The ‘bias’ in question is ‘gender imbalance’ and much discussed in our trade press this week, not least because our regulator has decided that it’s an issue. The adviser male/female ratio is currently 80/20 at best and has barely changed in the odd few years I’ve been in the business. Although at Philip James Financial Services, things are a little different/better as we’re 50/50, higher still if you include the up and coming. OK, a small sample and pool, and I can’t claim it’s been a policy decision, it’s just sort of happened that way, ‘organic growth’ in management speak. But that’s not going to stop me blowing the ’Top Firm in more ways than one’ trumpet.
Happy Days are here again?
The ’70s were for my coming-of-age time, as they were for Stuart Maconie, author of ‘The Nanny State Made Me’. It’s when I took my 0 and A Levels, went to uni and started my first job. My view of the decade will always be rose-tinted, I’ll remember the music, discos, student grants (wouldn’t have known what a tuition fee was) and monthly inflationary pay rises negotiated by unions of which I was not a member. The strikes, high taxes and IRA bombs were background noise to me and, yes, I was the first in my family to go to university and, yes, despite everything, felt more secure with a nanny state in charge than at any time since. I’d happily pay more tax to give my kids and grandkids the same.
