The growing momentum behind calls for reform of the UK’s financial regulatory system reflects a shared and increasingly urgent concern: the framework designed to protect consumers is not consistently delivering on its promise. Recent discussions across parliamentary groups, industry forums, and advocacy bodies have rightly focused on questions of accountability, oversight, and enforcement. These are … Continue reading Beyond Regulation: Bringing Consumer Agency Upstream of Harm
Month: April 2026
2026: The Year Financial Planners Either Step Forward… or Step Aside
There are moments in an industry’s history where change is gradual.And then there are moments where it is sudden, structural, and irreversible. 2026 is the latter. If you are a financial planner who has not yet engaged with the Academy of Life Planning this year, this is not a criticism. It is a signal. Because … Continue reading 2026: The Year Financial Planners Either Step Forward… or Step Aside
Targeted Support and the Quiet Rewiring of Financial Advice
By Steve Conley | Academy of Life Planning There are moments in financial services where a regulatory shift appears incremental on the surface, yet signals something far more profound beneath. The FCA’s introduction of Targeted Support is one of those moments. With firms such as Quilter and Royal London already moving at pace, the industry … Continue reading Targeted Support and the Quiet Rewiring of Financial Advice
Optimism as Decision Capital: Why the Way We See the Future May Shape How Long We Can Live in It
There is a quiet shift taking place in the science of ageing. Not in pharmaceuticals.Not in genetics.But in something far less tangible — and far more accessible. A recent longitudinal study spanning the United States and Finland, tracking nearly 9,000 older adults over more than a decade, has added weight to an emerging idea: Those … Continue reading Optimism as Decision Capital: Why the Way We See the Future May Shape How Long We Can Live in It
Evidence vs Narrative Investing: What Vanguard’s latest move reveals about the future of financial advice
For decades, one firm stood apart. Not because it promised more. But because it promised less. Less cost.Less intervention.Less story. Vanguard was built on a simple, almost uncomfortable truth: The more you do, the more you tend to take.And the more you take, the less the investor keeps. At the heart of that philosophy was … Continue reading Evidence vs Narrative Investing: What Vanguard’s latest move reveals about the future of financial advice
When Trust Becomes the Weakness: Why Financial Advice Must Return Agency to the Client
A former financial adviser is jailed. £45,000 is taken from a vulnerable client. The regulator bans him—years after the damage is done. And the industry response is predictable: “A bad actor. An isolated case. The system worked.” But it didn’t. Because the real question is not who committed the fraud. It is this: Why was … Continue reading When Trust Becomes the Weakness: Why Financial Advice Must Return Agency to the Client
When the System Falls Silent: What Hunger Strikes Teach Us About Supporting Victims of Financial Exploitation
By Steve Conley – Get SAFE (Support After Financial Exploitation) There is a moment, rarely spoken about, that sits quietly at the edge of financial harm. It is not the moment of loss.Not the complaint.Not even the rejection. It is the moment when a person concludes: “There is nowhere left to turn.” From that point … Continue reading When the System Falls Silent: What Hunger Strikes Teach Us About Supporting Victims of Financial Exploitation
A Venture into the World of Decision Capital
“I can choose. I can choose well. I act on my choices.” There is a quiet assumption underpinning modern life. That if people are given enough information…enough access…enough choice… They will make good decisions. It is an assumption that sits beneath financial planning, public policy, education, and now—artificial intelligence. And yet, the evidence of lived … Continue reading A Venture into the World of Decision Capital
Human–AI Agency: The Missing Discipline in Total Wealth Planning
Why the future of financial planning will be defined not by AI capability… but by who retains control of the thinking. We Are Solving the Wrong Problem Most conversations about AI in financial planning are focused on one question: How do we use AI to improve advice? It sounds sensible. But it’s the wrong question. … Continue reading Human–AI Agency: The Missing Discipline in Total Wealth Planning
The Return of Agency: How AI Changes the Balance of Power in Financial Services
Last summer, the UK Supreme Court confirmed something many in the industry had long argued for: Credit brokers do not owe a fiduciary duty to their customers. For some, that was a legal clarification.For others, it was a line in the sand. Because stripped back to its essence, the ruling reinforced a simple reality: The … Continue reading The Return of Agency: How AI Changes the Balance of Power in Financial Services
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