When your CEO sits on the CityUK Leadership Council and co-authors the Mansion House Accord, what can you get away with?
Apparently, quite a lot.
If your firm’s fee-for-no-service scandal gets waved away by regulators more interested in growth than justice…
If your calls to deregulate are echoed by the Treasury while whistleblower complaints are ignored…
If your advisers can mislead clients without consequence while your brand receives glowing public endorsement from government-backed policy…
Then you can even be invited into schools to shape how children see the world of money.
That’s precisely what happened this month.
According to Money Marketing, St James’s Place (SJP)—the UK’s largest advice firm, no stranger to controversy—just ran what it claims is the UK’s “largest-ever financial adviser careers day.” With over 2,000 schoolchildren in virtual attendance, SJP was handed a platform to tell students in Years 10 to 13 that financial advice is a noble calling, and—unsurprisingly—that its own academy is the path to get there.
But who vetted this? The PSHE Association?
What safeguards were in place to ensure objectivity?
And how can we allow a firm with such an embedded conflict of interest—currently under public scrutiny—to be the one to shape our children’s financial worldview?
When Education Becomes Indoctrination
The wider context is critical. Financial education in UK schools is deeply under-resourced and unevenly delivered. Only 38% of children receive meaningful financial education, despite statutory requirements. Many schools rely on third-party providers—some altruistic, some branded, and some quietly promotional.
According to the House of Lords Library, the problem is not just what is taught, but who teaches it.
Financial firms, particularly those with vested commercial interests, are stepping in to fill the gap. But as the comprehensive “Financial Education in UK Schools” report notes, many of these programmes blur the line between education and marketing. SJP’s initiative, however slickly packaged, is just the latest example of this creeping influence.
You don’t have to promote a product to promote a worldview.
Teach students that “financial advice” is synonymous with selling investment products, and you steer them away from critical, independent thought. You prepare them to become brand ambassadors, not well-rounded citizens. You turn education into a pipeline.
A Captured State
This isn’t just about SJP. It’s about a system where power centralises into a handful of firms whose leaders sit on government advisory boards, write industry codes, and then benefit from the rules they helped design. It’s regulatory capture by stealth.
Under the Mansion House reforms, financial services firms were given the green light to “lead growth” in Britain. But growth for whom? Financialisation now extends into our schools. The very firms that have failed consumers are now shaping the next generation’s idea of what good looks like.
This is not empowerment. It’s indoctrination.
Where’s the Line?
There’s no issue with helping young people explore financial careers. But if a firm:
- was embroiled in a multi-million-pound mis-selling scandal,
- faces ongoing questions around conflicts of interest,
- and has a direct profit motive in recruiting young talent…
…should it really be leading education programmes in state schools?
Is this a level playing field? Would an independent planner, or a consumer advocacy group like ours, be given the same access to inspire students?
Or is this just another example of “one rule for SJP, another for everyone else”?
What Needs to Change
We need to urgently:
- Enforce structural independence in financial education delivery—no direct sales organisations should lead classroom content.
- Create national standards for careers education in financial services that distinguish between genuine advice and sales roles.
- Fund neutral, values-based programmes that promote critical thinking, life planning, and human capital—not just financial capital.
As I wrote in my earlier commentary, “Too often, financial education initiatives in schools are sponsored by market participants who have a vested interest in pushing products rather than life skills.”
See: Financial Education in Schools: Why the Law Must Change.
That’s not education. That’s brand grooming.
Final Word
If we’re serious about rebuilding trust in financial services, we must start by protecting the integrity of education. Until then, we’ll continue asking the question:
Who teaches your kids about money—and whose agenda do they serve?
Your Money or Your Life
Unmask the highway robbers – Enjoy wealth in every area of your life!
By Steve Conley. Available on Amazon. Visit www.steve.conley.co.uk to find out more.
Academy of Life Planning 