How offshore insurers and private equity giants are turning retirement security into a global arbitrage game “Risk transfer” has become the pension industry’s favourite euphemism. But when £500 billion in UK retirement promises is being quietly funnelled to Bermuda-based shell structures owned by global financiers, we must ask: what’s really being transferred — and who … Continue reading 💣 The Bermuda Backdoor: Where Your Pension Goes to Vanish
Month: July 2025
Fast-Tracked Finance: Growth for the City, Risk for the People
"Accountability slows us down," says no one acting in the public interest. On Tuesday 15th July, Chancellor Rachel Reeves is expected to announce sweeping changes to the UK’s Senior Managers & Certification Regime (SM&CR) — a core safeguard introduced after the 2008 financial crisis to ensure accountability at the top of financial institutions. The message … Continue reading Fast-Tracked Finance: Growth for the City, Risk for the People
🔓 The New Age and the Return of the Silenced Voice: Freedom of Speech in a Time of Transition
“The shadow thrashes loudest just before the dawn.” As we cross the threshold from the Piscean to the Aquarian age, humanity finds itself caught in a paradox. A time when technologies promise decentralised expression, yet voices are increasingly policed—not just by law, but by mobs, algorithms, and ideologies. The freedom to speak one’s truth, long … Continue reading 🔓 The New Age and the Return of the Silenced Voice: Freedom of Speech in a Time of Transition
🌍 From Conformity to Consciousness: Voices Guiding the Aquarian Age
“The Piscean age was about belief—following external authority. The Aquarian age is about knowing—awakening inner truth and collective wisdom.” We are living through an age shift. Not simply economic or political—but conscious. The old world of hierarchy, gatekeeping, and external control is dissolving. In its place, something new is rising: a decentralised, community-rooted era where … Continue reading 🌍 From Conformity to Consciousness: Voices Guiding the Aquarian Age
🕴️ Who Is Sir Humphrey?
Exposing the Invisible Hand That Keeps the Status Quo in Place “Minister, the ship of state is the only ship that leaks from the top.”—Sir Humphrey Appleby, Yes Minister In the battle for financial reform, it’s not always the elected officials who block change—it’s the quiet, well-dressed figures in the background. The ones who never … Continue reading 🕴️ Who Is Sir Humphrey?
🌍 Awakening the Aquarian Age: A Strategy to Transform the System from the Ground Up
“You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the old one obsolete.” — Buckminster Fuller We are entering a new era—one defined not by hierarchy and control, but by decentralisation, transparency, and collective empowerment. The Academy of Life Planning, alongside Get SAFE and the M-POWER … Continue reading 🌍 Awakening the Aquarian Age: A Strategy to Transform the System from the Ground Up
🌍 Why ISO 22222 Backs the Aquarian Shift in Financial Planning
Does Finance Fulfil Purpose? Part 2: How international standards support client-led, purpose-driven advice models In the Age of Aquarius, we are witnessing a profound shift in how financial planning is delivered—and more importantly, who holds the power. At the Academy of Life Planning, we champion a model where the client, not the planner, retains full … Continue reading 🌍 Why ISO 22222 Backs the Aquarian Shift in Financial Planning
🌊 “The river does not argue with the rock. It flows around it—and wears it away.”
🌌 How Does the Age Shift Itself? The shift from the Age of Pisces (hierarchy, control, secrecy) to the Age of Aquarius (network, autonomy, transparency) is not orchestrated by the old guard, nor handed over by the gatekeepers of power. It happens through emergence. Like a tide turning, the age shifts itself by rising within … Continue reading 🌊 “The river does not argue with the rock. It flows around it—and wears it away.”
Anti-Money Laundering: Why Monzo? Why Not the Isle of Man?
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” — Edmund Burke This week, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) handed Monzo a £21 million fine for systematic failures in its anti-money laundering (AML) controls. The neobank allegedly allowed customers to open accounts using blatantly fraudulent addresses—including Buckingham Palace … Continue reading Anti-Money Laundering: Why Monzo? Why Not the Isle of Man?
💡 Does Finance Fulfil Purpose?
A Proposal for the New Age “The purpose of a ‘great company’ gives it a reason for being, defining its contribution to society.”— Pitt-Watson & Mann, Does Finance Fulfil Purpose? In their thoughtful report, David Pitt-Watson and Dr Hari Mann ask a foundational question that most in the industry still avoid:Does finance fulfil its purpose? … Continue reading 💡 Does Finance Fulfil Purpose?
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