What we've been up to
October was a busy one in the studio and on the page - four new episodes of Challenge the Standard and a hat-trick of IFA features from Nathan. Here's the roundup.
🎙️ Our podcasts
Challenge the Standard
The podcast for advisers, by advisers. This month's ranting and raving took on AI, client portals and portfolio ethics - and the good news is CPD points are back:
AI v VA - We look at the growing role AI is playing in adviser businesses, and why it feels a lot like the rush to hire virtual assistants in the mid-2010s.
The Single AR Challenge Video - We dust off a video Nathan released a few years back about where the single AR market was heading, and see how his predictions have held up.
Client Portals - What client portals are, why advice firms have them, who actually wants them and who really benefits (with a detour or two along the way).
Ethics of Portfolios - The ethical questions advisers face around investment portfolios, from respecting the portfolio a DIY client has built to the gap between what clients want and what they need.
📰 In the Media
Nathan
Marketing and flags: Values as another layer to niching - IFA, 5 October 2026. Nathan explains why niching is about more than the services you offer, with your values and the people you like working with shaping who you attract.
The generosity trap: How chronic undercharging hurts clients - IFA, 16 October 2026. Nathan makes the case for advisers valuing their services properly, and warns that regular undercharging is a fast track to burnout.
Advisers need to communicate the quiet benefits of advice - IFA, 20 October 2026. With cost of living still biting, Nathan shares why advisers need to get better at explaining the less tangible value of their advice.
Ask an Adviser: Can Michael, 52, and Sarah, 55, afford to wind back before 60? - Livewire, 12 October 2026. Nathan was asked: with $1.2m in super, $1.1m in inherited shares and a $600k reno on the table, what should you actually do first?
✍️ Our recent articles
From our brains to yours:
Jordan
Divorce is a financial risk, not just a legal event - Jordan makes the case for advisers treating relationship breakdown as a financial risk worth planning for, from keeping both partners across the family finances to helping keep conflict low if separation happens.
If an episode or article here might help someone you know, we'd love it if you shared it with them.
You might also like to check out our How We Help page, where we outline all the ways we can help you help your clients.
Until next month,
Nathan & Jordan