Ember Television

Creative content marketing agency specialising in video production and animation. #Video #Marketing

[Robin Powell @RobinJPowell]

This week’s heatwave in Europe is “unmistakably” caused by climate change, say researchers at World Weather Attribution (WWA). Current temperatures would have been virtually impossible 50 years ago.

#ClimateChange https://t.co/5e1gKxmtWD

[Robin Powell @RobinJPowell]

Most of us have a dream we'd pursue if work wasn't in the way.

My co-author Jonathan Hollow had one. At 53 he held a senior role at the UK's Money and Pensions Service. What he really wanted was to study Roman history.

So he did the sums. Knew they worked. Quit his job.

Six years on, he's living the dream.. Doctorate in progress, archaeological digs across Europe, nominated for teaching awards by his students at the University of Kent.

We called our book 'How to Fund the Life You Want' for a reason.

What would you do if you knew your numbers worked? 🤔

[Robin Powell @RobinJPowell]

People often say to me, 'I read The Evidence-Based Investor every week. So can I manage my own investments?'

It's the wrong question.

Most people can learn the mechanics. Spread your money widely, keep costs low, leave it alone. That part isn't hard.

But can you manage yourself when markets fall and every instinct screams sell? Do you understand the UK tax system, which seems to change every year? And do you have a financial plan?

Most of us, if we're honest, will answer no to at least one of those questions.

Many people don't need an adviser, especially when they're starting out. But sooner or later, most of us hit decisions where good advice pays for itself many times over.

The new edition of How to Fund the Life You Want, which I wrote with Jonathan Hollow, helps you work out which camp you're in. And if you'd rather go it alone, we show you how to build your own plan, with an online workbook to guide you.

If you manage your own money, I'd love to know: what convinced you that you didn't need an adviser? And how's it going?

[Prof. John Clancy @johnclancy]

The brilliant @RobinJPowell updated this a few weeks ago. It’s a must-read. But especially for any new councillor going onto a local government Pension Fund. &for Birmingham City Council’s new administration cabinet, &its out-of-depth Chief Commissioner. https://t.co/is5VFXxBbh

[Robin Powell @RobinJPowell]

Probability theory began at the gaming table.

Girolamo Cardano — Renaissance physician, mathematician and gambler — wanted to understand dice.

His insight was simple but profound: chance has structure. You can count the outcomes. You can calculate the odds.

And once you do, you realise something uncomfortable: most gamblers lose not because they are unlucky, but because the odds are against them.

Five centuries later, investors face a similar problem.

Stock picking. Market timing. Expensive active funds.

Success is possible. But the costs are high, the competition is fierce, and the winners are hard to identify in advance.

The investment industry is happy for the game to continue. Every trade, every fund switch, every expensive product generates revenue.

Cardano’s lesson still matters: understand the odds — then stop playing games that are stacked against you.

Our video for @IFAdotcom is worth five minutes of your time ➡️ https://t.co/n1suorde1j

#EvidenceBasedInvesting #IndexFunds #BehavioralFinance

[Robin Powell @RobinJPowell]

Published today: the second edition of How to Fund the Life You Want, the award-winning book I co-authored with Jonathan Hollow.

The most common response to the first edition wasn't 'I learned something.' It was 'I finally did something about it.'

That's what we designed it for. The book comes with a downloadable workbook that makes you apply every chapter to your own life.. because understanding your finances and actually sorting them out are two very different things.

Buy the book here ➡️ https/tinyurl.com/how2fund2

#Investing #PersonalFinance

[Robin Powell @RobinJPowell]

Very few, if any, fund managers properly beat the market in the long run.

That's not opinion.. It's what decades of research consistently show.

So why are millions still paying them to try?

Because the investment industry profits from your confusion.

The fully updated second edition of How to Fund the Life You Want is out on Thursday. @jphollow and I wrote it to close the knowledge gap the industry has no interest in closing.

With a foreword by @ClaerB #Investing

🔗 https://t.co/3Pz2orkQJs

#EvidenceBasedInvesting #How2Fund #PersonalFinance

[Robin Powell @RobinJPowell]

The reason why many investors struggle is not they lack financial knowledge.. They struggle because they don't understand #Statistics

That's why I've been working with @mark_hebner and @ifadotcom on Pioneers of Probability, a new video series tracing the ideas that underpin modern #Investing back to the mathematicians who figured them out.

First up: Fibonacci.. the man who gave Europe the number system that makes every index calculation, every financial model and every compound growth table possible.

👉 https://t.co/DDve21DQzb

[Robin Powell @RobinJPowell]

How much do you need to retire?

Whatever number you just thought of, the research suggests you're probably wrong.

Kahneman revised his own famous finding before he died. 85% of people underestimate what others need. And trusting your neighbours is worth more than doubling your income.

The problem isn't the spreadsheet. It's the assumptions we feed into it.

My latest for The Times ➡️ https://t.co/dEyn7HvzOS

[Robin Powell @RobinJPowell]

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐮𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥?

According to a 2010 study in the Journal of Finance: 0.6%.

Not 60. Not 6. 𝐍𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐬𝐢𝐱 𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭.

[Robin Powell @RobinJPowell]

Consolidation in the financial advice industry is gathering pace around the world.

Private equity increasingly owns the advice, the platform and the investment product.

Same group. Every layer. Margin captured at every stage.

It's called vertical integration. But who's it designed to serve? 🤔

Link in the comments 👉

#FinancialAdvice #WealthManagement

[Robin Powell @RobinJPowell]

𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐥 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐠𝐨𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐩 𝐟𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞'𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐨𝐰𝐧.

Not through bad luck, but because the industry profits from keeping them in the dark.

@jphollow and I wrote How to Fund the Life You Want to change that.

The second edition is out 14th May. Click on the link below to pre-order it. @BloomsburyBiz

[Robin Powell @RobinJPowell]

Crispin Odey has dropped his £79m libel claim against the FT. 15 women were prepared to testify on the paper's behalf.

It's powerful reminder that investigative journalism remains one of the few forces capable of holding the very wealthy and powerful to account.

Congratulations to @pcaruanagalizia, @miss_marriage and @antoniacundy for their courage and tenacity. https://t.co/jwHQuuAZsM

[Robin Powell @RobinJPowell]

𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲'𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧'𝐭. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲'𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲.

BrewDog's Equity for Punks scheme isan obvious example. But it's a universal trick:

📌 Stock-picking apps dressed up as "democratising finance"
📌 Crypto platforms promising "the future of money"
📌 Even traditional fund managers charging active fees for closet index funds

The pattern is always the same. Wrap speculation in a compelling story. Make it feel like identity. And hope nobody asks the boring question: what does the evidence actually say? 👇

#BrewDog #Shares #Investing

[Robin Powell @RobinJPowell]

Bitcoin was sold as digital gold — portfolio insurance for uncertain times.

Then it fell 46% in four months while gold kept hitting record highs.

The academic evidence is consistent: Bitcoin's correlations with risk assets climb precisely when investors most need protection.

An umbrella that folds in the wind isn't an umbrella.

#Bitcoin #Crypto #Gold #Markets #Investing https://t.co/xNL87hLfJ5

[Robin Powell @RobinJPowell]

Among savers with £250k+, those who score lowest on financial literacy keep 70% in cash.

They're not short of money. They're short of confidence. And confidence, it turns out, comes from starting.

My latest for The Times 👇

#Investing #FinancialLiteracy #InvestorEducation https://t.co/Txtc6Ba92V

[Robin Powell @RobinJPowell]

AI stocks didn't fall because AI failed. They fell because AI worked — and investors are scrambling to figure out who actually benefits.

Here are seven lessons from the tech sell-off for evidence-based investors. 👇

https://t.co/ixZIfnmkf8 #Stocks #Markets #AIBubble

[Robin Powell @RobinJPowell]

If stock prices move randomly, most people assume something is wrong with the market.

Paul Samuelson proved the opposite. Randomness is what you'd expect when markets are working properly.

Any predictable pattern gets traded away the moment someone spots it. The only thing left to move prices is news. And news, by definition, is what nobody expected.

Our latest Papers That Changed Investing episode for @IFAdotcom tells the story. 👇

#Investing #EvidenceBasedInvesting #Markets

[Robin Powell @RobinJPowell]

A doctor has malpractice insurance. A financial adviser has regulatory obligations. ChatGPT has a disclaimer.

In our latest Deep Dive on TEBI, we take a close look at AI investment advice.. The pitfalls, the real-world losses, and how to use these tools without getting burned. 👇

#FinancialAdvice #FinancialLiteracy https://t.co/CFaWcIwFVf

[Robin Powell @RobinJPowell]

Stocks have been on a bull run.

The S&P 500 delivered 26% in 2023, 25% in 2024, and 17% in 2025.

In that same period, Aston Villa have the best home record of any team in Europe's top five leagues.

As any #AVFC fan knows, that's not normally how it works..