On-brand heatmapping: Aviva goes D2C
On Friday past, the gaffer shared his thoughts on the difficulties facing new entrants to the already stacked D2C market. In it, he alluded to details of a new entrant emerging any day now. Well, today Aviva has launched its platform for consumers, cryptically named the Aviva Consumer Platform. The platform is powered by FNZ […]
Drowning in the D2C value pool
Another week, another D2C platform’s details start to emerge. No names, no pack drill in deference to the journalist who’s writing it up, but by our count that’s the 33rd contender vying for the self-directed market. We’ll see another couple by the end of the year. Irrespective of the relative merits in terms of proposition, […]
Indebted to technology
One of the housekeeping points I chatted through recently with @theactualpolson was the matter of company expenses. As much as I left my old job on good terms I had to relinquish my beloved old company credit card, so I needed to apply for a new one to cater for the massive Lang Cat expense […]
Elven safety at #langcatlive
So we’ve had Mr Polson’s version of the #langcatlive experience. A perspective largely from behind a camera which, after a little cross-London sprint and some highly educational narrative, was happily attached to a tripod. (There’s a lesson in there: checklists are great as long as you remember to put stuff on them.) We’ve also had […]
Does anyone know a decent plumber?
Paul Lewis has hit a raw nerve with many in the financial services industry. His piece about the transparency of charging here (and let’s remember he’s not having a pop at advisers specifically) has caused much consternation below the line and on his twitter timeline. I imagine Paul had never expected such a fierce reaction, […]
What I learned at #langcatlive
Well, that was a blast. Our first ever solo event went pretty damn well, we exceeded our expectations on numbers, all the speakers were ace and Henry Cobbe of Birthstar stole the show with a blow-up doll joke. I say consider that day seized. As much for my remembrance as anyone else’s, here are a […]
Statutory redundancy secured: 2 years at the lang cat
Today is the second anniversary of me joining the lang cat so it feels as good a time as any to salute the relentless regularity of the Gregorian calendar and share some views on my time in the world of consultancy thus far. I’m going to take a break from my typical existential-level crisis over […]
Why? An inaugural blog from Mike Barrett
Sorry if I’ve mislead you with the blog title, but this blog is about me and nothing to do with Annie Lennox’s 1992 smash (no. 5) hit. Everyone knows you should never start a presentation with an apology, although curiously some of the best presenters I’ve seen do. On that basis it must be even […]
Sparryheid and the Internet of Things
It’s summer 2010. The first investment platforms have just turned 10 years old. The digital revolution is in full swing. There is no One Direction. In a (sort of) alternate reality called THE PLATFORM WORLD a keen young development analyst (we will call her Janice) has, whilst on annual leave in that free thinking state […]
A dam fine retirement guide
Having spent the last couple of months SWIMMING in the pool of change that is the UK at retirement market – not just DIPPING A TOE, you understand but DIVING right on in there – a couple of things struck me. First, that freedom can be a pyrrhic victory. Old King Pyrrus of Epirus might […]
