On Thursday May 16th, Agewage will be sponsoring the next Transparency Taskforce symposium.

You can sign up to attend this event here.

This is the first time in my career that I have initiated the sponsorship of anything and the amount of shareholder’s funds deployed will be pitifully small, but it is a tiny way to say thanks to Andy Agethangelou for opening the door for businesses such as mine. I toyed with entitling this blog

“Transparency opened the door for AgeWage to walk into the room”

If I were to do a 5 minute short  it would focus on its impact.  Transparency is not an end in itself, but the beginning of things getting better. The manifestation of transparency is improvements, not just in the behaviour of established players, but in the innovation that comes through when dead wood is cut out.

The Transparency has morphed from being a one trick pony (costs and charges) to being a lightening conductor – attracting energy to disrupt bad practice where it can be found. It is a campaigners congregation that feeds off the latent energy in the atmosphere.

Here’s edited highlights of program for Thursday 16th – to show how diverse Andy’s transparency agenda has become

11:50  Presentation by Matthew Taylor, Chief Executive, the RSA

 

12:10  Presentation by Janette Weir, Managing Director at Ignition House; on the the state of distrust in the pensions sector and why we need to act with urgency

 

12:30  Power Panel, with panellists talking about the importance they place on having a trustworthy financial services sector.

– John Howard, former Chair of the Financial Conduct Authority’s Financial Services Consumer Panel; and presenter of BBC Radio 4’s “You and Yours” consumer programme; Chair of the TTF Advisory Board and a whole lotmore!

– Sue Lewis, immediate past Chair of the Financial Conduct Authority’s Financial Services Consumer Panel; member of the TTF Advisory Board and a whole lot more!

 

13:00  Presentation of the Transparency Trophy; a special trophy is awarded to a champion of transparency and finance reform at each of our symposia around the world

13:50 Presentation delivered by Sander Eijkenduijn, Co-Founder at Scorpeo; a case study that will show the desperate need for culture reform and better alignment of interests in the financial services sector. as well as how technology is a friend of transparency

14:20  Presentation delivered by Dan Brocklebank, UK Director, Orbis Investments; a case study on the importance of alignment of interests in relation to fee structures

14:30  “Short Speaking Slots”

Several attendees, including leaders of major trade bodies and professional associations will be sharing their thoughts and reflections on the trust deficit, contextualised as:

“If I had just 5 minutes to comment on how we can accelerate the rebuilding of trust and confidence in financial services, this is what I’d say

– Dr Anna Tilba, Associate Professor in Strategy and Governance, Durham University Business School

– Professor John Wilson, Pro Vice-Chancellor for the Faculty of Business and Law at Northumbria University, Newcastle

– Professor Michael Mainelli,  Executive Chairman, Z/Yen Group

– Mark Turner, Managing Director, Duff & Phelps

– Sunil Chadda, Director, Cairn Consulting

– Corinne Carr, Responsible Pay Consultant, PeopleNe

– Heather Buchanan, Director of Policy, All Party Parliamentary Group on Fairer Business Banking

– Tony Greenham, Executive Director, South West Mutual

– Graham Boyd, Founder, evolutesix

– Jennifer Tankard, Chief Executive, Responsible Finance

– Brandon Horwitz, Principal Consultant, NomBon Consulting Limited

– Colin Baines, Investment Engagement Manager, Friends Provident Foundation

 

16.50  – Baroness Altmann, former Pensions Minister, to reflect on the afternoon’s discussions and debates and to share her thoughts on the major international project we have undertaken.

 

I strongly support the work that Andy has done and continues to do. He sets an agenda that we can follow.

The best way of supporting Andy is to give of your time to attend his events and this one looks a particularly good one.

So here is that registration link again.