Explore every episode of the podcast Adviser 3.0: The Podcast

“My business is my pension.” Reme Holland hears it all the time from business owners, and he always gives the same answer: it really isn’t.

Reme runs financial planning inside Albert Goodman, one of the South West’s biggest accountancy firms. That gives him a front-row seat to what happens when planners and accountants share a building, and a client.

He tells Abraham Okusanya how he went from knocking on doors on commission only to running a planning business, why planners rank somewhere down with traffic wardens on trust, and how a simple referral from the accountant can quietly turn planning into a one-off transaction.

Then it gets candid. Reme took over a business with too many support staff, too few advisers and timesheets nobody took seriously. He rebuilt it, and explains why he’d tell any firm to stop forcing every client into a percentage fee.

Plus: private equity is buying up accountancy firms across the country. So why is Albert Goodman saying no, and what happens to the dream of making partner if everyone else says yes?

Reme Holland: https://albertgoodman.co.uk/our-people/reme-holland
Albert Goodman Financial Planning: https://albertgoodman.co.uk/financial-planning

Philippa Hann spent the best part of 20 years as a litigator in financial services, working on the scandals that kept on coming. Underneath every one sat the same question: why do good people do bad things? Her new book, The Fault Lines of Finance, co-written with neuropsychologist Dr Moira Somers, is her answer, and she joins Abraham Okusanya to unpack it.

Philippa's argument is that misconduct is rarely a bad person problem. It's a good person problem. Most of us don't like feeling uncomfortable, and when our behaviour clashes with how we see ourselves, our brains find a story to make it okay. She explains how cognitive dissonance, rationalisation and the slippery slope of small decisions can lead capable, well-meaning professionals somewhere they never meant to go, and why working so close to money makes the risk sharper in finance than in most professions.

The conversation turns to where ethics training falls short. Spotting a dilemma and knowing what to do are the easy parts. The hard parts are moral motivation, putting your standards ahead of your mortgage or your place in the team, and moral character, holding your ground when someone tells you that's not how things are done around here. Abraham tests the ideas against a grey-area expenses dilemma from his own diary, and Philippa answers it with the question that sits at the heart of the book.

For leaders, Philippa sets out integrity by design: the two questions every team is silently asking, what does good look like around here and can I trust what you say, and why a travel policy can tell you more about a firm's culture than its values statement. She argues that the quality of relationships inside a business is what makes difficult conversations possible. She also shares the personal toolkit from the book: knowing your vulnerabilities, writing down your non-negotiables, and keeping a few back-pocket phrases ready for the moment your stomach lurches.

She closes with a challenge to the whole profession. The purpose of business isn't to make money, she argues, it's to serve society, and that should shape how every financial professional decides what good enough looks like.

An essential listen for anyone leading a firm, managing people, or just starting out in advice.

Lisa Conway-Hughes never expected to end up in financial advice. She always felt it wasn't an industry for people like her, so when she founded LCH Wealth she set out to build the firm she would actually have wanted as a client.

In this episode, host Kate Phillips traces Lisa's route from a commission-only role cold-booking appointments, with no safety net to fall back on, to becoming a directly authorised Chartered Financial Adviser running her own growing practice. Lisa is candid about the leap: why she refused to burn bridges on the way out, how she kept the clients who mattered through honest conversations rather than a dash for the door, and the principle she carried with her, doing the right thing even when it's hard.

She also tells the story behind Miss Lolly, the money brand she has built on Instagram, and it was anything but an overnight success. She went years without a single client from it, and the most common thing new clients say now is that they followed her for years before ever getting in touch. Lisa explains why she almost never sells on social, how commenting on the news became a compliance-friendly way to create content, and why she would rather teach people to think for themselves about money than tell them what to do.

The conversation gets practical too: how she segments clients and takes people on from scratch, why she hires for people skills over financial knowledge, the strict money routines that keep both her business and her personal finances on an even keel, and the worry that a whole generation of investors has never lived through a real market crash. And she shares the holiday read that finally convinced her to stop waiting and back herself.

A warm, honest listen for any adviser weighing up whether they could build something of their own.

SoapBox is the undiluted edition of Adviser 3.0, where Abraham Okusanya and Matt Pitcher give their unfiltered take on the news moving UK financial advice. This week they're joined by Emma Bird, Financial Planning Director at Hansford Bell, for a wide-ranging and often provocative conversation.

They open on the news that a long-trusted technical and tax resource is being pulled in-house, what that leaves for the independent advisers who relied on it, and why the veteran who built it is striking out on his own all over again. From there the talk turns to accountability at the top of the profession: a high-profile regulatory ban upheld on appeal, and what it says about governance, culture, and whether the industry feels like a safe place to build a career.

Emma then makes the case that the so-called adviser shortage is a story the profession tells itself. Firms complain there's no new blood coming through, she argues, while only ever hiring the already-qualified, applying entry requirements the current generation never had to meet, and overlooking the talent already sitting in their own offices and in the banks. Her own route from a standing start to director and part-owner is the counter-example.

Finally, in Matt's AI Corner, the panel digs into the news that a leading AI lab has begun plugging straight into US adviser tech, why UK data-protection rules keep that same firepower away from client data on this side of the Atlantic, and where tools like Timeline's own Penny fit for firms that want the upside without handing their data away.

Listen, subscribe, and let us know which side you land on.

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0x7rCJ8VE9of5WkVLxCTkg
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/adviser-3-0-the-podcast/id1547403924
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Adviser3.0

A portfolio built from the biggest, best companies in the world, held right through one of the great bull markets, and it still lost to inflation. How does that happen, and who is it happening to?

That is where this episode of SoapBox begins. Abraham Okusanya and Matt Pitcher are joined by Julian Gilbert, Founder and Director of Wealth Matters, for a blunt hour on where financial advice earns its keep and where it quietly fails people.

They open on the great companies beaten by inflation: a prospect's ten-year review showing an expensive, actively managed, almost entirely equity proposition that trailed inflation for the best part of a decade, and what that says about a profession still being paid to underdeliver. Then the pensioner tax raid. Fiscal drag is pulling more retirees into higher-rate tax every year, the triple lock has become the most toxic subject in the profession, and the demographic maths behind all of it is starting to look impossible. Inheritance tax gets its turn too, now that pensions are being pulled into the estate.

And then the quiet crisis nobody solves: no new advisers. The people already in the room are ageing, and the routes in are a big-name academy sausage machine or a small firm willing to take a risk, with almost nothing in between. So where does the next generation actually come from?

Three arguments, no fence-sitting, and a guest happy to say the thing out loud.

Ask a room full of advisers whether they have clients affected by special needs or disability, and most will say it is not really their world!

Ali Fanshawe, Co-Founder of SENDA, is on the show to explain why that answer is almost always wrong, and why the families sitting quietly in every client bank are among the most exposed to getting the planning wrong.

Abraham and Matt both admit, on air, how little the industry really sees of the end client behind the pot of money. From there the conversation gets uncomfortable. Ali makes the case that the junior ISA, marketed as a no-brainer for every parent, can be quietly disastrous for a family whose child may lack mental capacity at eighteen, the moment the money becomes legally theirs. She walks through what she calls the age 18 cliff edge, the reality of the Court of Protection, and how savings in a young person's name can switch off the means-tested benefits and care their whole life is built around.

The team then turns to the child trust fund problem hiding in plain sight, the hundreds of thousands of matured accounts whose owners cannot be found or, in many cases, cannot legally reach their own money. Is the regulator's push to trace them a fix, or just passing the problem down the line?

In the second half, the panel picks apart the regulator's latest wealth management survey and asks the question nobody in the sector wants to answer: if the market is already this consolidated, how is every firm planning to keep growing? The episode closes on a big platform deal across the Atlantic, what it signals about AI coming for direct-to-consumer advice, and why the human adviser's edge might come down to exactly the kind of care Ali spends her life fighting for.

Ali Fanshawe is Co-Founder of SENDA, the specialist body raising standards in special needs financial planning. Hosted by Abraham Okusanya and Matt Pitcher.

A bonus episode, and a look back at the standout conversations from across Adviser 3.0 and its sister show, SoapBox.

Six moments worth a second listen. Nick Hutchings of Rockwealth on care fees, the annuities that pay for them, and why a fixed fee changes the whole conversation. Caroline Hawkesley of Craven Street Wealth on the cash sitting on platforms, and whether clients are getting their fair share of the interest. Victoria Hicks of Melo on the growth wobble, and why the hardest decisions a firm owner makes are always about people. Michelle Hoskin on why, after decades, advisers are starting to walk away from one of the biggest names in the business. Rob Edwards of Morningstar on the mega-cap IPOs that dominated the headlines, and why the reality is a lot smaller than the noise. And Victoria returns with her colleague Gaynor Rigby for a thoughtful back and forth on the advice gap, what it really is, and how the profession might close it.

Every conversation is available in full wherever you listen. Adviser 3.0 returns to its regular schedule next week.

What does it take to walk away from a secure, senior role at one of the world's biggest asset managers and start again with nothing?

Matt Abouzeid (Co-Founder and Managing Director) and Mohneet Dhir (Co-Founder and Chief Investment Officer) came from Vanguard, where they helped shape how the UK invests. Matt spent fifteen years there, building the largest book of business in Vanguard's European operation. Mohneet was a senior leader in the multi-asset team behind the LifeStrategy range, used by hundreds of thousands of UK investors. Then they left it all to build &together, an independent financial planning firm for founders and entrepreneurs, from a blank sheet of paper. No clients. No book. No blueprint.

In this episode, hosts Abraham Okusanya and Kate Phillips draw out the full, unvarnished story of the leap: the twelve-month countdown to handing in their notice, the decision to go while Mohneet was on maternity leave, and the single question that tipped the balance, whose dream are you living? They get into the practical machinery too, why they chose a network over going directly authorised, how they modelled two years without income, and the discipline of sense-checking every line of a start-up budget.

From there the conversation turns to the hardest part of all: winning clients from zero. Matt and Mohneet share how they grew out from concentric circles of people who already trusted them towards a genuine inbound engine, the difference between a polite introduction and true advocacy, and what it felt like to land in a competitive tender against a long-established chartered firm. They are candid about the war wounds, the marketing money they would spend differently, the constant pull between a young family and a young business, and how they think about fees, investment philosophy, and building a firm optimised for client outcomes rather than margin.

It is a rare, honest look inside the first ten months of a brand-new advice firm, and essential listening for anyone who has ever wondered whether they could do the same.

Women run some of the best businesses in financial services. So why do men still run the biggest ones, and why does around eighty percent of private equity investment still flow to all-male boards?

That is where this episode of SoapBox begins. Abraham Okusanya and Matt Pitcher are joined by Victoria Hicks, CEO of Melo, and Gaynor Rigby, COO of Melo, for three of the most divisive questions in the profession right now. They open with the zero-to-a-billion rise of Amber River, the leaders nobody sees, and the labels that trail ambitious women. Then comes the advice gap: as Vanguard rolls out targeted support and JP Morgan writes down more of its Nutmeg bet, should the bar to give advice fall to a Level 2 qualification, or would you no more accept a Level 2 adviser than a Level 2 doctor? Finally, the millionaire exodus, and whether Britain is quietly taxing its wealth creators onto the next flight to Dubai.

Three topics, no fence-sitting, and a room that refuses to agree.

When SpaceX entered the US total market index, some of the coverage asked whether index providers were reshaping the market rather than simply reflecting it. Rob Edwards, Global Head of Product and Research at Morningstar Indexes, has a blunter view of the job: accurately reflect the passive composition of the market, and let the market do the rest.

In this episode, Abraham Okusanya and Timeline's Laurentius van den Worm sit down with Rob to unpack what actually happens when a giant private company finally goes public, why its weight starts tiny and climbs as lock-ups expire, and whether anyone can systematically profit from those mechanics. From there the conversation opens out into the questions advisers keep asking: is passive investing really passive if researchers and boards decide what goes in? Does indexing distort price discovery, or make it more efficient? And how worried should we be about concentration when a handful of names now drive most of the market's return?

Rob also takes us inside Morningstar's acquisition of CRSP, the University of Chicago dataset with more than 65 years of market history, and makes the case for challenging an index industry he argues has grown on inertia and price rises rather than innovation. Along the way: capping and home bias, the reset in sustainable investing, why peer-group benchmarks flatter active managers, and the private markets frontier that could one day let retail investors buy in before the next SpaceX lists.

A sharp, practical listen for advisers who want to understand what really sits under the funds their clients hold.

🏆 GIVEAWAY 🏆

We're funding five free tickets to the Empowering Excellence Conference and Awards 2026 in London. Enter now at https://adviser3point0.co/giveaway

In this special episode of SoapBox, Abraham Okusanya and Matt Pitcher are joined by Michelle Hoskin, founder of Standards International and co-founder of The Business and Operations Management Network, for a no-holds-barred look at a profession being reshaped in real time. It is also, for the record, one of the funniest episodes we have recorded, so expect the odd tangent into robot uprisings, lost aeroplanes and the grown-up kids who won't leave home along the way.

It opens on the uncomfortable truth about AI and cybersecurity. The vulnerabilities in your tech stack exist whether or not you have an AI policy, and an attacker does not need your permission to find them. Opting out, Abraham argues, simply is not an option any more.

From there the trio turn to St. James's Place, where some of the largest practices have started breaking away. They get into why SJP's old defences, the exit charges and the loan-funded valuations that kept advisers locked in, have quietly crumbled, and whether the advisers who stay are just too institutionalised to leave.

Then it is platform technology's turn. With one of the sector's giants posting losses north of a billion pounds, the panel asks what the future holds for tired legacy tech in a world where clients, and advisers, will no longer tolerate mediocre. As Michelle puts it, the slow and the clunky are running out of road.

Finally, Michelle makes her case for the people who actually keep advice firms running. Operations is the heartbeat of every business, she argues, yet the profession still treats anyone who is not an adviser or planner as an afterthought. Her prediction is blunt: within a decade the firms that thrive will be led by operations people, not planners.

Listen now, and if you know someone who runs the engine room of an advice firm, point them at the giveaway.

Victoria Hicks knows what a bad exit feels like!

She sold her chartered financial planning firm in 2018, watched the culture collapse within weeks of completion, and spent the years that followed working out why so many sales go wrong. Today, as Founder and CEO of Melo, she's done over 100 transactions and helps firms grow, sell, and build with the end in mind.

In this episode, Abraham sits down with Victoria to explore the real barriers to growth in financial planning firms, from owner mindset and the advisor-to-leader transition, to the financial reporting gaps that leave businesses exposed. Victoria also digs into what buyers actually look for, why internal exits are underused, and how Project Exit is opening up the M&A market for privately owned firms.

Matt Pitcher and Abraham Okusanya are back on the SoapBox, joined this time by Caroline Hawkesley, Managing Director of Craven Street Wealth.

They open on the tax question no adviser can escape. With a new government expected under Andy Burnham and a £4.7bn hole in the defence budget, the speculation cycle is already grinding client decisions to a halt. Abraham makes the case that wealth taxes are a fantasy that never raise what politicians hope, picking apart Gary Stevenson's Channel 4 turn and siding with Dan Neidle's numbers. Caroline flips the debate to the other side of the ledger: means-testing the state pension, charging for GP visits, and whether we are asking the wrong question entirely.

Then to platform cash. The FCA wants platforms to disclose the interest they take on client money more prominently. Abraham, who runs a platform himself, argues disclosure dodges the real issue and that the practice should simply be banned. Why should a platform take a cut of interest on cash when it cannot on equities, bonds or property?

The final stretch looks a decade ahead. With half the advice profession heading for retirement, who is building the next generation, and what does a financial planner even look like in the AI-driven 2030s? Caroline argues the profession is not looking far enough forward.

And no SoapBox is complete without a trip to the "Shoe Box." This week it is Neil Woodford, still refusing to go quietly, and Terry Smith, who turned over half his portfolio in six months then wrote a 17-page letter blaming the index for his own underperformance.

Blunt, opinionated and built for advisers who want the arguments and the evidence in one place.

Nick Hutchings is a Chartered Financial Planner, Accredited SOLLA adviser, and Founder of Rockwealth Reading. He accidentally niched into retirement planning, runs his own podcast The Retirement Lounge, and recently appeared on the Martin Lewis show. In this conversation with Abraham Okusanya, Nick is refreshingly honest about the fixed fees model, what it really takes to go solo, and why the care fees world is rife with conflicts of interest most advisers won't talk about. He makes the case for deferred care fees annuities, explains why he places 50% of his clients into them while the industry average sits in single digits, and reflects on the personal moments that shaped his approach to retirement planning.

Recorded live at Adviser 3.0 2026, this is the fourth and final Sunset Studio Session. Nicki Hinton-Jones, CIO at Timeline, sits down with Gary Paulin, Chief Investment Strategist, International at Northern Trust Asset Management, for a conversation that starts with a warning: every major move of Gary's career has landed on a market top, from the Russian debt crisis to 9/11 to the GFC. But the real story is what that has taught him about reading risk.

Gary makes the case that AI is a structural shift, not a bubble, walking through the five classic bubble signals (concentration, overspending, lack of ROI, circular financing, leverage and euphoria) and explaining why none of them stack up the way they did in 2000. He unpacks why the Magnificent Seven behave more like conglomerates than companies, why AI could be the disinflationary force that lets central banks run the economy hotter, and why the most contrarian call in markets right now might be a dovish Fed under Kevin Walsh. Nicki and Gary also get into the psychology of investing, the amygdala's role in bad decisions, and why avoiding pessimists might be the single best investment strategy available to advisers and clients alike.

Some conversations on SoapBox are uncomfortable. This is one of them.

Abraham Okusanya and Matt Pitcher are joined by Lauren Turner, Head of Financial Planning and Chartered Financial Planner at TFP Financial Planning, to work through three topics that every adviser should be thinking about right now.

First: has the SpaceX IPO broken indexing? The media says yes. The data says otherwise. Abraham makes the case that the panic doesn't survive contact with evidence, and that for Mrs. Miggins in a balanced portfolio, the numbers involved are smaller than anyone is letting on.

Then: pension IHT. Lauren and Matt are seeing it first-hand. Families weighing up whether to pursue life-prolonging treatment based on where the April cliff edge falls. Clients facing the prospect of 80% of a pension fund disappearing on death. Abraham takes the unpopular view that the overall direction is right -- even if the double taxation is indefensible.

Finally: deepfakes. Matt brings the numbers, and they are staggering. In the UK, investment fraud is the single largest category of deepfake losses. AI-generated video calls are convincing people who know each other. The question is what advisers do about it, and whether the answer involves going back to basics.

For years, financial advisers have been told that empathy is their ultimate competitive advantage, the moat that no algorithm can cross. But what if that assumption is the most dangerous bet in the profession?

Recorded live at the Adviser 3.0 2026 conference, this special live edition of SoapBox takes Dan Haylett's viral LinkedIn article, The Empathy Delusion, as its starting point and tears into one of the most urgent questions facing the advice profession today. Host Matt Pitcher is joined by Sarah Roughsedge, Chartered Financial Planner and Founder of Eva Wealth Management for Women, and Dan Haylett, Director of TFP Financial Planning and Founder of Humans vs Retirement, for a debate that is equal parts sobering and energising.

The numbers they share are hard to ignore: 28 million UK adults now use AI for money management and financial questions, making it the single biggest use of AI in this country. Sixteen million have sought specific financial advice from an AI. And research increasingly shows that people feel less judged, less ashamed, and more comfortable talking about money with AI than with a human adviser. So where does that leave us?

The panel confronts the fee compression question head-on, debates whether the future belongs to advisers serving fifty ultra-high-net-worth clients or thousands through AI-augmented subscription models, and explores what skills the next generation of planners actually needs. Psychology. Coaching. Prompt engineering. The ability to challenge, not just affirm. And they land on something quietly radical: being clever may now be the least valuable thing an adviser can bring to the table.

Pascal's Wager, a Blockbuster Kodak warning for the profession, and one unforgettable story about a client who would rather discuss her sex life than her finances. This one does not pull its punches.

Read Dan's article that inspired this session: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/empathy-delusion-why-many-financial-advisors-may-making-dan-haylett--nedne/

What does it actually take to build a financial planning firm that lasts, not just one that sells? Keith Butten, CFP Certified Financial Planner and co-founder of boosst, has spent four decades finding out. In this episode, Abraham sits down with Keith to explore the philosophy behind one of the UK's most distinctive lifestyle financial planning businesses, from scrapping self-employed advisers and building from a blank piece of paper, to a fee model designed around service levels and client selection rather than volume.

Keith shares how boosst runs at 45% pre-tax profit margins, why he believes "fans" are a better metric than AUM, and the thinking behind their Bright to Boost talent development programme. He also makes a candid case for the Employee Ownership Trust over consolidation, explaining why he and Josh chose to build an infinite business rather than cash out.

What does it mean to protect your clients' wealth in a world where governments are spending without restraint? This session from the Adviser 3.0 2026 conference puts two of the most compelling voices in alternative assets on stage together -- and lets them argue it out.

Dan Parkinson, the Bitcoin IFA, traces his conviction to Lebanon, where he watched a currency lose 99.9% of its purchasing power in three years. Thomas Holl, Portfolio Manager at BlackRock responsible for several of the firm's gold strategies, came to his view more quietly: two decades of watching what governments actually do with money, not what they promise. Both arrived at the same destination by different routes -- the conviction that holding cash or nominal bonds amounts to a slow-motion loss of purchasing power, and that something else is needed.

Moderator Laurentius van den Worm, Head of Investment Strategy at Timeline, keeps the debate honest. He pushes both guests on valuation (how do you price an asset with no cash flows?), regulatory risk (gold was banned before; could it happen again?), and the practical question every adviser in the room is asking: how do I actually get this into a client's portfolio?

Dan makes the case for Bitcoin as a hedge against money printing, pointing to the relationship between Fed balance sheet expansion and Bitcoin returns, a four-year cycle with a 99.8% success rate over any holding period, and the argument that at roughly five percent global adoption, we are still in the early adopter phase. Thomas positions gold as a zero coupon inflation-protected perpetual bond with zero issuer risk -- and explains why central bank buying doubled after 2022.

They don't agree on everything. But on the things that matter most to advisers thinking about portfolio construction in an era of fiscal excess, they're closer than the title suggests.

Olivia Maynard is Managing Director at TFP Financial Planning in Essex. In this episode, she shares how she went from school leaver to MD without ever planning it that way, why she stepped away from financial planning into operations, and how she has built a culture where no one is confined to a job box.

Olivia talks about the "breath moment" - that exhale when a client finally lets go of years of financial anxiety - and why it still drives everything TFP does. She opens up about her first pregnancy during Covid, severe pre-eclampsia, an emergency delivery at 30 weeks, and how that experience shaped both her resilience and her thinking on boundaries in the workplace.

The conversation also covers how TFP approaches team structure, the death of the brilliant jerk, disagree and commit, and where she thinks the industry is heading as technology reshapes every role from paraplanner to administrator.

Three CEOs. One stage. The biggest questions facing adviser businesses right now.

Recorded live at Adviser 3.0 2026, this is the first of our Sunset Studio Sessions — a series of four panel conversations captured on stage at our flagship annual conference. The Sunset Studio stage is sponsored by Northern Trust Asset Management. Philippa Mather of Paradigm Norton, Jo French of Attivo, and Alan Smith of Capital Asset Management join Ed Carey, CCO at Timeline, for an honest, wide-ranging conversation covering the topics that will define adviser businesses over the next few years.

On AI, the panel cuts through the noise. Joe explains why Ativo built its own LLMs from the ground up rather than reaching for off-the-shelf tools. Alan argues the industry is still in "Blockbuster got an app" territory and challenges firms to think about what AI-native looks like from first principles. Philippa pushes back on short-term hype cycles and makes the case that people, not technology, remain the real driver of business performance.

On growth, the discussion gets uncomfortable. The data says most adviser firms aren't growing in any meaningful way once market returns are stripped out. The panel explores why, what a scientific approach to referrals actually looks like, and why organic growth is a skill that has to be deliberately built.

The conversation closes on talent and culture: how to attract the next generation, why weekly one-to-ones beat most management interventions, and what a genuinely high-performance firm looks and feels like in practice.

A career built without a degree, a partnership earned without shortcuts, and a profession that risks losing its soul to consolidation.

In this episode of Adviser 3.0, Kate Phillips is joined by Tara Maynard, Partner and Chartered Financial Adviser at PM+M, for an honest conversation about doing it your way in financial planning.

Tara shares how financial circumstances steered her away from university and into an accountancy apprenticeship at 18, and how a chance secondment to the financial planning team changed everything. She opens up about studying for her qualifications in half-hour windows around two young children, navigating imposter syndrome on the road to partnership, and what it really means to belong somewhere you love.

They also get into the bigger picture: why independent ownership matters for clients and advisers alike, what gets lost when firms are bought and sold, and Tara's passion for grassroots community work through PM+M's Positive Impact programme.

Topics covered:

• The apprenticeship path and why it worked
• Studying for exams with two young children
• Imposter syndrome and building quiet confidence
• The culture that made partnership possible
• Independent ownership vs consolidation
• Community, charity and the Positive Impact programme

Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or watch on YouTube.

The triple lock is costing us 7% of GDP by 2070. Advisers are overpaid, or are they? And your money personality was probably set before you turned 10.

In this episode of SoapBox, Matt Pitcher and Abraham Okusanya are joined by Sarah Roughsedge, founder of Eva Wealth and author of Smart Money, Strong Women, for a wide-ranging conversation that pulls no punches.

They dig into the Tony Blair Institute's radical proposal to scrap the state pension as we know it, replacing it with a flexible Lifespan Fund, and whether that is bold policy or political fantasy. Then the debate turns closer to home: are financial advisers actually overpaid? Matt and Abraham put themselves in the dock, and the answer is more nuanced than you might expect. From Ferrari-driving advisers to the growing wave of breakaway firms leaving the big consolidators, this one gets spicy.

Sarah then walks us through the ideas behind her book, five money archetypes that shape how we think, feel, and act around money, and why understanding yours might be the most important financial move you ever make.

We close with a bright note from Abraham: UK investors are finally coming back to the equity markets after the longest selling streak Calastone has ever recorded.

Topics covered:

• The triple lock, the Lifespan Fund and the fairness problem with state pension
• Are advisers worth £100k a year?
• Breakaway firms and the entrepreneurial case for going independent
• Smart Money, Strong Women: the 5 money archetypes and why they matter
• UK investors return to equities

Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or watch on YouTube.

Ed Dymott, CEO of Benchmark Capital, joins Abraham Okusanya to challenge the logic behind a decade of advice firm consolidation.

The old playbook of buying IFA practices cheap and selling the whole thing at a premium was never as clever as it looked, and the cracks are showing. Ed and Abraham dig into the breakaway adviser trend, why planners are leaving consolidators and private banks alike to build their own businesses, the role of AI as a copilot rather than a replacement, and what the profession looks like when it finally grows up and sits alongside law and accountancy. A candid, wide-ranging conversation with one of the most influential operators in UK financial planning infrastructure.

What does it mean to own "the whole market" when parts of it make you uncomfortable? Dominic Thomas, founder and principal of Solomon's IFA, joins Abraham to challenge some of the orthodoxies of financial planning. A fee-based adviser since 1999 -- more than a decade before RDR made it fashionable -- Dominic has built a tight, intentional family firm in Cobham with ethics and relationships at its core.

In this conversation, Dominic and Abraham go head to head on index investing and capital concentration, the discomfort of owning companies you disagree with, wealth inequality and whether capitalism is working, US political dominance and what it means for portfolio allocation, the role of AI in advice, and how to help clients define "enough."

Honest, wide-ranging and genuinely provocative.

What if retirement is not the reward you think it is?

In this episode, Dan Haylett joins the show to challenge one of the biggest assumptions in financial planning. That retirement is a destination. A number. A finish line.

Drawing on his work with clients and insights from his book, Dan explains why so many people reach retirement only to feel lost, lacking purpose, and unsure what comes next.

This conversation goes beyond money. It explores identity, structure, meaning, and the real role of financial planners in helping clients navigate the second half of life.

If you work in financial advice or are planning your own future, this episode will change how you think about retirement.

We cover:

• Why retirement is often a letdown after years of planning
• The problem with focusing only on “the number”
• Why retirement is a human problem, not a maths problem
• How to help clients find purpose beyond work
• The future of financial planning and why it must evolve

Connect with Dan: https://www.humansvsretirement.com/

Matt Pitcher and Abraham Okusanya are back on the Soapbox with no guest, no filter, just two advisers getting into the numbers that matter.

This episode they dig into the Dimson, Marsh & Staunton Global Investment Returns Yearbook 2026 and the Bessembinder paper, and the findings are uncomfortable. In 1900, railroads made up 63% of the US market. Today, less than 1%. Yet they still outperformed. 59% of individual stocks will lose you money over their lifetime. The median stock return is negative. And yet the market has created $91 trillion of wealth. The case for buying the haystack has never been stronger or more ignored.

Then Matt takes on the great wealth destroyers: active managers quietly costing clients half a million pounds, lifestyling in pension schemes that should have died with the annuity era, risk profiling tools nudging clients into less equity than they need, and the £2.2 trillion sitting dead in UK bank accounts shrinking in real terms while advisers watch on.

Blunt, data-heavy, and genuinely useful for any adviser who wants the arguments and the evidence in one place.

Resources mentioned:

• Bessembinder Paper: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=6438198DMS Yearbook 2026 Summary: https://www.ubs.com/global/en/investment-bank/insights-and-data/articles/global-investment-returns-yearbook-2026.html
• FCA Trail Commission Review: https://citywire.com/new-model-adviser/news/fca-to-review-674m-adviser-trail-commissions/a2486582

📩 Review and screenshot it to Abraham on LinkedIn for a free copy of Nick Murray's This Time Is Different

Chris Palmer’s career didn’t start in financial services, and it nearly didn’t happen at all.

From the Navy to banking during the financial crisis, Chris worked his way into financial advice before making a move that would define his career: buying into the firm he joined.

In this episode, Chris shares his journey from employee to owner, the realities of equity and progression, and what it takes to build a business that lasts.

We also explore the challenges facing independent firms today, the pressure of regulation, and why true independence still matters in financial advice.

A must-listen for advisers thinking about ownership, succession and long-term career progression.

In this episode, we’re joined by Brian Hill, founder of Pathfinders and author of Everyone Exits: You’re Either Bought Out, Pushed Out, or Wheeled Out®

Brian shares what really happens when financial planning firms go to market and why many advisers are not prepared to sell. We explore valuation, buyer behaviour, and the most common mistakes that reduce deal value.

The conversation covers the gap between confidence and competence, the impact of unprofitable client segments, and why exit planning should start far earlier than most firms expect.

A must-listen for advisers thinking about succession, growth, or selling their business.

In this episode, David Gibson, Managing Director of Gibson Financial Planning, joins the podcast to discuss how mindset, values and purpose influence the growth of a financial planning business.

David shares how his firm evolved from a transactional advice model to a relationship-led financial planning practice built around long-term client work. Today the majority of the firm’s revenue comes from existing clients and ongoing relationships.

The conversation explores the self-limiting beliefs that often hold advisers back, particularly the fear that growing a business means sacrificing lifestyle, family or personal wellbeing.

David explains how confronting those beliefs reshaped his thinking and reignited his ambition for the firm.

We also dive into one of the most challenging aspects of advice: helping clients move from saving and accumulating wealth to actually enjoying it.

For advisers thinking about growth, impact and what financial planning is really about, this episode offers a thoughtful perspective on the role mindset plays in building both a successful firm and a meaningful career.

You Built It. Can You Afford to Sell It?

In Episode 126, Louise Jeffreys joins the show to discuss M&A, valuations and the market forces reshaping financial planning.

We explore what firms are actually selling for, how buyers assess value, and why succession should begin years before an exit is agreed. Louise explains the difference between buy-side and sell-side models, the role of private equity in consolidation, and the importance of cultural fit over headline price.

We also discuss the emotional side of selling, the risks that derail transactions, and what the next phase of the advice profession may look like.

If you are building a firm today, this is a conversation about the future.

Financial Advice at the AI Crossroads: Empathy, Expertise, and Human Touch in the Agentic Era

In this episode of Soapbox, Matt, Abraham and Philippa Hann explore the evolving role of artificial intelligence in financial services.

They examine whether AI challenges the empathy advantage of human advisers, the potential risks to entry-level roles, and the importance of protecting new professionals from scams. The discussion also addresses the debate around qualification standards and the persistent myth of market concentration risk.

A thoughtful conversation about how the profession adapts to technological change without compromising trust, competence and human judgement.

What does it look like to build a financial planning firm that is not designed to be sold?

In this episode, Abraham sits down with Andy Hounsell, Managing Director of Beyond Finance, to explore stewardship over ownership, leadership beyond control, and why succession should start far earlier than most advisers think.

Since taking over the business in 2015, Andy has reshaped the firm around long-term responsibility rather than short-term valuation. A significant proportion of profits are committed to a charitable trust. An employee share scheme allows the team to participate in dividends. And the ownership structure is being designed to ensure the firm transcends its founder.

This is a conversation about:

• Designing a firm to outlast you
• Moving from manager to multiplier
• Taking risks to unlock real growth
• Sharing equity and responsibility with your team
• Planning for generations rather than an exit

If you are building a business you want to endure, not simply monetise, this episode will challenge how you think about leadership, ownership and scale.

In Episode 124 of Adviser 3.0, we are joined by Ian Dempsey to explore what it really takes to build a modern advice business.

From going independent and finding his voice, to using content with intent rather than chasing followers, Ian shares a grounded perspective on growth, credibility, and control. He explains why independence brings responsibility, why audience size is often misunderstood, and why behavioural coaching has become a core part of how he adds value to clients.

This is a practical conversation for advisers thinking seriously about independence, visibility, and how to build a business that lasts without losing focus on what matters.

In this episode of Adviser 3.0 The Podcast, Abraham is joined by Ashton Chritchlow, Managing Director and owner of IFC Max, to unpack one of the rarest outcomes in financial advice: internal succession that genuinely works.

Ashton shares his full journey, from joining the firm in 2008 with no industry experience, to remortgaging his home to buy equity, taking on the role of Managing Director, and completing a successful management buyout.

The conversation explores what separates employees from owners, why most succession plans fail, and what founders must do if they want their firm to outlive them. This is a practical, honest discussion about leadership, accountability, legacy, and the long game of ownership in financial advice.

A must listen for founders thinking about succession, advisers aiming for ownership, and firms navigating growth without losing independence.

In this episode of Adviser 3.0 The Podcast, we are joined by Sasha Wakefield, founder of The Paraplanner Project, to explore what growth really looks like behind the scenes of a modern advice business.

Sasha shares her journey into paraplanning, how she built an outsourced business model around collaboration and trust, and why growth quickly becomes a leadership challenge rather than a technical one. She speaks candidly about employing a remote team, managing capacity without predictable income, and the pressure that comes with being responsible for other people’s livelihoods.

The conversation also covers the evolving role of paraplanners, the stigma that still exists around outsourcing, how firms are responding to AI, and why curiosity and asking better questions matter more than titles or qualifications. Sasha also reflects on leadership during major life changes, including shared parental leave and stepping back from day-to-day delivery without compromising service or culture.

This episode is essential listening for advisers, firm owners, and leaders thinking seriously about growth, delegation, and building businesses that scale without losing quality or trust.

SoapBox Ep.3 - Passive Investing Didn’t Break Markets, It Exposed Active Management

Hosts Abraham and Matt are joined by Carla Brown, President of the Personal Finance Society, for an unfiltered discussion on markets, behaviour and the realities of modern financial advice.

The episode explores why UK investors continue to exit equity markets at the worst possible moments, even during periods of strong performance, and what this reveals about confidence, communication and access to advice.

The conversation also covers active versus passive investing, loyalty to underperforming managers, and the growing tension between evidence and narrative. Alongside this, the panel addresses the advice profession’s succession problem, the ageing adviser population, and why attracting new talent has become a defining issue for the future of advice.

In the episode of Adviser 3.0: The Podcast, we speak with Alasdair Walker, Managing Director and owner of Optimum Financial Planning, about the conversation most firm owners delay for too long: ownership and control.

Alasdair shares his full journey from trainee adviser to completing a management buyout, offering rare insight into how internal succession actually works in financial planning firms. He explains why early equity alignment matters, how unclear ownership expectations create long-term risk, and why many firms default to selling when succession planning is avoided.

The discussion also explores founder transitions, trust between generations, and what firm owners need to understand about incentives, transparency and long-term value. Later in the episode, Alasdair shares his perspective on AI adoption in financial planning, including where technology adds value and why it cannot fix poor structure or unresolved ownership issues.

This episode is essential listening for financial advisers, firm owners, principals and next-generation leaders thinking seriously about succession, equity and the future of their business.

Topics covered:

• Financial planning succession and ownership

• Management buyouts and internal succession

• Founder transitions and control

• Selling versus long-term independence

• AI adoption in advice firms

In this episode of Adviser 3.0 The Podcast, we sit down with psychologist and human optimisation specialist Ross Anderson to explore how high performers approach growth.

Ross unpacks the relationship between mind, performance and behaviour, challenging the idea that growth is driven by motivation alone. Drawing on psychology, behavioural science and lived experience, he explains why sustainable performance starts with awareness, strong foundations and better decision making.

The conversation explores how high performers think differently about growth, why behaviour matters more than intention, and how clarity and structure support long-term performance.

Ross will also be joining us on the road in 2026 as part of the Timeline Growth Series, where he will be sharing these ideas live with advisers across the UK.

This episode is a grounded discussion for professionals who want to grow with intent, consistency and resilience.

A clear and practical conversation with Will Webber on resilience, networks and the habits that support sustainable growth across fintech.
Will shares lessons from the military, BlackRock and professional services, covering mindset, commercial development, community building and the future of the sector.

In the episode of Adviser 3.0 The Podcast, the familiar SoapBox duo return with a new guest who has deep experience across advice, technology and consumer behaviour. The conversation opens with the FCA’s attempt at gamified education, the reaction to recent budget speculation and the impact of changes to VCT incentives and salary sacrifice rules. From there the trio take apart the realities of AI inside large organisations and why so much investment fails to reach production.

They explore how the advice gap may evolve, how future clients will expect to interact with advice and what the profession needs to consider as digital journeys scale. The session ends with a clear eyed assessment of pension transfer delays and the providers still operating with outdated processes.

A lively, insightful and highly relevant discussion for advisers, planners, firm owners and anyone keeping an eye on the future of the profession.

David Jones, outgoing Vice President and head of the UK and Ireland advisor group at Dimensional, joins Abraham to reflect on over two decades of change within the financial planning profession. He discusses the shift from product-focused advice to a holistic planning model that centres on clients’ goals, values and long-term wellbeing.

David shares his views on the apparent plateau in the number of practising planners, why younger professionals are bringing new energy into the field, and how technology and AI may reshape both the work and expectations of planners. He also offers practical insights on what sets successful firms apart, from simplification to consistent implementation and clear communication.

As he looks ahead to his own next chapter, David speaks openly about legacy, leadership, purpose and the value of good planning in helping clients live fulfilled lives. This is a reflective and encouraging conversation for anyone interested in the future of the profession.

In this first SoapBox session, Abraham sits down with two industry voices to explore the figures behind adviser decline, the realities of client disengagement, the influence of consumer duty, and what the latest FCA data reveals about firms, revenue and capacity. From service models and profitability to the future of talent and technology, this episode explores the questions the profession cannot ignore. If you work in planning, paraplanning, compliance or leadership, this session offers thought-provoking insight into where the sector stands and what may come next. Listen to the full discussion and stay tuned for future SoapBox sessions.

In this episode, Abraham Okusanya sits down with Laurentius van den Worm, Head of Investment Strategy at Timeline, for a deep dive into the thinking behind global market cap weighting. They explore whether global equity investing still makes sense in a world where the US dominates, discuss behavioural biases that influence allocation decisions, and unpack the role of the so-called “Magnificent Seven” companies in shaping global returns.

Laurentius shares insights on why global market cap remains a powerful equilibrium point, how profitability and value factors play into long-term performance, and what investors can learn from market concentration, currency risk, and diversification. It’s a thoughtful conversation on the collective wisdom of markets and what it really means to be a global investor.

In this episode, Abraham Okusanya speaks with David Morrey, Partner at Grant Thornton and one of the UK’s leading experts on financial services regulation.

David helps advisers make sense of the ever-changing regulatory landscape — from consumer duty and ongoing advice to the FCA’s growth agenda and the rise of targeted support. He explains how the regulator’s tone has shifted, why flexibility is now part of the FCA’s toolkit, and what firms can do to stay ahead without losing focus on good client outcomes.

They explore how advisers can evidence value, manage fair value assessments, and prepare for greater scrutiny in the years ahead. David also shares insights on consolidation, private equity involvement in the sector, and how firms can navigate these pressures while building sustainable advice models.

If you want to understand how regulation is evolving — and how to thrive within it — this conversation is essential listening.

Financial storytelling is not about numbers. It is about meaning.

In this episode, Mike LeGassick joins us to explore how advisers can use stories, metaphors and even props to help clients truly understand their money. From crystal balls to noise-cancelling headphones, Mike shares the tools he uses to make complex ideas clear, relatable and human.

We also talk about building trust through communication, why emotions matter more than spreadsheets, and how advisers can inspire confidence rather than confusion in every client conversation.

🎙️ Guest: Mike LeGassick, author of The Art of Storytelling for Financial Advisers
💡 Topics: storytelling in finance, client communication, behavioural advice, purpose driven planning

In this episode, Kate sits down with Samantha Challis, founder of Another View Financial Services. Samantha shares how redundancy turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to her, giving her the chance to reinvent herself and create a business built on authenticity, trust, and family values.From her early career at Barclays to launching her own firm, Samantha explains why being present for her son was the biggest driver behind her success. She discusses how offering her time freely has helped build long-term client relationships, why she sees her clients as friends, and how focusing on culture over money leads to sustainable growth.This is a powerful conversation about resilience, staying true to your values, and why putting people before products transforms both clients and businesses.

In this episode of Advisor 3.0 The Podcast, Abraham sits down with Tom Morgan, founder and managing director of Orca Wealth, to explore how financial planning can create meaningful impact in clients’ lives.Tom shares his journey from breaking into the advice profession after RDR, to building his own firm with his wife Emily, and why the book Die With Zero reshaped his philosophy. They talk about the challenges of starting out in financial advice, building a client-centred firm that values personal connection and meaningful outcomes, why retirement should be planned in seasons, how to help clients shift from accumulation to purposeful spending, and rethinking legacy, generational wealth, and how money can be a tool for life fulfilment.This conversation is packed with insights for advisers who want to go beyond products and investments, and instead help clients live fully, with confidence and clarity.

In this episode of Advisor 3.0, Kate sits down with Shadi Kirk, co-founder of Transform Financial Planning. Shadi shares her journey from studying chemistry and working at the Financial Times to building a financial planning business with her husband Angus.

We talk about the rebrand from Bridge Investments, the importance of putting client relationships at the heart of advice, and how aesthetics, processes, and even colour choices can shape trust. Shadi also opens up about the challenges of losing a key team member, working with mentors to rebuild, and how financial planning is evolving with coaching and technology.

This is an inspiring conversation about resilience, transformation, and the real meaning of financial planning.

Live from Adviser 3.0 2025, marketing powerhouse Samantha Russell, Chief Evangelist at FMG, shares the secrets behind today’s fastest-growing advice firms. From Answer Engine Optimisation to Google Reviews, LinkedIn and YouTube, this keynote is your step-by-step guide to scaling with clarity, connection and confidence.

In this episode, you’ll discover:
• How AI is transforming how clients find advisers

• Why Google Reviews are your ultimate digital referrals• Smart content ideas that grab attention

• The top platforms for adviser marketing success

• How showing your face speeds up trust

For more insights, visit adviser3point0.co