A friend recently asked me for some advice on how to invest a windfall, couched in the following caveat: “I don’t want to place it with a manager. I don’t understand how they justify their fees and seeing as they call their clients ‘muppets’, I’d rather go it alone.” This brief and damning summary of financial services from an average individual shows the scale of the challenge facing the industry….

We held our first speaker and discussion meeting on 28th June at the Association of British Insurers on Gresham Street with an audience of around 100 of our mailing list. Our speakers were: the shadow chancellor, Ed Balls MP; Gerard Lyons, Chief Economist at Standard Chartered Bank and Joanne Segars, Chief Executive of the National Association of Pension Funds. Our chair was Ben Hall of the Financial Times. All the…