As a relatively new mum, I recently stumbled across some top-tier parenting advice on Instagram. In a charming video, a fellow parent told me: “You can’t make a happy baby happier.”
The idea is that if your child is occupied and settled, do not interfere under any circumstances. You might think that they could play with their piano “the right way”, but in fact bashing the entire toy against their teddy bear is working just fine. If you disrupt them, they may not be happy playing with the piano at all.
I suppose it’s a parent’s take on the idiom “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” — a mantra that Rachel Reeves should perhaps observe.
In her speech to investment bigwigs at Mansion House last month, the chancellor outlined a series of reforms that she hopes will create a nation of investors. As part of it, we will all be allowed to hold long-term asset funds in our stocks and shares Isas.
Long-term asset funds, or LTAFs, were introduced in 2021 for those who wanted to invest in long-term, illiquid assets such as private equity or infrastructure. These types of funds are designed to hold the sort of assets that typical investment funds struggle to buy and sell fast enough to meet investor withdrawals. The initial target audience were managers running defined contribution pension schemes.
