Purpose

I see five major groups squeezing the financial markets these days. The first one is obvious: it’s the FinTech start-up community, which is now valued as a third of all banking value. The second is clear too: it’s the Big Tech firms like Facebook and Amazon, who are launching their …

Is it just me, or is the world a scary place at the moment? For most of my life, the world has been harmonising, working together to create global trade and destroy barriers. The fall of the Berlin Wall, the opening of China to world trade and the growth of …

Mark Carney stood up at COP26, alongside Larry Fink (CEO of BlackRock) and Jane Fraser (CEO of Citigroup). Together they announced that the financial industry has pledged $130 trillion of assets to solve climate challenges. Woo-hoo! Thanks. Trouble is that it’s a lie. Larry Fink and Jane Fraser run two …

Just in case you didn’t catch it, yesterday was the Finance Day at COP26. Rishi Sunak, the UK Chancellor, made a speech commiting the UK to be the first with a net-zero financial centre. Watch the speech:  Or, if you prefer, here’s the transcript: Direct the world’s wealth to …

The discussions of today’s COP26 interested me, as it’s all about the money. Today is the day that all of the world’s finance ministers meet to discuss their dedication to climate change. They had this before – in Paris six years ago they promised $100 billion to be given to …

Kate Mackenzie, who writes with Bloomberg Green, published a fascinating long-read article on Phenomenal World the other day. I wanted to publish the whole thing, but instead took some key paragraphs to share here. Maybe this is why, as Greta Thunberg said it, most leaders talking about climate change is …

The United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) takes place in Glasgow from 31 October – 12 November 2021. Triodos Bank have selected five key events they feel worth attending so, here they are: ‘Finance Day’ – Wednesday 3 November For the first time the COP has an official day of negotiations dedicated …

I’ve been involved in an exciting group that is sending a letter to Prince Charles and the World Economic Forum calling for a Global Citizens Assembly. It’s a call to action for COP26 and I was tempted to write all about it … but was beaten to the game by …

I’ve been writing and thinking a lot about ESG – Environment, Sustainability and Governance – as it’s the theme of my next book. Then up popped a headline: Prince Harry and Meghan are joining Ethic, a fintech asset manager in the fast-growing environmental, social and governance space, “My husband has …

Talking about enforcing the system, I’m reading the Financial Reporting Council’s annual report about auditors of banks. Yes, I am that sad. The report notes that, across the UK’s seven biggest auditing firms, almost 30% of all bookkeeping was below par. It makes you wonder how they get away with …

I’ve written so much that you would think there was nothing more to write. But there always is. One thing about all I’ve written that is consistent is leadership. What seems to be annoying me the most is a lack of leadership or, rather, a lack of the right leadership. …

I love the Darwin Awards. For those who are unfamiliar – is anyone not aware of these awards? – they are given to those who remove themselves from the gene pool in the funniest or stupidest manner. My faves include the guy who launched himself in a chair attached to …

I’ve grown up angry. Angry with the system, angry with the world, angry with the way things work, angry with me. Not great, huh? I need some anger management. I meet people who are laid back, who are relaxed, who are chilled. That’s not me. I’m a troublemaker. A fire …

When I was growing up, my parents drilled into me a number of key reasons to live: get a good job, build wealth, buy a house, get married and have kids. They also made it clear I should not cheat – should not cheat on my partner or employer; should …

I grew up as a fan-boy of all things Marvel, and have been delighted with the way the Marvel Universe has panned out for next generations. In particular, Spider-Man has always been a highlight, and I regularly use one of the lines from these comic books: With Great Power Comes …