Are We Educating the Next Generation — or Recruiting Them Into a Broken System?

When a profession celebrates widening access, it must also ask a harder question: access to what? This week, the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) and Personal Finance Society (PFS) announced that over 6,600 young people have taken part in their virtual work experience programmes since 2023. The story is being framed as a success: Diverse participation … Continue reading Are We Educating the Next Generation — or Recruiting Them Into a Broken System?

Mind the Gap: A Day Inside Britain’s Financial Illusion — and the Quiet Resistance Rising Against It

Thursday 13 November 2025 will go down as one of the most revealing days of my career. It was a tale of two worlds. In the morning, I stood in the ExCeL Centre surrounded by more than 2,000 advisers at the PFS “Power” Conference — a rally called Mind the Gap. The message repeated all … Continue reading Mind the Gap: A Day Inside Britain’s Financial Illusion — and the Quiet Resistance Rising Against It

The Birth of the Holistic Wealth Planner

The Birth of the Holistic Wealth Planner How a conversation with Don MacIntyre helped name a movement. A Profession at a Crossroads In the autumn of 2024, I reconnected with Don MacIntyre, then Chief Executive of the Personal Finance Society (PFS). The profession was in flux. Questions were rising about integrity, independence, and identity. Was … Continue reading The Birth of the Holistic Wealth Planner