Hello. Firstly, let the record show that the update will now be every fortnight. This is, in short, to make life easier all round.
We had a Budget. Demands, groans and commentary came, went and lingered. In many ways because it is such a Big Deal for financial services, there is a jarring aspect where reading the commentary you can be forgiven for thinking that the government’s annual plan for the economy aims to do other things than fulfil the (perceived) needs of professional services.
Many people said many predictable things about taxes and welfare – see last year’s commentary on looking at the Budget through newspaper headlines. I am not really here to take a stance on that, but I would like to outline a couple of interesting things have got me thinking about it on a deeper level.
The first was a play. I watched the 1984 teleplay adaptation of Shelagh Delaney’s ‘A Taste of Honey’. It is set in Salford and follows Jo, as her mother abandons her in a hovel for an alcoholic wheeler dealer. Jo, a schoolgirl, then finds herself pregnant, her sailor boyfriend disappears, and her gay friend Peter moves in help look after her. A child outside wedlock, racial tensions, single parenting, stark poverty, sexual orientation – for a play written in 1958, it covers a lot of controversial ground for the time. As an aside, it was also an inspiration for this track by The Smiths, with the main refrain “the dream is gone, but the baby is real,” being a paraphrase of quite a devastating moment in the play.*
‘A Taste of Honey’ is part of a cultural movement in the UK during the 50s, 60s and 70s known as “The Kitchen Sink Realism”. It basically encompassed novels, plays and films and was known for depicting working class life in quite stark realism. The film Kes might be the most well-known of the movement.
What does this have to do with the economy? Many, many things.
Delaney was a working class 17-year-old when she wrote the play. An uncomfortable question to ask – and to answer – is what do we think are the chances of that happening these days? Arts access is one of the most documented markers of inequality of our age.
Building on that, the kitchen sink stuff ranged in quality. But it was an outlet to highlight conditions an uncomfortable amount of the country were facing. One of the remarkable things of ‘A Taste of Honey’ is Jo for the most part can be alarmingly sanguine about her lot in life.
Now, it’s easy to look at particular conditions from times gone by and suggest we are past that. But inequality is still a thing, and one relevant for our economy.
Anyway, what was the other thing? I hear you ask.
Well, I stumbled over a piece by Johnathan Guthrie on the cost of being middle class.
It’s a bit tongue-in-cheek, but Guthrie does provide useful metrics to show the cost of being middle class is getting steep. The big point is it is not generally as easy to be middle class as it used to be in many respects.
Yet there is an important conclusion Guthrie reaches at the end: “If you think it is tough being middle class at the moment, try being poor.”
Earlier in the piece he pointed out:
“I have no patience with any suggestion that middle-class families like my own are entitled to feel particularly sorry for themselves. The CEBR expresses average bottom-quintile disposable income as ‘-£75’ a week. The minus sign means these households cannot afford that ‘essential’ basket of goods and services. They substitute cheaper purchases or do without.”
So am I saying you should feel bad for complaining about having your time wasted by preparing for announcements made in Budgets past? Well yes, insofar as I was raised Catholic and my default position is you should feel bad for everything.
The point is the economy has a number of partners, who contribute and demand different things. By the CEBR’s reckoning, it’s certainly not an economy of equal partners. What I liked about Guthrie’s piece is that a self-confessed middle class financial journalist writing in the UK’s premier financial newspaper acknowledged this.
I think this scene from The Big Short is quite relevant just in terms of giving a different perspective.
*A more irrelevant aside for fans of The Smiths, Delaney actually features in the artwork of “Louder Than Bombs” and “Girlfriend in a Coma”.
The News:
LANG CAT & CLIENT MENTIONS
Dan Wiltshire: Ignore the AI prophets of doom
HomeGame mention.
Source: Money Marketing
AI one of the most influential advisers in the UK – the lang cat
Advice Gap findings, with the research sponsored by Saturn.
Source: Money Age
Advisers say Burnham’s non-compete ban would boost recruitment
Dyer Baade CEO Daniel Baade gives his thoughts.
Source: Citywire NMA
Nucleus calls on govt to increase awareness of IHT and pension changes
New research suggests awareness is low.
Source: FT Adviser
Motive Partners completes acquisition of Mobius
Source: Professional Pensions
Do clients already own the best retirement portfolio?
PortfolioMetrix asks the question.
Source: Professional Adviser
Richard Denning: One million new retirees, but the advice gap grows
Aberdeen Adviser’s CEO says it’s important the majority of people accessing pots for the first time are supported.
Source: Money Marketing
The rise of the planning-led advice firm
Copia’s Garry Stirrup on planning points of difference.
Source: Professional Adviser
ADVISERS
Financial adviser academies: the big, the small and the international
FT Adviser checks in with adviser academy numbers.
Source: FT Adviser
FCA warns of criminals entering advice by acquiring firms
Suppose it’s a change from barber shops.
Source: FT Adviser
Advice firms risk losing assets in £5.5tn wealth transfer
More warnings about the great wealth transfer.
Source: Money Marketing
What does Healey’s first Budget mean for advisers and their clients?
Source: FT Adviser
Snooker pro-turned pension specialist joins Continuum
Suppose it’s a change from rugby.
Source: FT Adviser
PLATFORMS
P1 launches calculator to reveal ‘true cost’ of platform cash interest
Miaow.
Source: FT Adviser
PROTECTION
Matthew Connell: What does fair value mean in the protection market?
Some thoughts on value in protection.
Source: Money Marketing
Budget was ‘missed opportunity’ for insurance
Won’t someone think of the protection market.
Source: FT Adviser
REGULATION AND POLICY
FCA vows to dismantle ‘tickbox compliance’ and tackle AI-driven market risks
Should imagine many will be responsive to this if done well.
Source: Money Marketing
Economic abuse: Why advisers need to understand this hidden form of financial harm
How advisers can spot the issues.
Source: Professional Adviser
Exclusive: FCA spends £525k hiring finfluencers for campaigns
Source: Citywire NMA
Model Office launches AI-powered regulatory dashboards
Who doesn’t love a dashboard.
Source: FT Adviser
John Healey scatters the pain far and wide
Chris Giles’ thoughts on the Budget.
Source: Professional Adviser
Chancellor unveils new ‘starter ISA’ for first-time investors
Presumably seen as a better incentive than cutting cash.
Source: Citywire WM
IHT on pensions gets technical changes ahead of 2027 start
Source: Professional Adviser
Wealth managers fear ‘do nothing’ Budget hides future tax pain
Wealth manager always fear tax – it is essentially a default position.
Source: Citywire WM
10 devilish details you may have missed in John Healey’s first Budget
Source: FT Adviser
Treasury Committee flags potential bank tax Budget leak to FCA and Treasury
Not so good.
Source: Professional Adviser
Treasury to investigate barriers to financial services career progression
More Budget stuff – no summary needed.
Source: Money Marketing
Two-year tax deadline on pension death benefits scrapped in Budget
See above.
Source: Money Marketing
FCA calls for disclaimers on AI-generated financial advice
Topical, particularly given the recent HomeGame.
Source: Money Marketing
IHT receipts hit record £936m in September
John Rawls liked that.
Source: Money Marketing
41% of women uncomfortable making financial decisions without partner
According to research by LV.
Source: FT Adviser
INVESTMENT & WEALTH MANAGERS
FCA hints at MPS rule change to bring sector in line with funds
This would likely see MPS providers come under what is known as the consumer composite investments regime.
Source: Citywire WM
Forestry, family offices and the quest for income
The wealthy turn to trees.
Source: FT Adviser
BoE scrutinises Barclays over claim traders misrepresented private credit exposure
Source: FT
FCA reports failure to identify conflicts of interest in private markets
Oh great, the thing they want us all putting our pensions in.
Source: Money Marketing
AI
At the Helm: Improving your firm’s visibility in AI searches
Getting with the times; no Yellow Pages anymore.
Source: Money Marketing
AI-powered personal assistants could reshape the digital economy
This is an, ehm, interesting read.
Source: The Economist
Ian McKenna: Dynamic Planner raises the bar in advice-tech AI race
Source: Money Marketing
PENSIONS & RETIREMENT
Pensioner ‘left in tears’ over missing £5k payment from her Pru bond
Source: FT Adviser
One in three Britons say pension and tax rules discourage later-life working
Some challenges to this assumption in the comments.
Source: Money Marketing
‘No room for complacency’: Mansion House signatories hold £11.1bn in UK private markets
Source: FT Adviser
Two-thirds of UK workers have lost track of workplace pensions
Source: Money Marketing
TRADE & ECONOMY
AI debt worries spark surge in default insurance trading
Oh, good.
Source: FT
UK unemployment falls as vacancies sink below 700,000
A slight boost for Healey.
Source: Money Marketing
Politicians should ‘look at the UK economy as a CEO would’, says Lloyds Bank’s boss
“The chancellor should basically do what I would do.”
Source: FT
How much does it cost to be middle class?
The article referred to above.
Source: FT
Barclays to cut 5,000 jobs as bank steps up AI adoption
Source: FT
CRAZY CAT STORIES
Cat bonds, quants and ruthless cuts: How Top 100 buy lists have evolved this year
Cat bonds you say?
Source: Citywire WM
OUTSIDE THE TRADE
Kathryn Turner: the M&S food boss who has become a social media star
Vis a vis the last update. Clearly in touch with consumers.
Source: The Times
The best corner shop beers — from Polish lager to Nigerian Guinness
The Sunday Times doing a feature on corner shop beers feels like a recession indicator if ever there was one.
Source: The Times
The State: the thread about Leith’s Luxury Supercinema
Anyone at HomeGame may have spotted this on their way to the theatre.
Source: Threadinburgh
Greggs ‘Ta-Pastry’ detailing history of iconic sausage roll unveiled at Newcastle museum
They love a gimmick, Greggs.
Source: Chronicle live
When a trick or treat turns deadly
An interesting look at risk evaluation.
Source: FT
Sean McKinven is PR account executive at the lang cat
