Frivolity of fidelity, mindless or mindful – which will it be?
I am faced this morning with stark choice. Do I cycle on the north side of the river to join responsible asset owners and Adrienne Lawlor working out how to do their bit to save the planet.
Or do I stay on the south side and join Holly McKay and the Boring Money team, working out how to extract maximum rents from the wealth of Britain’s middle classes?
My heart is with Adrienne , my head with Holly. Commerce is about wealth transfer and I’m keen to see how the likes of this lot make so much money. There must be value there somewhere.
I’m pleased that a refund policy is available – but I am reporting on the event so it will only be time spent that I can claim back and I’m sure I will have a good time.
The other side of the river
Those prepared to brave Extinction Rebellion in Westminster can make their way to Church House and listen to the great and the good opine on the great social , environmental and governance challenges we face. They will be sponsored by another bunch of financial worthies
I haven’t deliberately faded the logos, that’s just the way they appear on Adrienne’s website.
This conference seems to be about a bunch who’ve made it – proving they’ve still got some sense of decency.
Fortunately I have my super-decent COO – Rahul – ready to do some research with the worthies and swap conference with me as we try to make sense of the competing claims for moral and commercial hegemony from these different crowds and sponsors.
Bridging two worlds
I am minded to spend my day whizzing over Lambeth Bridge, waving from my Santander bike at Extinction Rebellion as I try to make up my mind whether money does any good or is just as boring as Holly claims it is.
And somewhere in between these two extremes – I have to speak to my co-workers in WeWork Fore St about the importance to their budding businesses of complying with auto-enrolment and getting value for money from the pension contributions they are making to their staff.
Quite what the average WeWork co-worker would make of either conference, I don’t know. I suspect they would have more in common with the protestors on Lambeth Bridge than either the retail or institutional money men and women.
Pensions lunch and learn?