This week, FCA Chief Executive Nikhil Rathi made it clear that artificial intelligence is moving beyond assistance and into action. The next phase, he argued, is not simply AI helping people analyse information. It is the emergence of agentic systems that can coordinate, transact and execute decisions on behalf of others. The FCA has signalled … Continue reading If AI Agents Are Going to Make Financial Decisions, Who Should They Work For?
Tag: total-wealth-planning
Agency Starts With Owning Your Own Data
For decades, we have been encouraged to place our trust in institutions. Banks hold our money. Platforms hold our conversations. Governments hold our records. Technology companies hold our digital lives. In return, we are promised convenience. Most of the time, the arrangement works. Until it doesn't. A company is acquired. A platform changes its terms. … Continue reading Agency Starts With Owning Your Own Data
Is the Future of Wealth Management About Managing Portfolios — or Helping People Convert Their Whole Life into Agency, Ownership and Opportunity?
The recent launch of Factory Capital provides an interesting glimpse into the future of wealth management. On the surface, it is another wealth advisory firm entering the market. Dig a little deeper, however, and something more significant emerges. Factory Capital has not positioned itself primarily around investment selection, portfolio construction or retirement planning. Instead, it … Continue reading Is the Future of Wealth Management About Managing Portfolios — or Helping People Convert Their Whole Life into Agency, Ownership and Opportunity?
Is AI Making Investors More Reckless — or More Capable?
If AI is already influencing how affluent investors research, assess and feel about risk, is the real question whether advisers can control its use — or whether they can help clients use it wisely while keeping final agency with the individual? HSBC’s research suggests AI is no longer peripheral. Among nearly 10,000 affluent and high-net-worth … Continue reading Is AI Making Investors More Reckless — or More Capable?
The finance curse is devouring the UK
Is the Finance Industry Devouring the UK Economy — or Have We Forgotten What Creates Wealth? A recent article by Prem Sikka asks a provocative question: has Britain's obsession with finance come at the expense of the real economy? It is a question worth asking. For decades, successive governments have treated the financial services sector … Continue reading The finance curse is devouring the UK
A Trusted Adviser Stole £2 Million. What Should We Learn?
A financial adviser has just been jailed for 11 years after defrauding clients, friends, neighbours, and a charity out of almost £2 million. The details are shocking but, sadly, not unique. Timothy "Paul" Barnes was not an anonymous scammer operating from overseas. He was a regulated financial adviser with decades of experience. He held positions … Continue reading A Trusted Adviser Stole £2 Million. What Should We Learn?
The PFS Agenda Tells Us Where Financial Planning Is Heading — But Also What It Still Struggles to Name
Financial planning is moving beyond products. The next step is to move beyond dependency. Financial planning is moving beyond products. That is good. For too long, the public understanding of financial advice has been shaped by pensions, investments, tax wrappers, platforms, funds, protection products, and later-life lending. These things matter. They can be useful. They … Continue reading The PFS Agenda Tells Us Where Financial Planning Is Heading — But Also What It Still Struggles to Name
The Real Fourth Pillar Is Not Later-Life Lending. It Is Restored Human Agency.
The Financial Conduct Authority has put later-life lending firmly into the retirement planning debate. In a speech to the Later Life Lending Summit, Emad Aladhal, the FCA’s director of retail banking, suggested that later-life lending has the potential to become the “fourth pillar” of retirement provision. The familiar three pillars are the state pension, workplace … Continue reading The Real Fourth Pillar Is Not Later-Life Lending. It Is Restored Human Agency.
SJP’s £220bn Question: What Happens When Clients and Advisers Stop Deferring?
The old wealth model depended on two quiet forms of deference. Clients deferred to advisers. Advisers deferred to institutions. That was the bargain beneath much of modern wealth management. The client was asked to trust the adviser. The adviser was asked to trust the firm. The firm provided the brand, proposition, investment architecture, supervision, process, … Continue reading SJP’s £220bn Question: What Happens When Clients and Advisers Stop Deferring?
Investigator™: Restoring Human Agency Before Money Changes Hands
Before you invest, investigate: a free AI-assisted tool to help people pause, question, and understand investment risk before money changes hands. Try Investigator™ for Free Investment fraud is often described as a crime of deception. That is true, but it is not enough. The deeper problem is the collapse of human agency at the point … Continue reading Investigator™: Restoring Human Agency Before Money Changes Hands
Academy of Life Planning 