Hello. Last Tuesday was St Paddy’s Day, the day that celebrates all things Irish.
On Wednesdays I attend a folk night my pal runs mostly because it is an excuse to play as part of a group and keep me on my musical toes. When I arrived, I asked him about his Paddy’s Day, he said was out in Cowgate, at one point Edinburgh’s little Ireland. We shared slight bemusement at all the green hullaballoo.
He said he met a guy that had come from Nottingham, via Luton, to celebrate St Patrick’s day. In Edinburgh. Couple of the guys who had played gigs the day before confirmed it was a lot of green hullabaloo with the increased amount of Guinness being drunk the only distinctly Irish thing about proceedings.
Believe it or not, and as much as I want to embody this Dublin grandad, this got me thinking about business, PR, marketing and authenticity.
As someone whose dissertation looked at existentialism is loath to do, I often think about authenticity. It irks me when too much of an ideal of authenticity is based on cultural providence which is then implied to be the best of things.
It’s one thing to say a carbonara with cream, peas and ham is inauthentic. It’s quite a another to throw a hissy fit ’cause someone’s used parmesan instead of pecorino or, to the volcanic rage of legions of online Italian amateur chefs on my Instagram, using garlic. Admittedly using cream, peas and ham kind of makes it a different thing, but the others I would argue are sincere representations of the original.
‘Sincere’ rather than ‘authentic’ is the key word here. Sincerity implies reverence of where something has come from and what it’s trying to achieve, even if it ends up adding to it or rearranging it.
Sincerity within business is important to be mindful of when thinking about how you come across. Whether it’s your ethos, culture or proposition, what people will respond to is sincerity. In reverse, they will certainly feel strongly if they think you are being insincere. People really hate that, and I have seen enough comment sections in the trade press to feel safe in that assumption.
I realise that insincerity, or at least a lack of sincerity, is at points just a given; we’ve all seen LinkedIn after all. But that doesn’t mean I cannot advocate for an improvement.
In all, maybe I’m a bit harsh on the Paddy’s Day revellers, they probably sincerely wanted to wear green and drink lots of Guinness. But never let the truth get in the way of a good moan.
The News:
LANG CAT & CLIENT MENTIONS
Advisers embrace generic AI tools despite security concerns
Steve is the guru for this one. Saturn also gets a mention.
Source: Money Marketing
AI overload: Are advisers building tech stacks when what they really need is one solution?
More SOTAN findings used.
Source: IFA Magazine
Most of our industry has forgotten what advisers actually do
Morningstar Wealth’s Mark Sanderson takes a behind the scenes look at advice firms to highlight the extent of their role in clients’ lives.
Source: Professional Adviser
Platforms need to get reporting right as advisers’ attention turns to CGT
Michael Edwards of FSL catches up with FT Adviser about new CGT rules capturing advisers’ attention.
Source: FT Adviser
Japan after the election | Portfolio Adviser
Peter Wasko of Copia looks at Japan.
Source: Portfolio Adviser
Origo’s Innes Miller explains the value of a ‘data lake’ and why more advisers are creating them
A love letter to quality data. A good data lake appears to be like good fishing.
Source: IFA Magazine
7IM partners with Delaware UK as part of multimillion-pound transformation
7IM say the partnership has been built on adviser feedback.
Source: Professional Adviser
ADVISERS
Tom Archer: Supporting clients after the infected blood scandal
Quilter’s tax and trusts specialist examines the infected blood scandal as a case study for managing clients who receive compensation payments.
Source: Money Marketing
Balance to be struck on level of regulation in UK, say advisers
Advisers give their thoughts on a report from MPs into investment fraud and fairer financial services.
Source: FT Adviser
46% of IFAs believe targeted support will have positive impact
Adviser and regulation crossover episode.
Source: Money Marketing
Serving the UK’s new generation of wealth creators: What advisers need to know
A look into serving younger clients.
Source: Professional Adviser
I agree wholeheartedly that stagflation as a word is a blight on the English language.
Source: IFA Magazine
PROTECTION
UK life insurer enters the market
Certua Life claims to be the first new UK life insurer for 20 years.
Source: FT Adviser
What would targeted support look like for protection?
A look at how targeted support may impact protection in attempts to tackle the protection gap.
Source: COVER
PLATFORMS
AJ Bell launches tax-free cash tracker
The platform reckons this could save 100 working days of adviser telephone calls.
Source: Financial Planning Today
INVESTING & WEALTH MANAGERS
Five-minute bets are the new craze sweeping crypto markets
Short term “up-down” bets on crypto prices are becoming popular on prediction markets. “I do not consider myself a gambler,” says a source in the story.
Source: FT
AJ Bell and Aviva platforms add crypto on ‘adviser feedback’
But Hargreaves Lansdown says it sees no intrinsic value.
Source: Citywire NMA
‘Seeing nature as an asset class is key to solving climate risks’
Interesting. I am sure there’ll be views on this.
Source: FT Adviser
As high street banks chase scale, boutiques eye their wealthy clients
Source: Citywire WM
Pension or Isa: which will make you richer?
I am willing to bet this’ll pose an interesting position for Betteridge’s law of headlines.
Source: The Times
REGULATION & POLICY
Call for ‘root-and-branch review’ of financial regulation
Claims the FCA has too much power and too little accountability.
Source: FT Adviser
‘Could I divorce my wife then remarry her to save on pension tax?’
The Telegraph columnist points out this is fraud.
Source: The Telegraph
Peers vote against govt powers to dictate pension asset allocation
The controversial aspect of the Bill has been voted down.
Source: Citywire NMA
UK banks keep £100 limit for contactless card payments despite FCA scrapping it
The regulator and financial institutions: the FCA does something; the banks say there’s no consumer demand. What are they like?
Source: The Guardian
Institute for Economic Affairs calls for inheritance tax to be scrapped
John Rawles hated that.
Source: FT Adviser
No U-turn on pension IHT overhaul as Finance Bill set to become law
John Rawles liked that.
Source: Professional Adviser
‘No surprise’ – IHT receipts rise with record year expected
It’s been a really good week to be John Rawles, what can I say.
Source: Professional Adviser
AI
Indian AI giant enters UK advice market with Fintel JV
Intellectual Design Arena to enter the UK advice market.
Source: Citywire NMA
Government backtracks on AI and copyright after outcry
An interesting development.
Source: BBC News
AI in financial services needs behavioural foundations
“Amid the focus on governance, explainability and accountability, there is a risk of missing the fundamental challenge: AI in financial services is, at its heart, a behavioural problem, writes Greg B Davies, head of behavioural finance at Oxford Risk. “AI is accelerating analysis. Advice is not analysis.”
Source: Portfolio Adviser
OpenAI’s Dead – by Alberto Romero
And we have killed it? OpenAI is dead; but given the ways of men, there may still be caves for thousands of years in which its shadow will be shown. Or something like that.
Source: The Algorithmic Bridge
TECHNOLOGY
Plannr launches new mobile app for advisers and clients
Aiming to keep advisers and clients closer than ever.
Source: Money Marketing
PENSIONS & RETIREMENT
L&G finds 19% of 40 to 54-year-olds began saving after age 35
According to research by Public First, analysed by L&G. Some pretty sobering numbers in here.
Source: Money Marketing
FCA defends pension transfer reforms amid industry fears over delays
Nike Trost, head of department at the FCA, has suggested that the system needs modernising. She concedes that some criticisms are valid but defends reforms suggesting it’s important consumers have all the right information before consolidation.
Source: FT Adviser
TRADE & ECONOMY
UK must learn lessons from AI race and retain its quantum computing talent, says minister
Liz Kendall aiming for the UK to be a quantum computing superpower.
Source: The Guardian
Shortfall at failed mortgage lender MFS could surpass £1.3bn
That’s not good.
Source: The Times
Bank of England holds interest rates at 3.75%
Undoubtedly because of the situation in the Middle East.
Source: Money Age
Unilever and Kraft Heinz held talks over food merger uniting ketchup and mayo
*The CMA enters the chat*
Source: FT
Sobering times: alcohol-free beer added to UK inflation basket
Well, at least in some ways inflation is getting healthier.
Source: The Guardian
Rachel Reeves plans to give mayors a portion of tax revenue
This could be pretty consequential.
Source: The Times
UK pay growth sinks to five-year low as younger workers hit by hiring slowdown
Source: The Guardian
CRAZY CAT STORIES
‘Meowzart’ the piano-playing Wicklow cat lands major TV role
Excuse me what.
Source: Irish Examiner
OUTSIDE THE TRADE
The quiet recovery of Ireland’s ancient tongue
It’s great to see state policy actually having a positive and tangible effect on culture. Gaelic and Celtic languages are fascinating. Manchán Magan in ‘Thirty-two Words for Field’ writes about its connection to nature, metaphysical qualities and how it echoes indigenous languages in India and Australia.
Source: The Economist
Should you date someone with the same taste in architecture?
A singles-only walking tour of modernist architecture? It’s one thing to be mindful of someone’s tastes, but that is *niche*.
Source: FT
Sean McKinven is PR account executive at the lang cat
