Financial Focus: Summer 2026

Summer has arrived with a heatwave and season of sport.

As the World Cup progresses, football fever is ramping up. In our feature for this edition we look at what the beautiful game can teach investors in terms of reactions to sudden shocks and playing the long game. As with unexpected surprises in the tournament, the investment league tables can throw up sudden winners and losers and knowing when to react can make all the difference. Increased life expectancy means many more of us will enjoy living into our 90s or even over 100 in the 21st century. But with most people finishing work before their 70s, the potential for a pension funding gap is a problem for many. Ten years after autoenrolment in 2016, another radical set of reforms designed to boost pension funds by consolidating smaller pots and requiring funds to meet investment targets is getting underway.

With worries about pension funding come scammers looking to take advantage. Increasingly sophisticated scams are targeting old and young alike, promising higher pension fund returns or persuading younger people that social media ‘finfluencers’ can make them rich quick.