in a manner that they could easily use, given the White Paper format.

Government Green Paper on Corporate Governance Reform On 17th February 2017 WMA responded to the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy’s Green Paper on Corporate Governance Reform. The response focused on the section in the Green Paper about facilitating and encouraging individual retail shareholders to exercise their rights to vote on pay and other corporate decisions. A copy of the WMA response can be read here.

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WMA Trading Group The Trading Group, a mix of execution-only and discretionary firms, met on 16th February to discuss some of the key MiFID II impacts such as best execution and transaction reporting; as well as the importance of working closely with the market makers on the buying-in aspects of the CSD Regulation. There was also discussion of the LSE’s intra-day auction and index provision.

WMA Trading Group Environmental or Social Objectives PRIIPs On 10th February 2017, the European Supervisory Authorities (ESA's) launched a consultation on PRIIPs with Environmental or Social Objectives (EOS PRIIPs). The ESA's consultation paper sets out minimum requirements that manufacturers would have to comply with to ensure that credible products are offered. The consultation paper provides an analysis of the current legal framework for product oversight and governance rules and considers whether there are possible gaps regarding EOS PRIIPs. The deadline for responses is 23rd March 2017.

WHAT'S COMING UP IN OUR INDUSTRY? Pensions Dashboard On 27th February 2017 WMA will be attending an ABI Dashboard Challenge Panel for platforms, SIPP managers and wealth managers, the purpose of which is provide an update on progress made so far with developing the pension dashboard prototype and get views on the key challenges and opportunities.

Individual Savings Accounts: Estates in Administration HMRC has published draft legislation to amend the ISA Regulations to allow the savings of a deceased person in an ISA to continue to benefit from tax advantages during the administration of the estate. The consultation is open until 7th April 2017 and can be accessed at www.gov.uk.

Dematerialisation Steering Group The Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy are hosting a meeting on 1st March 2017 to provide an update on their plans for consulting with the market on the dematerialisation of share certificates. We will keep members informed of any developments through WMA Update.

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WHAT'S COMING UP IN WMA? LAST CHANCE TO BOOK - WMA MiFID II Conference Tuesday 28th February The WMA will be holding a MiFID II Conference on the 28th February 2017.

The all-day Conference will examine the current state of play of MiFID II and will identify actions firms can be taking now.

Topics to be covered include: 

Transaction Reporting

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Product Governance

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Best Execution

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Costs & Charges

Book Here

Women in Wealth Series Thursday 9th March The WMA ‘Women in Wealth’ series of events will gather women from across the industry for peer-to-peer networking and inspiration.

The events are designed to provide a platform for candid discussion and access to the UK's top wealth management professionals. Keynote speaker for this event is Helen Watson, CEO of Rothschild Private Bank.

Book Here

WMA Associate Member Briefing & Reception Monday 13th March Exclusively designed for WMA Associate Members, this event will provide an opportunity to learn about the issues currently impacting on the UK Wealth Management community.

Book Here

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