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
Tag: total-wealth-planning
Op-ed: The Great Independent Advice Illusion
[A reflection on Citywire's article, How SJP advisers are using Policy Services to pitch independent advice 14 May 2026] By Steve Conley The financial advice profession has spent decades arguing over a question that, from a genuine life planning perspective, may matter far less than the industry would like to believe. Restricted or independent? Whole … Continue reading Op-ed: The Great Independent Advice Illusion
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
Do People Need Life Planning Anymore?
There is a quiet question emerging beneath the noise of modern self-improvement, financial planning, coaching, and even parts of the AI revolution: What happens when the goals no longer feel meaningful? For decades, society has organised itself around achievement. Earn more. Accumulate more. Optimise more. Retire earlier. Scale faster. Build the business. Hit the target. … Continue reading Do People Need Life Planning Anymore?
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?
Pandora’s Box Is Open: AI, institutional trust collapse, and the rise of ecosystems for restored human agency
For decades, institutions benefited from one overwhelming structural advantage: They held the information. Banks held the expertise.Governments held the systems.Corporations held the infrastructure.Professionals held the knowledge.Media held the narrative.Universities held credentialed authority. Ordinary people largely depended on institutions because complexity exceeded individual capability. That dependency shaped the modern world. It shaped: employment, finance, education, healthcare, … Continue reading Pandora’s Box Is Open: AI, institutional trust collapse, and the rise of ecosystems for restored human agency
Ecosystems, Human Agency, and the Future of Work
Why the AI era may not simply eliminate jobs — but fundamentally redefine what productive human value looks like For more than two centuries, industrial society has organised human beings primarily around employment. You study.You train.You specialise.You obtain a role inside an institution.You exchange labour for income. That model shaped modern economies. And for much … Continue reading Ecosystems, Human Agency, and the Future of Work
The 2026 AI Advantage Summit — Reflections from a Total Wealth Planner’s Perspective
There was something revealing about watching Tony Robbins and Dean Graziosi host one of the world’s largest AI events, The 2026 AI Advantage Summit. Not because the technology itself was surprising. And not because every claim should be accepted uncritically. But because the event captured something much bigger happening beneath the surface of society: A … Continue reading The 2026 AI Advantage Summit — Reflections from a Total Wealth Planner’s Perspective
