Twenty years ago, finance in the UK changed fundamentally with the “Big Bang”, opening up and liberating the previously cosy world of finance in radical ways, leading it to become perhaps the biggest international marketplace. The BBC is marking the occasion with a great overview article about the changes, and the state of the financial market now. With finance dominating so much of the London economy, and the rest of the UK, and also having been a major part (and still is!) of my career, it’s a shame this sector is often viewed as dull, boring and irrelevant by many.
Whilst I’m primarily an IT practitioner, I necessarily need to understand more about the companies I have worked for and supported along the way. Whether Banks or Hedge Funds, the flow of money, and the subtleties and distinctions between classes of product, either fixed income, equity, or the more complicated derivatives, all sounds high and mighty and out of reach. But all have interesting, and simple, underpinnings, and affect every one of us substantially in the products we buy, either savings accounts, ISA’s, insurance policies or direct share dealing (which is really a lot easier, and low-risk and tax effective, than many people think). Spend a little time reading the financial section of your weekend paper (I’ll confess, one of the first extra sections I go for) and anybody can pick up on the jargon, and therefore understand the products on offer better, and work out what’s best for their financial planning.
Whilst Dragons’ Den has an admirable aim, but (I feel) misses the mark, I think it’s still encouraging that finance is getting more serious coverage in the media, if you go looking. Working lunch, which I sometimes manage to catch if I’m fortunate with my timing, is also carrying some Big Bang anniversary coverage - and also has some excellent financial information for anybody interested in learning more about personal financial products and services than the best credit card deal (Although getting rid of debt, particularly ‘expensive’ ones such as credit cards, in invariably the best place to start)
