I was surprised at the result, but we’ve now had some time to start working through the impact. As the world watches I imagine key concerns will be stability and whether this becomes a messy divorce.
Speaking to others in the profession there has been a real mix of reactions from clients. Some were worried about their portfolios, but in the main it sounds like clients understand that they are investing for the medium to long term and are not solely invested in UK assets.
I think that whilst Brexit might not be great for our economy in the short term, it will be good for Financial Planning.
Uncertainty will cause people to need and seek advice. I don’t really like the phrase ‘adviser alpha’, but having a good financial planner does help people deal with big financial shocks – particularly those that were all over our newspapers straight after the vote.
We can, and do, add a lot of value and I’m certain that many clients are sleeping better as a result of the relationships we have with them.
At EQ our Investment Management Team had prepared for both outcomes. The biggest impact has been to property funds with many suspending redemptions – something that we had been expecting and prepared for.
Much has been written about the impact on investment markets, but what about the impact on financial planning?
Leaving the EU is not going to impact the general process of financial planning. Setting goals, having a strategy for success, and reviewing progress are all still going to be key to clients. What we do, why, and how are probably not going to change much.
However there are two areas I think we should watch:
1) Regulation
A compliance officer recently pointed out to me that the FCA Handbook now gives reference to the various EU directives that inform the rules. We have UCITS and MiFID to name just two. The FCA has reminded people that much of the financial regulation we have in this country comes from the EU.
When we have eventually left the EU these rules will still apply, but setting new rules and dealing with new regulatory issues will sit with the FCA (and the UK Government). It will be interesting to see how this goes.
Will we end up with a larger regulator to cope with the extra work? Will the UK Government seek to water things down? Will the Government have enough time to deal with this extra work whilst dealing with an orderly exit and establishing new trade deals? Who will keep us in check with the wider global market? Or will we simply mirror the EU changes (to enable continued relationships), but without input?
2) Offshore products
For some clients, offshore products are a part of their tax planning. Frequently these accounts are domiciled in the Isle of Man, the Channel Islands, or Ireland.
Links between the UK and Ireland are strong. Overall trade is unlikely to be impacted, but what about some of the fringe benefits? Clients with an Irish investment bond currently do not need to pay VAT on Discretionary Management fees; this is not the case in the UK. Could this change?
Offshore tax havens are not popular with HMRC, but the use of offshore investment bonds is generally acceptable. Might this position change as the need to increase tax revenue hits?
- Dan Atkinson was the 2014 IFP Paraplanner of the Year. He is a senior technical consultant at EQ Investors and is co-chairman of the 2016 CISI Paraplanning Conference. Follow Dan on Twitter via @DanAtkinsonUK.
— Dan Atkinson (@DanAtkinsonUK) April 26, 2016