Here are the key lessons for Holistic Wealth Planners drawn from Essays on the Economics of Human Capital (Lucia Rizzica, UCL 2013) — translated from academic economics into the context of AoLP’s human-centred planning philosophy: 1. Aspiration Is an Economic Asset The UK “Widening Participation” study showed that raising non-cognitive traits such as aspiration and … Continue reading Key lessons for Holistic Wealth Planners
Tag: personal-finance
The Real Value of Advice: Why We Don’t Charge by the Pound of Assets Under Management
“If your worth is measured by the market, you’ve already sold your soul to it.” Across the financial advice industry, one number continues to dominate — 1%.Whether your wealth grows or falls, the adviser’s fee remains tethered to it. The Citywire Top 100 Firms 2025 and FCA data show the same pattern: ongoing charges clustered … Continue reading The Real Value of Advice: Why We Don’t Charge by the Pound of Assets Under Management
AoLP Blog: “Let’s Get the Debate Over With”: You’re all doing financial planning wrong.
You’re all doing financial planning wrong.When one person stands against the crowd, it’s easy to dismiss them as difficult, disruptive, or wrong. But what if that one person simply sees the truth differently? For years, I’ve been that “annoying guy” in your feed saying the financial planning industry has lost its way. It’s not about … Continue reading AoLP Blog: “Let’s Get the Debate Over With”: You’re all doing financial planning wrong.
Fee-for-No-Service: The Hidden Consumer Duty Crisis — and the Rise of AI-Empowered Financial Planning
By Steve Conley, Academy of Life Planning For the first time since records began, the number of clients receiving ongoing financial advice in the UK has fallen.According to new FCA data, advisers switched off ongoing services for 335,286 clients in 2024, a dramatic spike from the previous year. Headlines attribute this to the Consumer Duty.But … Continue reading Fee-for-No-Service: The Hidden Consumer Duty Crisis — and the Rise of AI-Empowered Financial Planning
Why Britain Needs Total-Wealth Planners — Not 1% Advisers
For years we’ve told people that “financial advice” means picking funds, switching products, or optimising the investable sliver of their portfolio. But this narrow definition has hidden a deeper structural truth: regulated retail investments — the only area most advisers are authorised to touch — account for less than one percent of the total wealth … Continue reading Why Britain Needs Total-Wealth Planners — Not 1% Advisers
When “Alpha” Broke the Bank
In 2007, I was Head of Savings and Investments Strategy at RBS Group, based in the gleaming Gogarburn headquarters that symbolised the bank’s soaring ambition. I had just completed a five-year strategic plan designed to position RBS as a sustainable market leader — one that could combine profitability with prudence, and growth with genuine customer … Continue reading When “Alpha” Broke the Bank
🧭 Structurally Trustworthy Education: Teaching Our Children Freedom, Not Dependency
By Steve Conley, Founder of the Academy of Life Planning Background: Financial Education Returns to the Curriculum After more than a decade without review, the UK Government has announced plans to include financial education within the national curriculum for both primary and secondary schools. The proposals, warmly welcomed by many financial planners, aim to make … Continue reading 🧭 Structurally Trustworthy Education: Teaching Our Children Freedom, Not Dependency
💥 Is Budget Anxiety Killing the AUM Adviser Fee Model?
By Steve Conley, Founder of the Academy of Life Planning Adviser platforms are seeing record-breaking inflows — and yet, paradoxically, the AUM-based advice model is showing signs of terminal decline. According to new data from the lang cat, adviser platform outflows hit a record £17.94bn in Q3 2025 — the highest on record — even … Continue reading 💥 Is Budget Anxiety Killing the AUM Adviser Fee Model?
🌍 The Real Wealth of Nations: Lessons in Human Capital for Holistic Wealth Planners
“Wealth in the broadest sense includes people.” — Irving Fisher (1906) The world’s greatest untapped resource isn’t oil, gold, or digital currency — it’s human capital. A recent study from Riga Stradiņš University and al-Farabi Kazakh National University, “Problems of Development and Effective Use of Human Capital in Developing Countries” (Muravska et al., 2020), offers … Continue reading 🌍 The Real Wealth of Nations: Lessons in Human Capital for Holistic Wealth Planners
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
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