Local IFA voices, network-wide impact: How regional conversations inform our Annual Member Event

By Mark Arthurs, Network Development Manager

I was recently lucky enough to attend ValidPath’s Annual Member Event at The Dorchester in London. It’s hard to think of many things that demonstrate the value of the network more clearly. The day brought IFAs together from across the country to learn from technology expert speakers, share their ideas, compare their experiences, and celebrate the strength of our community. 

In order to plan the event, ValidPath listens closely to its Members throughout the year. There are multiple touchpoints that help to inform the agenda, including ongoing conversations with our support teams, pulse surveys, and, crucially, through the conversations that take place at our regional Member Events. 

These smaller, discussion-led meetups help uncover many of the insights and priorities that shape the day’s priorities. They reveal what our Members are experiencing day-to-day in their businesses and communities. This year, the connection between these local discussions and our national agenda was clearer than ever.

Smaller discussions reveal big themes.

ValidPath’s regional Member Events take place across the UK and are intentionally designed around small, focused discussion groups. With around 20 advisers in each session, the format encourages honest conversation and practical sharing. 

Larger events can rarely go into the same level of specificity – indeed, that’s not what they’re designed to do. But in these smaller rooms, Members can share practical tips about what is working in their businesses, exchange direct approaches to some of the challenges they’re facing, and discuss ideas around enhancing the ValidPath proposition.

That qualitative information is invaluable. Across our regional events this year, two themes arose.

The first was how important developing strong, repeatable processes is for IFAs. At multiple regional events, advisers shared how they structured their annual reviews, created consistent workflows and developed better system knowledge to make a meaningful difference to their businesses. Members offered practical examples to each other, including how integrated tools such as CashCalc and Xplan can make annual review preparation more efficient and create a smoother client experience.

The second recurring theme was questions about the growing role of AI in financial advice. Many advisers shared that they have already adopted AI note-taking to stay fully engaged in client meetings, while others wanted to know more about how AI can support their advice process in a way that is compliant, safe and genuinely helpful.

Creating a cycle of learning.

Over the course of the year, it became clear that both of these topics discussed at the regional events were connected. Advisers are looking to build modern, efficient practices that use technology intelligently while keeping client relationships at the centre. These conversations became the foundation of the theme for our Annual Member Event: The Modern Practice: Technology Enabled. Human-Led.

Rather than an isolated one-day event, the Annual Member Event became the culmination of months of listening and learning. This connection helps to create a continuous cycle of learning across the network. Local discussions shape the national agenda, and the ideas shared at the Annual Event return to regional conversations where advisers explore them further and apply them within their own firms. 

Looking forward to 2026.

As the regional programme expands in 2026, even more Members will have the opportunity to contribute to this shared learning. The insight gathered in those rooms will continue to shape our support, our priorities and the direction of future events. When local IFA voices guide the biggest conversations in our calendar, we build a stronger, more connected and more forward-looking network – one that is better equipped to help advisers thrive and deliver outstanding outcomes for their clients in a rapidly changing landscape.

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