Sean McKinven's Newsround: 7 September

Hello. Sometimes I’ll say or do something that is more than likely interpreted as slightly odd and I’ll see a look flash across someone’s face that can be interpreted as, at best, confused and. at worst, “what the hell is wrong with you?”

It’s rare one single event ruins anyone. We are all, in a sense, a collection of our experiences. But we don’t have time for that so why not pick one. Let’s say Friday 10 May 2013.

That was the date of my first proper gig. It was at the Barrowlands, where my grandparents on my dad’s side had met when it was a ballroom. The act: The Specials. I was 12 years and 13 days old and it was at that point a certain kind of live music made an imprint on me.

I have found a review from the show in question:

“Last night, the second night of The Specials’ double-header, it was electric; right there and then the best place to be on the entire planet…It was packed-to-the-gunnels full. The band was on fire. You didn’t want it to end… I lost a stone and a half in the first 20 minutes alone. My polo shirt stank of other people’s beer on the way home. As I type, I’m looking at my battered desert boots, who [sic] look like they’ve been in the trenches at the Somme.”

I can confirm it was lively. There was certainly a lot of beer thrown. It has been a measure for the quality of gigs ever since.

They are an interesting group The Specials. You are probably familiar with Ghost Town. They were formed in Coventry in 1977. They arrived as punk began to modulate into the nebulous umbrella term New Wave which incorporated “loud but with synths”, or “loud but with a saxophone”, or less loud but with Jools Holland, or “loud but from Dunfermline”.

It started as pure reggae, but against the backdrop of rising racial tensions, they spotted an opportunity to challenge a lot of what was going on by tapping into the political elements of punk with reggae’s pacier precursor, ska. The Specials, The Beat and The Selector where all good bands that were involved. Madness were also there I believe.

I was thinking about this because I watched a Rock Goes to College broadcast where they played the Colchester Institute. Before they played their song Rat Race, lead singer Terry Hall said something along the lines of: “This is for all you students out there.”

Rat Race goes a little something like this. The lyrics:

You’re working at your leisure to learn the things you’ll need
The promises you make tomorrow will carry no guarantee
I’ve seen your qualifications, you’ve got a Ph.D.
I’ve got one art O level, it did nothing for me

Bit of a time capsule into how academic pursuit was viewed then. But we’ve come a long way, have we not? Tony Blair made the totally correct and not at all reductive and misplaced assumption that degree = good job.

The observations of fellas in the East Midlands seem to challenge Blair’s assumption; they thought it was the material advantages and “mum and dad” that get them the good jobs, and the whole university thing was an excuse for a few years of leisure.

Now, things happened between 1980 and Blair’s assumption, primarily an increasing number from a range of more ordinary backgrounds went to university and appeared to better themselves.

But the reality we’re in at moment is we have a labour market with many graduates and not so many “graduate jobs”, and it doesn’t appear mum and dad can get jobs for them (at least the ones they want).

I am not saying achieving higher education shouldn’t be recognised, but we appear to have narrowed one aspect of the field (cutting apprenticeships, ignoring colleges etc) while also expanding the other.. As an example, my dad was the first in his family to go to university and ended up at a computer programming job at Scottish Widows. My mum went to college, worked, then ended up as a computer programmer at Scottish Widows. Both paths valid. One massively favoured in the 40 years since. Both paths increasingly difficult now.

That doesn’t necessarily mean dramatically less folk should go to university, or that we just chuck money at colleges at apprenticeship schemes and the problem will right itself. There are probably pesky macroeconomic conditions and the general voting public to negotiate as well. But it probably should mean we think differently about the assumptions that gave us the current labour market, and whether shifting that can begin to help and make it more robust against these stresses in the future. Assuming AI doesn’t come for us all, that is.

In a similar vein to last week, the answer lies in two parts. Candidates need to work hard and justify their position beyond “look at my 2:1 in anthropology”. Those looking for folk need to work out where is best to find them as well as how to identify the right candidates. You get the labour market you deserve: the government is a useful whipping post for not unjustified reasons and has a role to play too – but there is plenty of blame to be shared on all sides.

If it goes to show anything, The Specials highlight how much things can change. Blair’s assumption shows that merely fuelling what appears to be going well for you does not guarantee that thing delivering the future. Nothing will get fixed overnight, but if there’s a parable from this update, it is this: always anticipate change, that’s the universal in all this if there is one.

The News:

LANG CAT & CLIENT MENTIONS

Leader: Does simplified advice make financial sense for advice firms?

Mike supplies some thoughts for this one. As does Pilot’s Nick Ryan.

Source: Money Marketing

iPipeline completes acquisition of Origo

iPipeline has scquired Origo. Ian McKenna provides his thoughts.

Source: Money Marketing

How decade of deals has changed the UK wealth manager league table

Dyer Baade looks into the how the wealth management space has evolved over the past decade.

Source: Citywire WM

Wealth management firm snaps up two NI businesses

7IM picking up some firms in Belfast.

Source: Belfast Telegraph

Reviewing rules for mental health can ‘strengthen your entire book’

One from Guardian.

Source: Money Marketing

ADVISERS

Interactive Investor offering flat-fee advice from £100 per month

Note the discussion in the comments section.

Source: Citywire NMA

Why more advice firms are looking to sell minority stakes

Taking the temperature of the trend.

Source: Professional Adviser

PROTECTION

FCA: People not even at ‘first base’ with understanding their protection needs

Protection and regulation crossover episode.

Source: FT Adviser

INVESTMENT & WEALTH MANAGERS

FCA warns of concentration risk in £355bn UK private credit market

The regulator also believes there are deficiencies in reporting processes.

Source: Citywire NMA

1 in 5 under-30s expect investment growth within 6 months

According to research by Alliance Witan.

Source: Financial Planning Today

Four in five Britons turning to unregulated financial sources

Zable’s research also showed 68% of respondents did not check the risks involved before acting on financial advice.

Source: FT Adviser

PENSIONS & RETIREMENT

Record-breaking vegetable growers join pension campaign

I am sorry, what?

Source: FT Adviser

Wall Street is buying up British pensions

US insurance companies financed by private credit involved in AI funding are buying UK DB schemes.

Source: The Telegraph

Over-fifties face gap between retirement plans and reality

According to Scottish Widows.

Source: FT Adviser

PensionBee launches automatic withdrawals

The feature will allow pensions to go automatically into bank accounts.

Source: FT Adviser

REGULATION & POLICY

HMRC updates on information sharing for IHT on pensions

The note outlines the five stages at which personal representatives will need to share information.

Source: Professional Adviser

FCA and PRA widen scale-up unit access for building societies

Much what it says on the tin.

Source: FT Adviser

County court rejects case against Aviva’s platform issues

IFA left receiving only £1 in damages.

Source: FT Adviser

Firms still struggling to prove Consumer Duty outcomes, CII finds

“Around three-quarters of firms highlighted difficulties with integrating and sourcing appropriate data and connecting different datasets,” according to the CII’s latest roundtable.

Source: Money Marketing

Budget speculation risks pushing clients into costly mistakes

AJ Bell suggests public speculation leading to rash decisions.

Source: Money Marketing

‘Children learn money long before they understand a mortgage or a pension’

Making the case for introducing financial topics early.

Source: FT Adviser

More than 1m pensioners now paying 40% or more in tax

Unveiled as a result of Steve Webb’s FoI.

Source: Money Marketing

TRADE & ECONOMY

Jobseekers warned over online interview and recruitment scams