Sean McKinven's Newsround: 16 February

Hello. O, Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo? Or something like that.

Most people will recognise this Shakespeare quote. Perhaps you even know it as the ‘balcony scene’ in the Capulet garden, Act 2 Scene 2, line 36. This particular quote and scene are fascinating in two ways which I think are kind of interrelated.

It is a line that is often misinterpreted.

Juliet’s exclamation is not misquoted, but because wherefore is an anachronistic word, there’s some confusion. It’s understandable that people see it and assume it’s spatial; that Juliet is looking for Romeo on the balcony. But wherefore actually means for what reason?

Juliet searching for Romeo wouldn’t make any sense because at this point in the play he has already found her in the garden, they’ve even exchanged words. If we zoom out on the quotation we get:

“Deny thy father and refuse thy name / Or, if thou wilt not / be but sworn my love / And I’ll no longer be a Capulet.”

And then a bit later on she goes on to say:

“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose/ By any other word would smell as sweet.”

Juliet is philosophically questioning why the feud between the two families – the central tension in the play – is having a material effect on their feelings.

The other thing is this is not a scene which originally included a balcony. The balcony addition appears in later performances and is actually a brilliant bit of directorial stagecraft – it physically represents the distance they have to surmount. But combined with wherefore and it is easy to see how cursory glance would lead people to believe that Juliet is doe-eyed and beseeching.

Thing is, it doesn’t take much to rectify that. The good thing about Shakespeare is the lessons are universal; folk may trip over fusty words and antiquated elements, but the lessons are there for those who seek them.

The problem arises when we assume all will come to it in its current form. Don’t get me wrong, we should keep the language the meter and preserve it in its purer form, but we also need it be accessible. That doesn’t necessarily blow it up the nuance for an aesthetic vanity project – looking at you soon to come out Wuthering Heights.

There’s a lot of fluff and snobbery around Shakespeare; there’s misplaced exclusionary assumptions about how people must enjoy or engage with it. Some people are made to feel stupid for not liking or ‘appreciating’ it. Sometimes people don’t like things and that’s okay, many things that should be universally loved like McEwan’s Export, Frasier or chips are not adored as a rule.

There’s a lot of talk about financial education, targeted support etc and the same pitfalls, in a slightly different guise, exist.

On Burns night I was sat round with a group of people my age. Me and another work in financial services, the other two didn’t. Those that didn’t asked us some questions, hardly being experts ourselves. There was an acknowledgement they wanted to know more and that they didn’t know how, and an admission that had it been available in school, it’d have been getting patched (as we used to say in West Lothian).

Like Shakespeare, that doesn’t mean you don’t teach it. People engage and arrive at things differently. With the right pro-activeness, things like targeted support could be useful, such as highlighting how people’s pensions work for them.

The sort of stuff that Ben Kumar suggests in one of the pieces below will keep good financial advice going in the age of AI, and that a quality adviser educates to the level of financial literacy needed, but engages the client fully on what it means for them and their money. A reassuring thing if you can get it, so the stats suggest.

That’s the approach to education we should be taking. Just putting the information out there or drowning people in technicality will be a bit of a damp squib.

Behind all the theory and long words, Juliet is questioning why society is structured in a way that appears to unjustly hurt her and someone she cares about. Most people can relate to this to a lesser or greater extent.

The News:

LANG CAT & CLIENT MENTIONS

Natalie Holt: Does the FCA need to work on its relationship skills? | Money Marketing

Nat asks if the relationship between the profession and the regulator needs a bit of work.

Source: Money Marketing

What the NBA, Nasa and the All-Blacks can teach us about finance – FTAdviser

New Blood earning a mention in this one.

Source: FT Adviser

Record gross sales achieved in advised platform sector – The Lang Cat – Money Age

Some PMS findings. A lot of money for someone.

Source: Money Age

Podcast #158: Paraplanners under the spotlight in the lang cat’s State of the Advice Nation – IFA Magazine

Steve sits down with IFA Magazine to talk all things paraplanners.

Source: IFA Magazine

Nucleus undergoes major platform migration

Nucleus will be merging its Nucleus Wrap, James Hay Online and Curtis Banks services under one unified platform, starting with James Hay.

Source: Professional Adviser

Next generation must learn ‘boring’ investment habits – FTAdviser

Ben Lester of Morningstar Wealth fame speaking at Dynamic Planner’s conference.

Source: FT Adviser

11% of UK adults meet basic benchmarks of true financial security

Iress highlighting some important stuff.

Source: Money Marketing

Tokenisation is coming to pensions – Corporate Adviser

The potential of tokenisation to simplify pension, asset and wealth management is huge says Mobius CEO James Finch.

Source: Corporate Adviser

‘Naive to think IFAs have nothing to fear’: Advisers on disruptive AI launch

Vicky Bell represents some of the industries thinking about disruptive AI and advice.

Source: Citywire NMA

Some research courtesy of Rich Mayor referenced in this one.

Source: Professional Adviser

intelliflo launches intelliflo IQ to transform adviser efficiency and client engagement – IFA Magazine

intelliflo’s first suite of AI and algorithmic tools embedded directly within intelliflo office, developed with AI firm Multiply.

Source: IFA Magazine

ADVISERS

NatWest buys Evelyn in £2.7bn deal

“Banks are back,” says Mike Barrett. Intriguing they’ve dropped plans to spend £2bn in share buybacks to help fund the deal. NMA editor Jack Gilbert ponders if the lenders will have learned the lessons from previous forays.

Source: Citywire NMA; Times

Compliance is ‘beating the joy out of financial planning’, advice boss says – FTAdviser

First Wealth’s Anthony Villis argues this is partly why the profession has a problem with attracting the younger generation.

Source: FT Adviser

‘Growing appetite’ among senior advisers to start own businesses – FTAdviser

According to Just Mortgages.

Source: FT Adviser

SJP shares fall 12% over AI tax disruption fears; Quilter and AJ Bell also hit

Excellent time to buy wealth management businesses, eh NatWest?

Source: Citywire NMA

Adviser firm numbers fall by 14% in 2 years

Small firms with between one to five advisers are disappearing fastest, according to the New Talent Aadvisers aged 30–39 have increased by 12% driven by academy programmes, while the number of advisers under 25 remains very low.

Source: Financial Planning Today

PLATFORMS

HMRC contacts platforms over clients’ unreported dividend income

Some platforms say they have already been asked to start passing on dividend income information, while others are expecting to be contacted, as part of a clampdown on under-reporting.

Source: Citywire NMA

INVESTING AND WEALTH MANAGERS

Schroders and Apollo team up to offer hybrid public and private market strategies

Private markets and related stuff continues to ramp up.

Source: Investment Week

Paul Hogg: Advisers are being left stranded by the investment gap | Money Marketing

Investing and advisers crossover episode. “Advisers are being structurally failed by the investment solutions available for clients with investment goals in the 3–5-year window, a trend which is growing in relevance, both due to client demand and regulatory importance,” writes Paul Hogg.

Source: Money Marketing

Private equity barons have a giant AI problem

The PE Cookie Monsters’ bets on software could get costly.

Source: The Economist

REGULATION & POLICY

UK’s FCA plans to publish all trading data for London-listed shares

Britain’s financial regulator is aiming to tackle a “drastic under-reporting” of market liquidity that has driven some companies to move their listings to the US by starting to publish all trading data for London-listed shares.

Source: FT

Simon Harrington: The case for reforming ongoing advice rules | Money Marketing

Pimfa’s head of public affairs wants to have a discussion about ongoing advice rules.

Source: Money Marketing

IHT investigations grow, recovering an extra £246m | Money Marketing

TWM Solicitors say that HMRC’s use of big data and AI helped it become more adept at catching inconsistencies in returns.

Source: Money Marketing

Delays to tax-free cash payment by ReAssure leaves client in debt – FTAdviser

That wasn’t very Consumer Duty of them.

Source: FT Adviser

AI promises five-fold adviser capacity, says Dynamic Planner CEO

Grand claims.