The Futureverse

In this episode, Y TREE’s Harriet Johnston is joined by a psychotherapist and a financial journalist for a conversation about the relationship between money and psychology. Lucy Beresford is a broadcaster and psychotherapist, and former investment banker. Robin Powell is the founding editor of the Evidence Based Investor blog. Learned behaviours – many of which we are not aware of – so often define our decision-making about our financial lives. Learning to transcend them can be difficult, and requires a deep understanding of ourselves and our own unique relationship with money. Together Harriet, Robin and Lucy discuss the psychology of investing, property ownership, and how to cultivate healthy familial relationships in relation to money and finance. 

The Futureverse is brought to you by Intelligence Squared in partnership with Y TREE. For more information visit y-tree.com/futureverse 

#financialfreedom #financialrisk #personalfinance #transparency #success #meaning #fulfillment

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What does it mean to be truly successful? In the latest episode of our series in which Y TREE speaks to the people we admire about what success means to them, Harriet Johnston is joined by Niall Mills, the Managing Partner of Igneo Infrastructure Partners, for a conversation that seeks to get to the heart of this age-old question. Drawing on Niall’s upbringing, his early passion for getting to the bottom of how things worked, and his career to date, Harriet and Niall delve into questions around meaning and fulfillment, the power of mentorship and ‘paying it forward’, and the importance of sustainability in any definition of success, both professionally and personally. 

The Futureverse is brought to you by Intelligence Squared in partnership with Y TREE. For more information visit y-tree.com/futureverse 

#financialfreedom #financialrisk #personalfinance #transparency #success #meaning #fulfillment

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In this episode, Kamal Ahmed is joined by two bestselling authors: a life designer and a behavioural scientist to discuss the tools and insights that we can use to build happy and healthy lives. A mechanical engineer by training, Dave Evans teaches the overwhelmingly popular Designing Your Life courses at Stanford, and is the co-author of the New York Times bestseller Designing Your Life: How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life. Dr Grace Lordan is an Associate Professor at the London School of Economics, and the author of Think Big, Take Small Steps, and Build the Future you Want. She is also the inaugural Director of the Behavioural Science MSc at the LSE, and has served as an expert advisor to the UK government sitting on their skills and productivity board.

The Futureverse is brought to you by Intelligence Squared in partnership with Y TREE. For more information visit y-tree.com/futureverse 

#financialfreedom #financialrisk #personalfinance #transparency #success #meaning #fulfillment

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In this episode, Y TREE’s Harriet Johnston is joined by two trailblazing women, Sharmadean Reid and Debbie Wosskow, for a conversation about their journeys as entrepreneurs and working mothers. What more needs to be done to support female entrepreneurs – and women more broadly – to ensure combining work and motherhood isn’t financially punitive? What can the entrepreneurial community do to ensure more female founders receive financial backing? And, why is investing in women simply good business? Sharmadean and Debbie have tirelessly campaigned around these questions, and they are issues that we are constantly focused on at Y TREE too, with 60 per cent of the UK’s wealth is set to be female by 2025. Success means recognising female founders as the business opportunity they are. 

The Futureverse is brought to you by Intelligence Squared in partnership with Y TREE. The past is in your head. The future is in your hands. For more information visit y-tree.com/futureverse 

#financialfreedom #financialrisk #personalfinance #transparency #success #meaning #fulfillment 

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What does it mean to be truly successful? In this episode, Y TREE’s Head of Brand and Marketing is joined by former barrister, police officer, educator, and author Adam Pacifico for a conversation that seeks to get to the heart of this age-old question. Drawing on his learnings from talking to guests on his own podcast, ‘The Leadership Enigma’, Adam and Harriet delve into questions around meaning and fulfillment; whether having more money really does improve our wellbeing; and, how to decide what success means to you – for after all, isn’t that the most important question of all? 

The Futureverse is brought to you by Intelligence Squared in partnership with Y TREE. The past is in your head. The future is in your hands. For more information visit y-tree.com/futureverse

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We’d love to hear your feedback and what you think we should talk about next, who we should have on and what our future debates should be. 

Send us an email or voice note with your thoughts to [email protected] or Tweet us @intelligence2. 

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Not many of us can claim to have hunted with the Bushmen of the Kalahari; been detained for spying by the KGB; or smuggled ourselves over a border into an active war zone under the floorboards of an ambulance. Yet, for our latest guests on the Futureverse, this is all in a day’s work. 

The Sunday Times’ Chief Foreign Correspondent Christina Lamb, who has been covering conflict around the globe for over three decades, does not regard herself as a risk taker, though. It was not an attraction to danger that led her to war reporting, but a surprise wedding invitation that landed on her desk in 1987. Similarly, as a teenager, the adventurer and broadcaster Simon Reeve, enjoyed the thrill of cycling down Acton High Street on his BMX, but did not imagine that he would spend his early professional life on the tail of neo-Nazi terrorists in Boston Spa.

In this special episode of the Futureverse, Christina and Simon join Kamal Ahmed for a conversation about their attitudes to risk: what motivates them to take the risks that they do and how they calculate risk on the ground. It is a fascinating insight into what it means to put your life on the line in order to shine light on the darkest corners of the world. It also is a prescient reminder of Y TREE’s core principles: mitigate unnecessary risk – even Simon Reeve will not get in a car without a seat belt – and always set a personal risk level that feels right for you. 

The Futureverse is brought to you by Intelligence Squared in partnership with Y TREE. The past is in your head. The future is in your hands. For more information visit y-tree.com/futureverse

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On the face of it, Michael Welch OBE seems to have it all: he’s the President and CEO of America’s largest tire distributor, and he sold his previous business – Blackcircles – to Michelin for £50 million in 2015. 

But, Michael’s start in life was not straightforward. Adopted as a baby and stymied by dyslexia and dyscalculia, he ended up working in a local garage, having left school at fifteen with no qualifications. Redundancy followed, but, supported by a grant from the Prince’s Trust, he set up his first business aged seventeen. 

Michael’s inspirational story is one of resilience, determination, and, crucially, a clear appetite for risk – be it writing a letter to business legend Sir Terry Leahy early in his career, which led to mentorship, friendship, and financial investment; leaving a role running Kwikfit’s e-commerce with only a month’s salary to begin all over again, from scratch; or, moving his young family to the US, compelled by the prospect of cracking a new market. 

‘Luck,’ Michael says, ‘follows risk – in almost all cases.’ 

Join us for the latest episode of the Futureverse in which Y TREE’s Head of Brand and Marketing Harriet Johnston speaks to Michael Welch OBE about his relationship with risk, and his journey as an entrepreneur so far. 

The Futureverse is brought to you by Intelligence Squared in partnership with Y TREE. The past is in your head. The future is in your hands. For more information visit y-tree.com/futureverse 

#financialfreedom #financialrisk #personalfinance #transparency #personalrisklevel

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In this episode, we are introducing a theme in the Futureverse – risk. 

Over the next few weeks, we will hear from an adventurer, a war correspondent, and an entrepreneur about their relationship with risk – in business, and in their lives more broadly. 

And, we begin with financial risk. 

What is financial risk? Why is it important to set a financial risk level? What is your financial risk level? These are questions we often assume are best avoided – many of us go through life burying our heads in the sand, giving any kind of financial risk as wide a berth as possible.  

But, in investing, risk is crucial. In this episode, Y TREE’s Head of Brand and Marketing is joined by Y TREE’s co-founder and Head of Client Relationships Johnnie Hampel and Nic Humphries, Senior Partner and Executive Chairman at Hg Capital, Europe’s largest investor in software and services, to unpack these questions and more. 

From the outside, both Nic and Johnnie are individuals who seem to have a high appetite for financial risk. But, as this episode reveals, neither think of themselves as such. Both have diminished their risk level through a deep knowledge and understanding of their respective fields. 

Join us for a fascinating insight into this, the most fundamental of investment principles – and if this episode prompts you to consider your own personal risk level, visit y-tree.com to find out more about Y TREE helps their clients ensure that they are adopting an approach to risk that fits their life and outlook. 

Nic Humphries: https://hgcapital.com/team/Nic-Humphries

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In the UK, more than a third of us struggle to talk to anyone about money, with one in ten not even willing to discuss finances with their partner. Yet, opening up conversations about money, learning the tools and techniques for making these conversations productive, and understanding the pressure points around an individual’s financial situation can be totally life-changing. Wealth gaps between families; financial issues between couples; young people with large inheritances; sudden lifestyle changes; these are just some of the situations in which being able to successfully navigate conversations about money is key to happy and healthy relationships, with each other, and with our finances.

In this episode, Y TREE’s CEO Stuart Cash and Head of Brand and Marketing Harriet Johnston are joined by Oliver James, psychologist and author of “Affluenza” and The Family Wealth Mentor, Diana Chambers, who is committed to helping her clients manage their wealth in emotionally intelligent ways to unpick, and shine a light on, some of the thorniest – but so often undiscussed – topics surrounding money.

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Married couples often comprise a CFO spouse and a non-CFO spouse. That’s how the wealth management industry has historically approached things: one partner, more often than not, the man, is responsible for the family’s finances; the other, more often than not, the woman, is sidelined. As a result, women have traditionally felt unwelcome in the wealth management space. 

In this episode, Y TREE’s Head of Brand and Marketing Harriet Johnston and Head of Financial Life Strategy Eliana Sydes are joined by author Otegha Uwagba and Board Member at the Cherie Blair Foundation Caroline Edwards to discuss how and why women have so often been excluded from conversations about money and wealth; the impact of the gender pay and pensions gap on women’s financial futures; the role traditional financial institutions have played in marginalising women’s voices and experiences; and what can be done to address these issues. 

How can we all combat the institutional biases that so often leave women worse off? What can we do to ensure that women have a guaranteed seat at the table in important financial conversations? How can we challenge engrained familial roles? Join us for a uniquely female perspective on money and life.

Recommended Reading: 

We Need To Talk About Money, by Otegha Uwagba 

The Blend: How to Successfully Manage a Career and a Family by Tobi Asare

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The literal translation of amateur is ‘lover of’ so why is it a word so often steeped in derogatory overtones? Why, when we’re asked for our hobbies, are we inclined to diminish their status in our lives? Our hobbies make us human. From pottery, to geo-guessing; orienteering to stamp collecting; it is in these small, often quiet, building blocks of life that we so often find true meaning and connection.

In this episode, Kamal Ahmed is joined by the editor of Prospect Magazine, and amateur pianist Alan Rusbridger; Senior Partner at Slaughter and May and composer Steve Cooke; comedian, writer and Adult Fan of LEGO Emma Kennedy; and, ex-property developer turned golfer extraordinaire Mark Gershinson to discuss the joy of part-time pursuits and being an amateur.

Join us for a conversation that seeks to reinvigorate the concept of the hobby and renew it with it’s true meaning: hobbies, from the run of the mill to the absurd, are about our passions; they are about self-discovery; and about building a life that fulfils us and provides contentment. Whether you’re a relentless hobbyist or have been prevaricating about booking that first violin lesson, this episode is for you: remember, it’s never too late to start.

For more information about Y TREE please visit https://www.y-tree.com/ 

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So, you’ve decided you want to begin donating to charity. But how? 

In this episode, Kamal Ahmed speaks to Anna Josse, the CEO and Founder of Prism the Gift Fund, a registered charity which administers the giving of significant gifts to charities all over the world, and David Duke MBE, the Founder and CEO of Street Soccer Scotland and Street Soccer London, non-profit social enterprises that use football to help create positive change in the lives of socially disadvantaged adults and young people. 

In conversation with Kamal, Anna and David discuss the nuts and bolts of charitable giving from their own unique perspectives. Through her work at Prism, Anna has facilitated the making of millions of pounds of charitable donations around the world, and across sectors, while David founded his own charity on the basis of his own personal experience of homelessness. From how to take advantage of Gift Aid to how to choose between different charities, this is an enlightening conversation guaranteed to demystify this complex space and provide practical advice for anyone seeking to build a philanthropic legacy.

The Futureverse is brought to you by Intelligence Squared in partnership with Y TREE. The past is in your head. The future is in your hands. For more information visit y-tree.com/futureverse

Street Soccer Scotland - https://streetsoccerscotland.org/ 

Prism The Gift Fund - https://prismthegiftfund.co.uk/

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What if the solution to solving extreme poverty was as simple as giving cash to those who need it? 

GiveDirectly, the fastest growing NGO founded this century, does just that. By allowing donors to send money directly to the world’s poorest, it has revolutionised the aid sector. In the last decade, GiveDirectly has delivered $580M+ to over 1.37 million people across eleven countries. Cash in hand, no strings attached. 

In this episode, Kamal Ahmed is joined by the President of GiveDirectly Rory Stewart to discuss GiveDirectly’s work, the profound implications of direct cash transfers and why we all have a duty to do what we can to uplift the global poor. Rory’s career, which has taken him from Iraq, where he was Deputy-Governor of two provinces following the invasion in 2003, to the UK Government, where he served as Secretary of State for International Development, has profoundly shaped his approach to his own legacy, and what it means to be a good ancestor. Kamal and Rory discuss this and more in this wide-ranging interview with one of the most knowledgeable and compelling voices on international development and the charity sector. 

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Some of the richest people in the world have decided against bequeathing their fortunes to their children; from Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, to Daniel Craig and Michael Sheen. The proponents of this view offer many arguments, including the idea that inheriting huge wealth can detrimentally impact children, distorting anything they might do with their life. They also argue that the wealthy are morally obliged to give most, or all, of their wealth away to effective causes – children, or no children. 

Nonetheless, historically, the vast majority of parents have decided to hand down their wealth to their children, believing it will help rather than harm them. 

In this episode, three leading thinkers come together to debate the motion ‘The kindest thing a parent can do for their child is to leave them nothing.’ Utilitarian philosopher Professor Peter Singer champions the moral imperative for the wealthy to give to the global poor; Julia Davies, a member of Patriotic Millionaires UK, advocates for a wealth tax, arguing that it should not be down to the rich to decide whether – and how – to give their wealth away; and author and academic Adrian Wooldridge argues that wealthy individuals are a net positive for society. Expertly moderated by journalist and broadcaster Kamal Ahmed, this conversation is a thought-provoking insight into one of the biggest decisions any parent has to make. 

The Futureverse is brought to you by Intelligence Squared in partnership with Y TREE. The past is in your head. The future is in your hands. For more information visit y-tree.com/futureverse

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Y TREE was founded in 2017 to give its clients insight and advice about money and life. They call this Financial Life Intelligence. At the heart of this idea sits a vision of a world where wealth is defined by how you live, not what you have. Y TREE unlocks value for its clients that goes beyond the financial. In doing so, it helps them to live more meaningful and fulfilling lives.

That’s the pitch, but what does it mean in practice?

In this episode, Kamal Ahmed finds out. To do so, and to lift the lid on Y TREE’s work, he is joined by Y TREE co-founders Stuart Cash and Johnnie Hampel, Head of Financial Life Strategy Eliana Sydes, Head of Client Advice Will Hooton and Head of Investment Solutions Marc Meshaka.

The Futureverse is brought to you by Intelligence Squared in partnership with Y TREE. The past is in your head. The future is in your hands. For more information visit y-tree.com/futureverse 

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Until very recently, female artists have occupied a tiny space of the art market, undervalued and ignored. There are no women in the top 0.03% of the auction market, where 41% of the profit is concentrated. Overall, 96.1% of artworks sold at auction are by male artists. The most expensive work sold by a woman artist at auction, Georgia O’Keeffe’s Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1, sold in 2014 for $44.4 million—over four hundred million dollars less than the auction record for a male artist: Leonardo Da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi, which sold in 2017 for $450.3 million, shattering the previous record of $179.4 million for a work by Picasso. 

Now that’s changing. This year’s Venice Biennale was heavily skewed in favour of women for the first time ever. Historically, about 10% of artists in the main exhibition have tended to be women, rising to 30% in recent years; in 2019, the UK-based curator Ralph Rugoff’s exhibition achieved rough parity for the first time. Cecilia Alemani, curator of the 2022 Biennale, included approximately 90% female and gender non-conforming artists. 

Who is driving this change? And how do we continue to make sure the work of female artists is given the recognition they deserve? Join Kamal Ahmed as he explores the role of women in the contemporary art market with art historian and broadcaster Katy Hessel, art historian and founder of ArtscapesUK Rose Balston, art market specialist Bojana Popovic, entrepreneur Marine Tanguy and patron and academic Princess Alia Al-Senussi. 

The Futureverse is brought to you by Intelligence Squared in partnership with Y TREE. The past is in your head. The future is in your hands. For more information visit y-tree.com/futureverse

The Story of Art without Men by Katy Hessel: 

https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-story-of-art-without-men/katy-hessel/9781529151145

Rose Balston’s ‘Old Mistresses’ lecture series: 

https://artscapesuk.com/old-mistresses/

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How do we define value? How has this changed over time? And who decides what is deemed valuable? For centuries, society has seen value mainly through an economic lens: one takes a job because of its monetary benefits; marriage is a financially beneficial relationship that enables stability; and the true test of a business is its profit at the end of the year. But is this changing? In recent years, factors such as climate change, social justice and the pandemic have forced us to reconsider how we define value. We are in the era of the Value Revolution.

In this episode, recorded on July 5 at Y TREE's second live event in the Futureverse series, three experts discuss and debate some of the most pressing issues that have arisen as a result of this critical turning point: Will private equity transform the financial industry? Can capitalism really adapt so that things other than monetary value are considered important in business, including fairness and environmental impact? And are we finally seeing a growing awareness that value is not always quantified by a price tag? Some things, such as time, health, job satisfaction and the survival of our planet are surely worth more than a number in a bank account.  

Simon Brewer, host of the award-winning Money Maze Podcast, gives us his thoughts on the dramatic shifts in the economy over the last few decades. Political economist and author Adrienne Buller argues that businesses that engage in sustainability initiatives and ‘green capitalism’ are harming rather than helping the planet. And Lucy Kellaway, former FT columnist, now charity founder, author and maths and economics teacher, offers a fresh way to decide what to prioritise in our personal and professional lives. Expertly hosted by broadcaster Jon Sopel, this is a conversation that is guaranteed to change the way you think about value and worth.

To find out more visit https://www.y-tree.com/futureverse

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The future can look like a scary place. Climate change is upon us and we’re in the throes of huge technological change without a clear idea of where we will land. Added to which, we are constantly bombarded by news of the risks we face. 

But humans are creatures of collaboration and ingenuity. Sure, we might spend a lot of time focusing on external threats rather than appreciating what we have – but that survival instinct helps protect us. And it inspires many of our brightest minds to focus on de-risking the future, engaging with our problems head on and working to make the future a safer, better place for the generations that will follow.

Step into the Futureverse, with Juha-Pekka Luntama, Head of Space Weather at the European Space Agency; Prof. Dr. Sibylle Günter, Scientific Director of the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics; Holden Karnofsky, co-CEO of Open Philanthropy; and Kevin Warwick, Emeritus Professor of Cybernetics at Coventry and Reading Universities.

The Futureverse is brought to you by Intelligence Squared in partnership with Y TREE. The past is in your head. The future is in your hands. For more information visit y-tree.com/futureverse

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We live in a time of greater uncertainty than ever before in human history. We are poised between the twin precipices of climate change and rapidly accelerating technological development. How we manage them will determine whether our future is one where humans will thrive, falter or something in between. Welcome to the Futureverse – brought to you by Intelligence Squared and Y TREE – a space to explore the ideas that will shape our future.  

In this episode, three leading thinkers come together to debate the motion, ‘Will The World Be A Better Place in 5, 50 and 500 Years?’ The sculptor Sir Antony Gormley champions the role of art in public spaces in a future society that puts community and care at its centre. Climate change activist Clover Hogan argues that the next ten years will be crucial for determining the next 50. Tech entrepreneur and former chief business officer at Google X, Mo Gawdat considers how we can imbue AI with values aligned to those of humanity. Expertly hosted by broadcaster Jon Sopel, this is a conversation that is guaranteed to change the way you think about the future.

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The future. It’s all there, in front of us. It could go wonderfully. Or it could go badly wrong. It will inevitably require our passions and our ingenuity. So how do we see the challenges early on, find solutions and help make the world a better place? For ourselves, for our families, for everyone. Welcome to The Futureverse, a new series brought to you by Intelligence Squared and in partnership with Y TREE.

In the first episode of The Futureverse podcast, From the Ancients to AI, host Kamal Ahmed and a panel of experts explore the history of the future as an idea. Dr Aleks Krotoski, social psychologist, researcher and science communicator, explains why planning for the future is at the heart of being human. Dr Amanda Rees, a historian of science based at the University of York, and Alexander Boxer, author of A Scheme of Heaven, look back at the history of the future as a concept; how have we juggled planning and prediction from ancient times through to modernity? And Dirk Helbing, Professor of Computational Social Science at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, reveals how we might be able to stream data into a giant simulator that could help us predict – and prepare for – events in the future.

Come with us into The Futureverse: http://intelligencesquared.com/futureverse

For more information and to register to watch an event featuring Sir Antony Gormley, Mo Gawdat and Clover Hogan, please visit: y-tree.com/futureverse

Find out more about Dirk’s latest project - how to build a “digital twin” of the Earth, here: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/358571489

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