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
Tag: business
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
🧭 Products and Services Must Be Structurally Trustworthy
Empowerment starts with trust — not just training. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is right to highlight the “understanding gap” under the Consumer Duty. Speaking at the Fair4All Finance Delivering Financial Inclusion Together Conference, chief executive Nikhil Rathi said widening access to financial services without improving understanding risks “points of vulnerability where small decisions carry … Continue reading 🧭 Products and Services Must Be Structurally Trustworthy
🌌 The Six Invisible Laws Every Holistic Wealth Planner Should Know
— How to work with energy, ethics, and timing in the Aquarian Age of Empowerment In the world of holistic wealth planning, numbers and strategies matter — but energy, intention, and alignment matter more. The best planners don’t just design financial blueprints; they harmonise with deeper laws that govern all creation. These laws are not … Continue reading 🌌 The Six Invisible Laws Every Holistic Wealth Planner Should Know
🔹 The Age of Empowerment: How AI Is Liberating Financial Planning
Over half of UK adults are no longer waiting for the financial industry to “look after them.” They’re taking matters into their own hands — and turning to AI tools like ChatGPT to help manage money, research investments, and even make sense of pensions and debt. According to new research from Lloyds Banking Group, 56% … Continue reading 🔹 The Age of Empowerment: How AI Is Liberating Financial Planning
💣 The Leverage Trap: Why Advice Consolidation Is the Next Financial Stability Risk
Replacing Extraction with Empowerment — Restoring Truth, Trust & Freedom in FinanceBy Steve Conley, Founder of the Academy of Life Planning (AoLP) & Get SAFE The Financial Conduct Authority has just sounded another quiet alarm. In a review published on 31 October 2025, the FCA warned that mounting debt, weak governance, and conflicted incentives within … Continue reading 💣 The Leverage Trap: Why Advice Consolidation Is the Next Financial Stability Risk
🌍 Meaning Is the New Currency of Recruitment
When Purpose Becomes the Bait There was a time when financial advice was sold as a career of prestige, profit, and professionalism. But not anymore. The new recruitment language of our industry has changed — and it tells us something profound about where society is heading. Last week, St. James’s Place — the UK’s largest … Continue reading 🌍 Meaning Is the New Currency of Recruitment
The Battle for Trust: Why St. James’s Place Can’t Own What It Doesn’t Build
St. James’s Place has just declared itself “the clear home of trusted financial advice in the UK.”With record gross inflows of £5.7 billion and total funds under management surpassing £212 billion, few would dispute its financial strength. But we must ask a deeper question: does financial success equate to trust? At the Academy of Life … Continue reading The Battle for Trust: Why St. James’s Place Can’t Own What It Doesn’t Build
The End of the Industrial Adviser Model: What the Vanguard Study Really Shows
A new study from Vanguard has revealed a quiet revolution underway in financial advice — and most advisers don’t even see it coming. Almost half of clients surveyed said they would like to meet their financial adviser more than once a year. On the surface, this might look like a call for better service. In … Continue reading The End of the Industrial Adviser Model: What the Vanguard Study Really Shows
Holistic Wealth Planners in the Age of Agentic AI: How to Lead with Wisdom When Machines Can Think
As AI gains agency, the role of the planner shifts from expert to orchestrator — from authority to conscience. Introduction Artificial intelligence is evolving faster than any technology in living memory. The latest frontier—agentic AI—can not only generate ideas but act upon them, executing complex, multistep tasks once thought uniquely human. For CEOs, this shift … Continue reading Holistic Wealth Planners in the Age of Agentic AI: How to Lead with Wisdom When Machines Can Think
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