For years, consumers have been told to look for one word when choosing a financial professional: “Fiduciary.” The term sounds reassuring. Protective. Dependable. It suggests the person sitting across the table is legally and ethically required to put your interests first. And in many ways, that is true. But there is a deeper question very … Continue reading Fiduciary or Free Thinker? Why the “Best Interests” Badge May Not Mean What You Think
Tag: technology
Restoring Human Agency in the Age of AI
What Health Services Can Teach Financial Planning About the Future of Human Capability For decades, both healthcare and financial services have operated around a remarkably similar assumption: The expert knows best. In healthcare, the doctor diagnoses, prescribes, and directs. In financial services, the adviser recommends, structures, and manages. The individual — patient or client — … Continue reading Restoring Human Agency in the Age of AI
The Missing Voice at Adviser Conferences: What Advisers Aren’t Hearing About AI
What sits underneath many industry conferences is an uncomfortable structural reality: the ecosystem is largely self-referential. The sponsors fund the event.The media platforms depend on industry advertising.The exhibitors sell to advisers.The speakers often come from firms benefiting from the existing model.The audience attends within that commercial architecture. That does not automatically make the discussions wrong. … Continue reading The Missing Voice at Adviser Conferences: What Advisers Aren’t Hearing About AI
When Institutions Call Human Agency Dangerous
There was a revealing moment this week in the financial services industry. Speaking at a financial crime conference in London, the chief executive of the Financial Conduct Authority warned that artificial intelligence is accelerating fraud, cybercrime, sanctions evasion, and money laundering. Criminals, we were told, are becoming faster, more organised, and more adaptive. AI, according … Continue reading When Institutions Call Human Agency Dangerous
When Institutions Start Calling Agency Dangerous
Why agency-expanding technologies are often resisted precisely when they begin dissolving dependency structures For most of modern history, institutions have held a structural advantage over individuals. Not always because they were more intelligent.Not always because they were malicious.But because they possessed something ordinary people did not: Access. Access to information.Access to expertise.Access to analytical capability.Access … Continue reading When Institutions Start Calling Agency Dangerous
Everest, AI, and the Tilting Platform of Power
There is a game in the TV programme Gladiators called Everest. Two people stand on a narrow elevated platform. One is the Gladiator. The other is the competitor. Their objective is simple: force the other person off balance and off the edge. But the most interesting part of the game is not the pushing. It … Continue reading Everest, AI, and the Tilting Platform of Power
AI Should Not Replace Human Meaning — It Should Help Restore Human Agency
For much of the public conversation, artificial intelligence is being framed in extremes. Either: AI will save humanityor AI will destroy it. In reality, the more important question may be much simpler: What role should AI actually play in human life? At the Academy of Life Planning, we believe the answer matters enormously because the … Continue reading AI Should Not Replace Human Meaning — It Should Help Restore Human Agency
Is Ongoing Remuneration Payment for Ongoing Work… or Payment for Historical Distribution?
The UK financial advice sector may be approaching another quiet inflection point. Recent reports suggest the FCA is examining the future of trail commission as part of its broader review of simplified advice and targeted support. Industry responses have been swift. Some providers and commentators warn that banning trail commission could create unintended consequences for … Continue reading Is Ongoing Remuneration Payment for Ongoing Work… or Payment for Historical Distribution?
Response to the FCA’s Consultation Paper CP26/9:Modernising the Redress System
From an AoLP perspective, this is a significant and largely well-argued intervention into a very important structural issue: whether the UK redress system is evolving to protect consumers — or evolving to manage institutional liability more efficiently. Overall, though, this is a serious, thoughtful, and important contribution. It articulates many concerns that ordinary consumers struggle … Continue reading Response to the FCA’s Consultation Paper CP26/9:Modernising the Redress System
AI Is Not Replacing Financial Advice — It Is Replacing Information Dependency
A recent news story [Millions turn to AI for mortgage advice despite concerns, Money Marketing 11th May 2026] reported that almost a quarter of Britons have already used artificial intelligence tools such as ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot and Grok for mortgage guidance. Consumers are increasingly using AI to understand jargon, assess affordability, compare mortgage products, and … Continue reading AI Is Not Replacing Financial Advice — It Is Replacing Information Dependency
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