Dominic Thomas
Sept 2024 • 4 min read

A Widow’s Ruin?

The summer often produces plenty of occasions to open a bottle of bubbly as we celebrate various events or are simply enjoying ourselves. Perhaps this summer you have celebrated something, maybe a wedding, an anniversary, a big birthday or one of your family graduating. Champagne is invariably linked with celebration.

Living in the Surrey Hills, a short walk from Denbies, I have come to appreciate some of the English attempts to create Champagne – though of course we cannot call it such as it’s from Surrey not the Champagne region. I’m informed that the geology of the Champagne region of France is shared with Dorking (probably not news to the geologists amongst you). Anyway, perhaps you have your favourite – English, French, Spanish or Italian.

When it comes to naming things properly, I was intrigued by the story of Veuve Cliquot (in French meaning Widow Cliquot) which has now made the transition from a 2009 book by Mazzeo to a musical and now to film and is being retold at selected cinemas, so may be one to catch at home for most people.

The story is of the woman behind this now historic and luxurious brand. Business owners will relate to some of the struggles that she faced and conquered, not least of which were the weather, Napoleonic wars and general misogyny of the day. Women will relate, frankly because things have not moved on anything like as much as they should!

Quite how much is fact or fiction isn’t really that important; the messages of the film are there to be taken. Tenacity, optimism, acknowledgement of an inability to control the things you cannot, acceptance of the reality of things; stoic fortitude ushers in change by remaining true to principles and high standards. This is all beginning to sound a lot like the qualities that investors need to attain isn’t it.

I did not know the story and I was unaware of the meaning of ‘veuve’ – my O’ Level French has never been tested beyond very enjoyable trips to France. Whilst I am a regular consumer of wine, I wouldn’t regard myself as an expert; but I have come to enjoy Champagne over the years!

What I find generally inspiring are the stories behind many well-known companies. The original ‘Founder Story’ has been an often neglected element of most marketing, including our own. As Solomon’s celebrated our silver anniversary this summer, I was reminded that perhaps this is a little more than simply reminiscing. Of course there are many Founders and characters that are entirely unpleasant, which is often a subjective opinion, but sometimes … well not so much. Today, we are in a highly inter-connected world and we are all aware of particular billionaires or multimillionaires who are lacking any of the attributes that demonstrate much humanity.

I will never meet Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin who died in 1866 and I am highly unlikely to meet Mr Musk; but I have formed an opinion about both, based on the values that I hold. Yet this is perhaps the heart of the complexity of ethical, socially responsible or ESG investing. The world is complex, people are many things. To some, holding shares in an alcoholic beverage company is unethical, yet holding shares in Twitter (or whatever he wants to call it) invariably will not be screened out of portfolios. The focus is based on the product rather than those behind them.

How we use or minds, tools, resources, time and money are our unique choices and important to each of us being true to ourselves – however many selves we might each be, have or become. I can tell you that I shall be favouring (revealing my biases) the widow’s Champagne. A young woman who was widowed at 27, took on an embryonic vineyard, battled social norms and obstacles, fought for her own financial independence, eventually turning it into a legacy of quality, used in moments of joy and celebration. Now, that’s something that I think is worthwhile.

Here is a trailer for the new film produced by and starring Hayley Bennett, along with Tom Sturridge, Sam Riley and Ben Miles:

BACK TO ALL BLOGS

The Trouble With…

Solomons-financial-advisor-wimbledon-blogger

The Trouble With…

It seems impossible not to feel a sense of despair sometimes when you see, read or hear the news. When there are atrocities on our own streets or we see yet further mindless violence in countries with whom we have deep and long connections, the sense of despair is palpable. However bad or inept the reporting, I remain thankful that I live here in the UK.

I’m not alone in thinking that the man currently elected as President of the United States is simply not fit for the task. He is out of his depth and displays his evident lack on a daily basis. We have come, (well…I have) to expect very little from him.

Viva Espana?

Spain on the other hand, is a country that most of us know almost as well and the US. Our language barrier is possibly helpful as we tend not to make too many assumptions about each other. Yet I am struggling to understand what goes through the mind of a policeman in the Spanish Civil Guard who appears to enjoy stamping, beating and fighting anyone he deems to be “opposition”. The images that have crossed a multitude of screens are truly horrifying. Whilst the vote for independence may be “illegal” it is clear that a very significant proportion of those living in Catalonia do not wish to remain part of Spain.

Splitting Heirs

As an Englishman and a British citizen, I’m aware of the calls for devolution of power and potential independence of Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and perhaps Cornwall. This is unsettling to my sense of what is “normal” but of course the history of our own union is relatively recent and things were different before, much as they were in Spain, Italy, Germany, France, Prussia and so on… borders change. We do not keep the peace by pretending that all is well. We do so by listening to the perspective of the other. As in a marriage that reaches the point of irreconcilable differences, we need to acknowledge that sadly (perhaps) the best course of action is to separate and ultimately to agree to the new legal state of all parties concerned. This will have some genuine difficulties, just like a divorce, the division of resources and accounting for what belongs to who is painful. Those of you that have been through a divorce will understand this more pertinently than those that have not.

Head of State or State of Mind?

The suggestion that “the law” is to be upheld as though it is never altered based upon real experience is nonsense. The law is formed from experience and always evolves to reflect the changing nature of society. When a Monarch, President or Prime Minister fails to grasp the sense of unfairness felt by “their own people” preferring to support aggressive legitimised bullies, it seems to me only right to call them to account.

Ceteris Paribus

What has this to do with financial planning? We make assumptions about the future all the time. The biggest ones are those we don’t even verbalise – such as a relationship lasting. At my annual Institute’s Conference, last week, I expressed this view and to be honest, it didn’t seem to “land” with the small group that I was with. We talk of risk – typically investment risk, but also political and economic risk, occasionally the risk of health or redundancy, but rarely the risk of relationships ending. It is the elephant in the room with all couples, do we talk about the risk of irreconcilable differences?

I’m reminded of the saying “the pessimist complains about the wind, the optimist expects it to change, the realist adjusts the sails“.

Feedback welcome, but not for a debate on the issues of Scottish Independence or devolution, or even what’s going on “abroad”. We can only control a very small number of things, but our ability to face up to our assumptions is one of them. For the record, I “love” Britain, Spain, the US but I prefer human dignity over any flag.

Dominic Thomas
Solomons IFA

You can read more articles about Pensions, Wealth Management, Retirement, Investments, Financial Planning and Estate Planning on my blog which gets updated every week. If you would like to talk to me about your personal wealth planning and how we can make you stay wealthier for longer then please get in touch by calling 08000 736 273 or email info@solomonsifa.co.uk

Email me to get in touch