PIMFA Webinar: ROI from AI – Turning Investment into Measurable Impact
2025-12-11 11:00 - 12:00 (Europe/London) | https://www.pimfa.co.uk/event/airoi/
AI is everywhere — but measurable return on investment is what separates the early adopters from the real performers. This webinar, in partnership with Publicis Sapient, cuts through the hype to show where and how firms are capturing financial value from AI. We’ll explore what’s working, what isn’t, and how to build the governance and data foundations that allow innovation to scale sustainably.
What we’ll explore:

ROI in real terms: What good looks like — efficiency gains, margin expansion, revenue lift, and cost-to-serve reduction
From idea to income: How firms are moving from pilots and proofs-of-concept to live deployments that drive measurable results.
The business case for AI: Framing investments that resonate with boards, CFOs, and regulators.
Smart operations: How automation, predictive analytics, and GenAI tools are cutting process friction and elevating client experience.
Risk, governance and trust: Managing model risk, bias, and explainability while keeping the regulator onside.

Why attend?

Benchmark your AI investment and ROI maturity against peer firms.
Learn how to quantify productivity and growth impact — not just cost-savings.
Take away an AI ROI Framework to apply in your own firm.

PIMFA Webinar: UK Cyber Attacks: Lessons Learned in 2025 & What’s Coming Next in 2026
2026-01-20 11:00 - 12:00 | https://www.pimfa.co.uk/event/lessonslearnedincyber/
Cyber criminals don’t care if you’re a global retailer or a boutique wealth manager — if you hold sensitive client data, you’re a target. High-profile cyberattacks on household names like Co-op and Marks & Spencer have exposed just how quickly trusted brands can be brought to their knees. These incidents offer a stark warning for wealth managers: client trust is fragile, operational disruption is costly, and third-party risk can devastate even the strongest institutions.
But what does this mean for wealth managers in 2025 and beyond?
In this forward-looking session, PIMFA and cybersecurity specialists Mitigo will take you on a journey:

Look Back: The defining UK cyberattacks of the past 24 months — how they happened, what went wrong, and the common threads that wealth managers should recognise.
Look Forward: The evolving threat landscape — AI-driven phishing, deepfake-enabled fraud, insider threats, and supply chain attacks targeting financial firms.
Actionable Playbook: Practical steps to strengthen resilience, prepare your staff, and build a governance framework that can withstand both today’s and tomorrow’s attacks.

Why attend?

Benchmark your firm’s cyber readiness against real-world case studies.
Understand the next generation of cyber threats specific to Wealth and Advice firms.
Gain insight into regulator expectations around cyber governance, resilience, and reporting.
Walk away with a checklist and incident-response framework from Mitigo tailored to wealth managers.

The Annual M&A Breakfast: Looking Back at 2025 — Setting the Pace for 2026
2026-01-21 08:15 - 10:30 | Farrer & Co, 55- 56 Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, WC2A 3LJ
As firms prepare for 2026, this invitation-only PIMFA M&A Breakfast — headline sponsored by SEI and supported by contributing sponsors Square 4 , Farrer & Co and Grant Thorton— brings together senior executives from both acquiring and selling firms to reflect on lessons from the past year and explore the emerging deal drivers, risks, and opportunities, with the FCA’s Laura Dawes joining us to unpack the regulator’s Consolidation Review findings, shaping the next wave of consolidation.
Over breakfast at Farrer & Co, we’ll:

Engage with the FCA on their Consolidation Review findings.
Review 2025 — what really drove deal flow, valuations, and integration outcomes.
Assess the outlook for 2026 — pipeline health, financing conditions, diligence hot-spots, culture and people risks, and the FCA’s supervisory focus areas.
Consider what acquirers will pay for — and what they will walk away from — in the year ahead

Please note: this is an invitation-only event. PIMFA reserves the right to politely decline registrations from individuals who do not meet the intended seniority or role criteria for this event.

PIMFA Learning: The SMF Regulatory Briefing Programme 2026 - All You Need to Know About Everything That Matters Most
2026-01-22 - 2026-12-10
What the FCA expects from Senior Managers
The FCA takes the competence of your Senior Managers very seriously. Upon applying to become an SMF, the FCA expects an individual to demonstrate a high level of skill and knowledge to carry out the role, supporting their application by completing a skills gap analysis, learning and development plan, and competency assessment.
Remaining Fit and Proper
But the regulator’s scrutiny of an SMF doesn’t stop at the application stage. The FCA expects your firm to ensure that your SMF holders continue to possess the requisite skills, particularly concerning the latest regulatory developments. Annual fit and proper assessments, mandated by the regulator and conducted by your firm, are not a ‘tick box’ exercise requiring you instead to carefully assess whether your senior managers are competent in performing their roles.
The solution
PIMFA’s 12-month ‘SMF Regulatory Briefing Programme’ supports SMF holders in learning everything they need to know about the issues that matter most to them. It also prepares prospective SMF holders for the highest level of leadership. The programme consists of a series of live, monthly, online one-hour sessions on critical compliance, risk and financial crime challenges, enabling SMFs to:

Keep up to date with the latest regulatory trends and initiatives
Demonstrate their commitment to regulatory proficiency
Access the training at a convenient time, through our on-demand learning platform
Document CPD activity as required

Highlights and key outcomes
By enrolling on ‘The SMF Regulatory Briefing Programme 2026’, SMFs will be able to:

Evidence to the FCA their in-role competency and capability required under SMCR.
Rapidly assess the firm’s compliance exposure and vulnerabilities.
Get ahead and make sense of a broad, complex, and ever-evolving regulatory and compliance landscape.
Set priorities to develop a proactive regulatory change management programme.
Lead your firm on how best to mitigate risks, create a firm-wide compliance culture, make sound decisions, and build resilience across the business.
Improve their strategic thinking and ability to respond to regulatory change effectively.
Explore with peers the latest research and best practices for managing risk to safeguard enterprise value.

Session format
Each session includes a mix of expert-led presentations, real-world case studies and small group discussions.
Programme topics and schedule
Through 12 sessions, SMFs develop the knowledge and insights on the latest regulatory changes and compliance challenges required to protect their firm’s assets, reputation, and competitive advantage.
Format: 12 x 1-hour monthly sessions
Delivery: Live, expert-led online learning sessions
Start date: 22nd January 2026 – 10th December 2026
Duration: 12 months

PIMFA Webinar: AI: How Not to Get Left Behind
2026-01-22 14:00 - 15:00 | https://us06web.zoom.us/j/84338928689
By early 2026, AI has moved far beyond experimentation. It is now actively reshaping how wealth firms operate, make decisions, serve clients, and manage risk. Some firms are already realising measurable value. Others are drifting dangerously behind.
This webinar is designed as a wake-up call for PIMFA member firms.
In this free 60-minute briefing, we’ll cut through the noise and focus on what matters most right now:

The hard risks of inaction: What “falling behind” now looks like — slower processes, higher costs, weak data foundations, governance gaps, and competitors accelerating ahead.
Real examples from real firms: How wealth managers, platforms, and advice firms are already deploying AI to improve efficiency, strengthen controls, enhance client journeys, and reduce operational burden.
A pragmatic roadmap for 2026: Where to start, what to prioritise, and how to build a safe, scalable and commercially grounded AI adoption plan.
What’s coming next from PIMFA: A short introduction to PIMFA’s new AI learning programme for senior leaders.

Whether you’re AI-curious, cautious, or already experimenting, this session will sharpen your understanding of what’s possible and what’s at stake as we enter the next phase of AI adoption in wealth management.

The AI Leaders Incubator Programme 2026
2026-02-26 09:00 - 2026-02-27 12:00 | Publicis Sapient, 63 Turnmill Street, London, EC1M 5NP, United Kingdom
2023 woke us up to AI.
2024 got us experimenting with AI.
2025 proved what’s possible.
2026 is when wealth managers scale AI with discipline, confidence and measurable ROI.
Across wealth management, boards are united by a singular ambition: to deliver sustainable, substantially higher performance across every dimension of the business. And that must happen within the boundaries of:

Legal and regulatory expectations
Ethical and responsible deployment
Credible stewardship for clients and markets

In this new operating reality, AI is not a technology choice — it is a strategic imperative. A catalyst to unlock productivity, elevate client service, accelerate compliance accuracy, and build future-proof operating models.
Yet many wealth and advice firms remain stuck in pilot mode: high activity — low impact.
That’s why PIMFA and Publicis Sapient have joined forces as partners to create the AI Leaders Incubator Programme, combining PIMFA’s reach across the UK wealth and advice sector with Publicis Sapient’s real-world transformation and AI delivery expertise. Together, we’ve co-designed the curriculum, bringing practitioner insight, live case studies, and frameworks drawn from projects already shaping digital transformation in wealth management.”
What can you expect from the AI Leaders Incubator Programme?
The AI Leaders Incubator is a focused, hands-on learning experience delivered across two highly immersive days. You’ll cut through the hype and tackle the core strategic questions facing boards today: Where does AI genuinely move the needle? How do we scale it responsibly? And how do we deliver measurable, sustainable performance gains within a regulated environment?
This is not a conference.
There are no panels, no passive sessions, no “AI tourism.”
It is a strategic design environment where leaders work alongside AI practitioners and transformation experts to:

Turn industry-relevant AI use cases into real prototypes
Build credible business cases with measurable ROI and compliance considerations
Design governance frameworks that satisfy regulatory expectations
Develop the confidence, capability, and narrative to lead AI adoption at scale

Through live experimentation, design thinking, guided hacks, and board-ready business case work, you’ll graduate with:

A validated AI use-case and working prototype
A board-ready business case & ROI model
A practical 30-day implementation roadmap
The confidence and competence to champion responsible AI across your firm

This programme exists to solve the industry’s current friction point: most firms are experimenting with AI — but few are delivering impact at scale. The Incubator gives you the frameworks, tools, and executive confidence to change that — turning intent into traction, and traction into transformational performance.
What challenges will the AI Leaders Incubator support you in overcoming?

Tightening Margins? Learn to Automate What Matters. Discover how AI can streamline manual processes, reduce inefficiency, and free up capacity for high-value client work — turning cost pressure into productivity gains.
Rising Client Expectations? Redefine Personalisation at Scale. Build and test AI use-cases that deliver smarter insights, hyper-personalised experiences, and faster decision-making — giving your firm a competitive edge in client trust and satisfaction.
Regulatory Complexity? Design with Compliance in Mind. Translate complex FCA expectations into AI-ready frameworks that embed accountability, explainability, and governance into every workflow — before the regulator asks.
Outdated Playbooks? Reimagine How Your Firm Operates. Break free from siloed business models. Collaborate across functions to design AI solutions that connect compliance, operations, and client experience into one intelligent ecosystem.
Manual Processes? Make AI Your New Colleague. Move beyond “pilot paralysis.” In this incubator, you’ll test, refine, and deploy AI tools that turn repetitive tasks into automated intelligence — built responsibly, for real impact.
Choosing the Right AI Strategy? Build for Your Reality.
Learn how to align AI ambition with your firm’s size, data maturity, and risk appetite — selecting scalable use-cases that deliver measurable, defensible results.
Prove the Business Case. Gain the tools to track, quantify, and communicate AI’s impact — from cost savings to client experience — and translate innovation into tangible returns.

The AI Leaders Incubator does more than teach AI — it accelerates intelligent transformation. Here’s how:

Elite practitioner mentorship – Work shoulder-to-shoulder with AI strategists who have already delivered real solutions — not theory.
Build in the arena – Roll up your sleeves in live labs to design, test, and refine AI workflows and decision-support tools tailored to wealth and advice.
Real frameworks, real outcomes – Adopt proven playbooks to spot high-value use cases, manage risk and accountability under UK regulation, and measure commercial ROI from day one.
A peer group that pushes you further – Join an action-oriented cohort of COOs, CTOs, transformation leads, and compliance heads shaping the next decade of wealth management.
Demo Day — with purpose – Pitch your prototype or live AI use-case to peers, partners, and stakeholders — secure adoption pathways, budget confidence, and executive buy-in.

Who’s the AI Leaders Incubator for?
You’re a senior leader — not a coder. No background in IT or data science required. You’re the decision-maker in your firm, shaping digital strategy, driving innovation, and making the big calls on investment, risk, and transformation. You’re ready to turn data and AI into your next competitive advantage. The AI Leaders Incubator is built for senior executives who want to move beyond experimentation and make AI real — embedding it into operations, culture, and strategy to deliver measurable business results.
Enrolment
Enrolment is now open for cohort one of the AI Leaders Incubator. Places are limited and are offered on a first-come, first-served basis.
Still have questions?
Please contact:
Philip Allen, Head of Learning
learning@pimfa.co.uk

AI for Wealth Management: From Curiosity to Confidence
2028-09-28 08:00 - 17:00
AI is reshaping wealth management, but many advice firms are stuck at the exploration stage. This one-day in-house training course prepares your leaders, managers, and team members to transition from curiosity to confident adoption, providing practical insights into how AI supports client service, compliance, operations, and investment advice.
Our expert trainer Richard Preece demystifies AI, focusing on real-world use cases from UK advice firms, regulatory implications, and the leadership mindsets required for successful adoption. Whether you’re a senior manager shaping digital strategy or a compliance officer navigating new risks, you’ll gain the insight and language needed to lead informed conversations about AI in your firm.
Course Information:
Delivered in-house, this course is fully flexible to your preferred date and location.
Duration: One Day (9:30am – 4:30pm)
Format: In-person or virtual delivery course that’s tailored to your specific needs
Target Audience: CEOs, Partners, COOs, Investment Managers, Heads of Compliance, and Client Service Directors who want to explore AI confidently and responsibly.
Max # of participants: 15
Fee: Available on request
Enquiries: To find out more about this in house course contact learning@pimfa.co.uk
