A Campaign for Citizen Outcomes, Saver Sovereignty and Human Agency Britain is repeatedly told that what is good for the financial sector is good for the country. More capital must be “unlocked.” More pension money must be directed towards productive investment. Regulation must become less burdensome. Consumers must become more comfortable with risk. The financial … Continue reading Finance Is Growing. But Are People?
Month: August 2026
The Salary Trap: What Is a Graduate Really Signing Up For in an AUM Advice Firm?
The Graduate Advice Trap: Your Salary, Their Assets, Someone Else’s Business A graduate enters financial services wanting to become a financial planner. They want to help people understand money, make better decisions and build a life around what matters. The industry offers them something apparently reassuring: A salary. Training. Professional qualifications. A career path. Perhaps, … Continue reading The Salary Trap: What Is a Graduate Really Signing Up For in an AUM Advice Firm?
Longer Lives Need Better Navigation — Not Longer Dependency
Where do you think helpful financial support crosses the line into dependency? We extended life. But we did not redesign financial planning around it. That is the central argument in Simon Chan’s recent article on how longer lives are changing what people need from financial advisers. It is an important argument, and much of it … Continue reading Longer Lives Need Better Navigation — Not Longer Dependency
When the Trusted Adviser Is Not the Adviser
You Checked the FCA Register. You Were Still Scammed. From Advice to Agency A message arrives on WhatsApp. The sender appears to be a regulated financial adviser. They use the adviser’s real name, photograph, FCA registration number and company details. They recommend an investment. They create urgency. They tell you where to transfer the money. … Continue reading When the Trusted Adviser Is Not the Adviser
The Story May Be True. The Narrative May Still Be Misleading.
[Based on The Career Change Newsletter from St James's Place, August 2026.] How the BIG Checker helps prospective recruits examine career success stories before making life-changing decisions At first glance, the story is inspirational. A young woman begins as a part-time administrator in a financial advice practice. She joins the St. James’s Place Financial Adviser … Continue reading The Story May Be True. The Narrative May Still Be Misleading.
Bitcoin Was Not Hacked. But That Does Not Mean the System Worked.
A balanced perspective for investors—and a warning to advisers being swept along by the “moonboy” narrative Bitcoin inspires unusually polarised thinking. To its strongest advocates, it is digital gold, an escape from monetary debasement and a decentralised alternative to a financial system they no longer trust. To its strongest critics, it is a speculative token … Continue reading Bitcoin Was Not Hacked. But That Does Not Mean the System Worked.
Same Expertise. Different Price.
Same Expertise. Different Price. The Academy of Life Planning has launched a new Cost Comparison Calculator to show what happens when the same level of professional expertise is priced in two very different ways. A Chartered Financial Planner can work in two fundamentally different models. As a conventional financial adviser, they may charge an ongoing … Continue reading Same Expertise. Different Price.
