By Steve Conley In 2009, a quietly radical idea was proposed in the pages of a private investor magazine. It did not call for revolution.It did not reject the financial system.It simply asked a very reasonable question: What if fund managers were only paid when they genuinely outperformed? The proposal—known as the Active Management Partnership … Continue reading Active Management Partnership (AMP): The Idea That Almost Fixed the System—But Didn’t Go Far Enough
Tag: investment
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
Human Capital Is Not a Side Note — It Is the Plan
The industry still treats human capital as background noise.The evidence shows it is the signal. For decades, financial planning has been built on a narrow premise:optimise financial capital, and outcomes will follow. But the data tells a different story. The study provides a clear, empirical foundation for what Total Wealth Planners already intuitively understand: Economic … Continue reading Human Capital Is Not a Side Note — It Is the Plan
Why Human Capital Must Sit at the Heart of Future Financial Plans
For decades, financial planning has focused almost entirely on financial capital. Savings.Investments.Portfolios.Tax wrappers. But there is a deeper asset sitting quietly behind every financial plan. An asset that often dwarfs the portfolio in value. That asset is human capital. And in the age of AI, demographic change, and longer working lives, financial planners who fail … Continue reading Why Human Capital Must Sit at the Heart of Future Financial Plans
Why Structured Product Scandals Keep Repeating Every 10–15 Years
And What Total Wealth Planners Must Learn From the Pattern Financial history has a rhythm. Roughly every decade or so, a scandal emerges involving complex structured investment products. Markets are shocked, regulators respond, and investors ask the same question: “How did this happen again?” Yet the truth is uncomfortable. These scandals are not anomalies.They are … Continue reading Why Structured Product Scandals Keep Repeating Every 10–15 Years
When Financial Capital Becomes Self-Directed: Why Planners Must Understand Human Capital Now
The shift won’t be dramatic. It will be administrative. A client logs into a provider portal.Submits a change-of-agency request.Appoints themselves. No confrontation.No complaint.Just quiet disintermediation. If that scenario feels distant, the research on human capital suggests it isn’t. The Evidence Is Clear: Human Capital Drives Long-Term Growth Across decades of economic research, one finding is … Continue reading When Financial Capital Becomes Self-Directed: Why Planners Must Understand Human Capital Now
Bitcoin Improves the Efficient Frontier Historically — But Not Reliably or Durably
By Steve Conley, Founder of the Academy of Life Planning “In markets, as in life, what works in hindsight rarely works forever.” For seventy years, Modern Portfolio Theory (MPT) has defined how we think about diversification. It tells us that by combining assets with different volatilities and correlations, we can create an efficient frontier — … Continue reading Bitcoin Improves the Efficient Frontier Historically — But Not Reliably or Durably
When the Enablers Eat Their Own: True Potential vs St James’s Place
The latest story out of the advice industry tells us everything we need to know about how the system really works. It’s not about clients. It’s about the enablers cutting deals among themselves—each side trying to see who can extract the most from the people they claim to serve. Citywire reports that True Potential is … Continue reading When the Enablers Eat Their Own: True Potential vs St James’s Place
DIY Investors: Stop Listening to Moon Boys
All you DIY investors — it’s time to stop listening to the “moon boys” on TikTok and YouTube promising overnight riches. I might be a so-called TradFi Boomer, but I agree with the FCA on this one: keep it boring. Wealth is not created by gambling on the latest get-rich-quick scheme. Wealth is created, then … Continue reading DIY Investors: Stop Listening to Moon Boys
£10 Trillion in The City — But How Much in Your Pocket?
The Investment Association (IA) has announced that the UK investment management industry has hit a record £10 trillion in assets under management (AUM). City firms are celebrating. Government ministers, keen to push their “growth agenda,” have supported calls for lighter regulation and measures to funnel even more capital their way. But here’s the uncomfortable truth: … Continue reading £10 Trillion in The City — But How Much in Your Pocket?
Academy of Life Planning 