Due to Coronavirus restrictions, the MALG Conference 2020 was replaced by our first ever Virtual Summit held via Zoom on the original conference date of Thursday 29 October 2020.
The event, which was attended by 220 delegates, featured a keynote presentation on the shift to a digital economy, breakout sessions on everything from adviser wellbeing and priority debts to financial resilience and deficit budgets, and a panel debate based on the theme of innovating to meet increasing demand as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic.
As always with MALG events, there was the opportunity for open discussion, debate, and networking in a non-judgemental environment. In fact, there was arguably more interaction than we see at our face-to-face conferences and events!
Delegates will have exclusive access to resources including speaker slides and Zoom chat box content via this password-protected page on our website. All those who registered for the event will receive the password via email and we ask that you don’t share this with others. We also ask that delegates fill in the brief evaluation survey which we will email a link to.
MALG Virtual Summit attendance attracts 2 CPD points for Institute of Money Advisers members.
Thank you to our headline sponsor Intrum and other sponsors Lester Aldridge, CDER Group, Lantern, Dukes Bailiffs, and Computershare.
Programme
09.00: Introduction/Housekeeping/IT Overview
09.10: Chair’s Opening Remarks
09.20: Keynote Speaker
The Shift to a Digital Economy: Anton Ruddenklau, Head of Digital & Innovation – Financial Services, KPMG
KPMG have developed five viewpoints on the new reality we find ourselves in post COVID 19. One of those viewpoints developed by Anton Ruddenklau and his colleagues targets the acceleration of our digital economies across a number of factors (including payments, CBDC, data, Fintech and Cloud). This keynote pulls together a global perspective and will help delegates understand more about the impact of the forced changes on all of our lives in a faster shift to a Digital Economy.
09.45: Breakout Sessions (choose one)
- Breathing Space Update: The Insolvency Service project team (Victoria Page-Franklin, Sam Roberts, Grant Allan, and Ami Chandarana) will present a progress update on the implementation of statutory breathing space.
- National Money Adviser Network: An update on simplifying creditor referral routes into debt advice from Erica Helps of Money and Pensions Service and Nicola Topping of Sunderland City Council, who were involved in the pilot of the Money Adviser Network. The session will cover creditor representatives using the new referral mechanism, key findings from phase 1 of the pilot, and developments planned for Phase 2 and beyond.
- Deficit Budgets: Evidence from 3C’s shows increasing number of clients are presenting with deficit budgets, means they cannot even afford essential expenditure and priority debt repayments. This session, moderated by Anna Hall of Citizens Advice with Kevin Stewart of Mid Sussex Council and Alexandra Vermeulen of Citizens Advice, will delve into the impact of deficit budgets in relation to the client, the advice journey and also how creditors could better support this cohort of customers.
10.15: Networking / Comfort Break
10.25: Panel Debate – A gradual trickle or a sudden torrent – how will the expected increase in demand for debt advice play out?
With the number of people in need of debt advice expected to increase by over 60% in the next 18 months (Money and Pensions Service) as a result of Covid-19, how do we expect this to play out in terms of people identifying as needing help, there being sufficient availability and what are the challenges and opportunities this presents? Chaired by Craig Simmons of Money and Pensions Service and bringing together representatives from the debt advice and creditor sectors (Jane Tully of Money Advice Trust, Anna Round of IPPR, Vanessa Northam of StepChange, Eric Leenders of UK Finance, and Chris Leslie of the Credit Services Association) this panel session will discuss a range of topics.
11.25: Networking / Comfort Break
11.35: Breakout Sessions (choose one)
- Focusing on adviser wellbeing: Earlier this year, Money Advice Scotland published research that revealed worryingly low levels of wellbeing within the advice sector. Money Advice Scotland’s Niamh Brown and Abbey Fleming will present its findings, as well as introducing the new adviser wellbeing project.
- Building Financial Resilience to get ahead of the curve: Over 20 million of us don’t have the necessary skills to effectively manage our money and 11.5 million of us have less than £100 in savings. With predictions of widespread unemployment and an expected tsunami of people needing debt advice and support during the coming months and years, this session with Sarah Lambert of Policy in Practice will explore innovative new financial capability tools and approaches.
- Priority Debts – Are things about to change?: This session, with panellists Joe Surtees of Cabinet Office, David Magor of IRRV, and Alistair Chisholm of PayPlan, will tackle various questions including ‘Are Government/Local Authority practices really changing?’, ‘Should people go to jail for Government, Local Authority or TV Licence Debts?’, ‘If Priority debts weren’t priority debts how would they affect funding/local services?’.
12.05: Chair’s Closing Remarks
12.15: Close
