The Retirement Paradox

The World Cup and the World of Fund Management

The 23rd FIFA World Cup is under way, running from 11 June to 19 July 2026 across 16 cities spanning the United States, Mexico, and Canada. For the first time in the tournament's history, 48 teams compete for the prize, up from the 32-team format that had been in place since France 1998. Over one thousand players, dozens of nations, and one trophy. The parallel with fund management is deliberate, and it runs considerably deeper than most people recognise. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Ancient Wisdom in the Age of the Mega-IPO

Writing this from somewhere between the Acropolis and the agora, with markets falling on the day, it feels apt to contemplate what the ancient Greeks might make of the current investment landscape. As Athens has stood for millennia, so too has human nature, and nowhere is that more apparent than in the behaviour unfolding around what could be the most consequential IPO wave in market history. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

What Value Do You Place on Trust?

It is a simple question, yet one that sits at the very heart of financial advice. When a client hands over their life savings, their retirement fund, or the proceeds of a business they have spent decades building, they are not simply transferring capital. They are extending trust. And that trust flows in two directions: from the client to the adviser, and from the adviser to the fund manager they have chosen to recommend. The weight of that chain of responsibility should never be underestimated. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Active Versus Passive: The Question That Refuses to Go Away

The investment industry's most persistent debate continues to generate more heat than light. The argument is deceptively simple: most active fund managers fail to beat the index over time, so why pay higher fees when an S&P 500 tracker delivers the market return at a fraction of the cost? For many commentators, the case is closed. Buy the index, ignore the noise, done. If only sound investment were that straightforward. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

East and West: A Meeting of the Giants

History was made in Beijing last week. For the first time in nearly a decade, an American president set foot on Chinese soil for a state visit. President Trump's visit to China from the 13th to the 15th of May was his second state visit to the country and the first by any American president since his own trip in 2017. The world was watching, and with good reason. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.