When Reputation Masquerades as Reform: The SJP “Evidence-Based” Illusion

By Steve Conley, Academy of Life Planning, Author of "Your Money or Your Life: Unmask the highway robbers - enjoy wealth in every area of your life."12 November 2025 When Britain’s largest wealth manager, St. James’s Place (SJP), says it’s moving toward evidence-based investing, the financial press applauds.When Robin Powell — one of the UK’s … Continue reading When Reputation Masquerades as Reform: The SJP “Evidence-Based” Illusion →

When “Alpha” Broke the Bank

In 2007, I was Head of Savings and Investments Strategy at RBS Group, based in the gleaming Gogarburn headquarters that symbolised the bank’s soaring ambition. I had just completed a five-year strategic plan designed to position RBS as a sustainable market leader — one that could combine profitability with prudence, and growth with genuine customer … Continue reading When “Alpha” Broke the Bank →

Compensation Is Not a Gift — It’s Restitution

When a bank takes money that does not belong to it, returning that money is not generosity. It is justice. Compensation is simply giving back to consumers what was taken — no more, no less. Yet every time the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) dares to enforce redress, the same chorus rises from the banking sector: … Continue reading Compensation Is Not a Gift — It’s Restitution →

From Victim Silence to Structural Trust: A Message to Financial Planners

I’m often told my framing of financial planners as either exploiting or empowering is too binary — and I understand why that can offend. It’s not meant to. If you’ve ever felt accused by my words, please know this: my frustration isn’t directed at you. It’s born from the voices I hear daily — people … Continue reading From Victim Silence to Structural Trust: A Message to Financial Planners →

🌍 The Human Capital Multiplier: What Economists Now Confirm About Wealth and Well-being

A recent study by Andrés Erosa, Tatyana Koreshkova, and Diego Restuccia — “How Important Is Human Capital? A Quantitative Theory Assessment of World Income Inequality” — offers a powerful confirmation of what we at the Academy of Life Planning have been teaching for years: human capital is the true source of sustainable wealth. While traditional … Continue reading 🌍 The Human Capital Multiplier: What Economists Now Confirm About Wealth and Well-being →

Why Tax Uncertainty is Really a Trust Crisis

By Steve Conley, Academy of Life Planning Trust precedes trade. Without it, economies stall, investors hesitate, and citizens lose confidence in the future. The latest survey from Quilter confirms what many already feel in their bones: nearly eight in ten people say tax uncertainty is affecting their financial planning. But what’s really going on here … Continue reading Why Tax Uncertainty is Really a Trust Crisis →

🧭 Auto-Enrolment’s Hidden Crisis: 10 Million Dormant Pots and the Price of Passive Saving

By Steve Conley, Academy of Life Planning “When systems are built on inertia, they collapse under disengagement.” New data released under a Freedom of Information request has revealed a shocking truth:Less than one-third of Nest’s 13.7 million members are paying into their pensions.That means nearly 10 million workers—almost half the UK workforce—have abandoned their pension … Continue reading 🧭 Auto-Enrolment’s Hidden Crisis: 10 Million Dormant Pots and the Price of Passive Saving →

The Day the Banks Chose Extraction Over Trust

It was 2011.I was Head of Investments at HSBC and Chair of the British Bancassurance Association’s Steering Group in the run-up to the Retail Distribution Review. I remember sitting in those meetings, confused about why the Sales Director always accompanied me. He never said a word. At the time, I thought it was simply political … Continue reading The Day the Banks Chose Extraction Over Trust →

Trust Delivers Growth — Growth Doesn’t Deliver Trust

By Steve ConleyFounder, Academy of Life Planning & Get SAFETransparency Task Force Advisory Group Member When Britain’s regulators talk about “balancing” growth with consumer protection, they reveal that they’ve misunderstood the order of cause and effect. It is trust that delivers growth — not the other way around. No economy, no company, no nation can … Continue reading Trust Delivers Growth — Growth Doesn’t Deliver Trust →

The Cost of Capital: Britain’s Hidden Economic Pressure Point

Over the past five years, Britain’s weighted average cost of capital (WACC) — the average rate of return businesses must offer to attract debt and equity — has quietly surged from around 5% to over 8%, and could rise to 10% or more under a full-scale deregulation agenda. This shift matters far more than most … Continue reading The Cost of Capital: Britain’s Hidden Economic Pressure Point →