Trust, Curiosity and Optimism in the Age of AI

The qualities that help leaders reimagine institutions can also prevent them from seeing what their institutions have become Trust, curiosity and optimism sound like exactly the qualities leaders need in the age of AI. Charlie Nunn, chief executive of Lloyds Banking Group, recently discussed all three in a McKinsey interview about institutional longevity, technological change … Continue reading Trust, Curiosity and Optimism in the Age of AI →

Institutions May Divide the Case Between Themselves. Academy OS Gives the Individual a Complete View of the System.

A scam rarely happens in one place. A fraudulent advert may appear on Facebook. The conversation moves to WhatsApp. A convincing phone call follows. Money leaves a bank account, passes through another institution and eventually reaches a cryptocurrency platform. The criminal sees the entire journey. Each institution sees only its own part. And the victim … Continue reading Institutions May Divide the Case Between Themselves. Academy OS Gives the Individual a Complete View of the System. →

Before asking whether AI gives the wrong financial advice, we should ask whether the industry has been measuring the right kind of wealth

A striking headline appeared in Financial Reporter: “AI models give wrong financial advice 57% of the time.” The claim came from research commissioned by financial technology company Saturn. It reportedly tested 18 AI models using 121 financial questions, repeated five times, producing more than 10,000 responses. Across those responses, 57% were classified as wrong. On … Continue reading Before asking whether AI gives the wrong financial advice, we should ask whether the industry has been measuring the right kind of wealth →

How to Stop Making Scams So Easy

In response to the collapse of Woodville Consultants and a challenge from The Times, we have updated Investigator™—because government should close the loophole, but people need protection while it remains open A form is placed in front of an investor. It asks them to confirm that they are “high net worth” or a “sophisticated investor”. … Continue reading How to Stop Making Scams So Easy →

When Fake Pharmacies Look Real, “Does This Look Professional?” Is the Wrong Question

Check before the sales journey becomes a medical decision Today, The Times reports that British regulators are playing “whack-a-mole” against organised criminals selling counterfeit weight-loss medicines through fake online pharmacies. According to the investigation, UK consumers accessed around 5,000 suspected fake-pharmacy websites during 2025. Regulators have disrupted more than 1,500 illegal sites, but new ones … Continue reading When Fake Pharmacies Look Real, “Does This Look Professional?” Is the Wrong Question →

The Man in the Suit Was Me. But He Is Not Me Now.

Why Total Wealth Planner now reflects the person—and the proposition—you can experience today For years, the Total Wealth Planner website featured a photograph of me in a suit. I looked younger. Successful. Confident. Prosperous. It was a professional photograph of the sort commonly used throughout financial services. It conveyed experience, authority and achievement. The photograph … Continue reading The Man in the Suit Was Me. But He Is Not Me Now. →

BIG Checker™ Has Grown Beyond Money

BIG Checker™ Has Grown Beyond Money The agency-preserving claim checker for wealth, health and everything in between Most misleading communications do not begin with a lie. They begin with something true. A scientific finding. A regulatory approval. A manufacturing certificate. A respected institution. A real risk. A genuine human fear. Then, somewhere between the evidence … Continue reading BIG Checker™ Has Grown Beyond Money →

The Establishment Is Defended. The Market Keeps Moving. The Profession Is Left Looking Backwards.

A professional body may believe it is protecting financial planning by excluding challenges to the established model. It may actually be protecting its members from the very ideas they most need to hear. I was scrolling through the programme for this year’s Festival of Financial Planning when the pattern became difficult to ignore. There were … Continue reading The Establishment Is Defended. The Market Keeps Moving. The Profession Is Left Looking Backwards. →

When Human Agency Looks Like Sales Resistance

Why the “DIY client” may be the future of financial planning, not a prospect to defeat I recently read a sales article about how advisers should handle people who prefer to manage their own finances. It described the “DIY prospect” as a battle. Advisers were told to weed such people out before they wasted time, … Continue reading When Human Agency Looks Like Sales Resistance →

When a Professional Body No Longer Recognises the Profession

The Personal Finance Society is losing members. Is retirement really the whole explanation—or is it suffering from a growing relevance deficit? The Personal Finance Society has lost almost 2,000 members in a year. According to its 2025 Annual Report, membership fell from 38,703 to 36,807—a decline of 4.9%. Membership revenue fell from £7.66 million to … Continue reading When a Professional Body No Longer Recognises the Profession →