Vestra Wealth & The School of Life: Alain de Botton

International eXcellence attended a small soiree last night at the Groucho Club hosted by Vestra Wealth and Alain de Botton from the School of Life. Now at first glance it may seem an odd marriage to team a philosophy/psychology school with a wealth company, but it is without doubt a very good idea indeed.
So how does philosophy bed with wealth? It's all to do with quality of life. Wealth managers are not just about increasing or preserving wealth, they deal with the passing on of wealth, future planning for children and relatives, the partage of accumulated goods and the bequeathment of a quality of life that all of us wish for our children and loved ones.
As David Scott said in the informal discussion (people were encouraged to participate and raise ideas, rather than just listen passively) men in Ireland are not often incited to share their emotions or opinions on wellbeing and we all recognise that England prides itself on a stiff upper lip in the face of adversity. "Pull yourself together man" is such an ubiquitous British quote. Whereas in France psychology and wellbeing are frequent topics of discussion over dinner and few French evenings will not bounce from sex to politics to philosophy over the course of a few glasses of wine. Knowledge and change are vital to improve our lives and recognising the need for change is hard when we are culturally encouraged to battle on in negative circumstances.
We are as a culture becoming more knowledgeable and if wealth companies are making philosophy a part of their culture then change will be much easier.
Since 2008 more and more people are asking their wealth manager to provide advice and guidance to improve the quality of theirs and their children's lives. It is about the life experiences that really bring meaning and create worthwhile memories. Not to mention that philosophy now deals with more than just the abstract concepts of life and where did we come from, delving into how we live our lives and how we can make them better in every sense, from social to cultural to communal.
For change to be effective it must be cultural as we are more affected by our immediate peers than anything else. Our very environment and society has to carry through these changes. Malcolm Gladwell talks about Mavens who are the effectors of change, people who both connect with many others, but more importantly are trusted by them. Mavens are those that seek out the very best information and love passing it on and crucially, the information they impart will be acted upon.
Wealth companies by their very position as advisors to people with a large financial influence on society are ideally placed to be such Mavens and improve the quality of the service and the lives of their clients. This will have a trickle down effect and be followed by other companies that seek to emulate success, as long as the transmission of quality in our lives brings the right rewards.
Many at the wedding were cynical but perhaps this is a strange marriage that might just work out well because of their differences.
Vestra Wealth was established in 2008 aiming to be a new breed of wealth manager which put understanding clients at the heart of its founding principles. It believes that its partnership with The School of Life is an extension of that client-centric thinking and a demonstration of its ‘beyond money’ approach.
The first philosophical essay in the series will have ‘Change’ as its theme and be authored by John Armstrong, former Philosopher in Residence at the Melbourne Business School. Subsequent themes in the 12-essay series will include ‘risk’, ‘courage’, ‘family’, ‘decisions’, ‘value’, ‘envy’, ‘love’, ‘ethics’, ‘trust’, ‘ambition’ and ‘legacy’.
David Scott comments: “We are looking to develop a much deeper understanding of the issues that drive attitudes to wealth. People have very different values and priorities, and understanding that diversity is key to a successful client partnership. We believe that, along with our core principles, this partnership with TSOL will help us and many of our clients reach a better understanding of their future wealth needs.”
Alain de Botton comments: “At first sight, philosophy and wealth management might seem worlds apart.  One is concerned with hard practical decisions, the other seems preoccupied with fascinating, but non-urgent questions about the meaning of life, with no particular end in sight.  At TSOL, we believe in taking a new approach to business.  Our mission is to connect up the most important ideas from culture, philosophy and the humanities with the problems of business life.   On paper for example, the point of a wealth management firm is to grow your money year by year. But the full promise of a firm is much deeper: it is to help to promote a good life around money. This is a bigger, more complex but far more interesting story. The question then is what would actually help a client flourish in connection with money?  That’s what we are hoping to explore with this series of articles”.
Abstract for Change essay by John Armstrong
We live in a culture that is always encouraging us to change. The fashion industry, for instance, thrives on rapid shifts of preferences. It has to persuade us that what was great last year isn’t much good this year. A car manufacturer wants to get us to change to their latest model. A new restaurant hopes to get us to alter our dining habits. There are many forces at play, encouraging us to feel that change is good and exciting.
But our relationship to change can be better or worse. We can use change well or we can be baffled and distressed by change. We can grow or diminish. This essay explores key problems that can occur around change.
We tend, for instance, to be adept at recognising and responding to small, short-term changes. It’s not surprising. That’s what comes naturally. We have evolved to be good at it. Yet, in order to deal well with the big challenges of life we need to be able to grasp and deal with long-term changes. And the tricky thing is that often the pattern is far from obvious close up.
Despite the prestige of change, in reality we are often deeply disturbed by change. It’s not surprising. We learn how to cope – and thrive – in a given order of things. You know how the system works; you feel you have come to understand what works and what doesn’t. Then a big change comes along and your hard-won knowledge no longer seems to work. The rules have changed. You built up good relationships with people, but they no longer run the show. Strategies that proved themselves over many years no longer bring the results you want. There’s a new vocabulary, new buzzwords, new expectations.
To deal well with change we have to do an unexpected thing: we have to get to grips with our own values.
David Scott, Founding and Senior Partner, Vestra Wealth said: “The cult of change in society, be it in fashion, technology or the media, distracts from the fact that people often feel exposed and uncertain during times of change.
"But navigating change, financial or otherwise, becomes easier after thinking clearly about your priorities, understanding the full ramifications of the change that is happening, including its precedents and patterns, then making decisions on the basis of these and the resources you have available.
"This is a fundamental part of the wealth management process – preparing clients for change and helping them deal with and thrive during change.”