As is the case with many of the best ideas and inventions, Spear’s came about almost by accident.
In 2005, before this magazine was born, founder William Cash was working on an in-house publication for Annabel’s, back when the private members’ club was run by the late Mark Birley and his son Robin. The project was successful – almost too successful.
One issue attracted so many pages of luxury advertising that the cost of mailing it out to the club’s members was significantly higher than expected, which left William and co needing to come up with some more cash to cover the postage bill.
[See also: Annabel’s at 60: charting the life of the legendary club]
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His solution was to create a wealth management supplement to package with the same issue – and to ask its advertisers to pay upfront. It worked.
The Annabel’s supplement helped to pay the postage bill, but more importantly it proved that a magazine about wealth management – for the customers of the industry, rather than its practitioners – had legs. He spun it out himself under a new name: Spear’s Wealth Management Survey. (I asked him recently where the ‘Spear’s’ part of the name came from, but sadly the origin story is not terribly satisfying: he just thought it had a nice ring to it, and suggested the title was sharp and to the point.)
The first edition landed in 2006, 20 years ago, so we are using the opportunity to take stock.
Our cover feature for this special anniversary edition chronicles the 100 moments from the lifetime of Spear’s that have shaped the world the magazine covers – from the collapse of Lehman Brothers to the rise of ‘Old Money Style’ and much else besides. The individual entries – all written by our expert contributors and the Spear’s editorial team – each have a pleasing completeness.
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Taken together, they capture a sweep of recent history, and the swirling forces that have influenced the lives and fortunes of the world’s wealthiest people, as well as the companies and industries that serve them.
Another special feature for this special issue is our photographic portfolio of leading Londoners. The city Spear’s calls home was riding high 20 years ago – sitting pretty in the middle of timezones to the east and west, still in the EU’s single market and with its standing as a centre for finance and culture never higher. It was boom time, and Tony Blair’s New Labour was content to let London rip.
[See also: London still top city for HNW lifestyle despite tax concerns]
Today, it’s a different story. Low growth, floundering productivity, an outflow of ambitious UK residents to the Middle East and fears about the consequences of modern Labour regimes’ tax policies paint a starkly different picture.
And yet, all is not lost.
Not to forget the human suffering caused by the Iran conflict, in which 9,000 to 18,000 people are thought to have been killed, the regional volatility has thrown London’s comparative stability into sharp relief. The extreme polarisation of US public discourse and politics makes Britain’s social tensions seem meek by comparison. And Europe’s hidebound regulatory environment is nothing to envy.
There are positives too, of course. These are eloquently explained and in many cases personified by the people pictured in our aptly named story London Rising.
London is still one of only a handful of true ‘world cities’. And it has the potential to not just keep, but improve its position as the next two decades of history unfold and a new world order takes shape.
Elsewhere in the magazine we have the usual blend of insight, commentary and analysis on the world of wealth. Three of our interviews are particularly notable. I sit down with PR guru Matthew Freud for a fascinating Liquid Lunch, in which we discuss the privileges and pressures that younger generations of successful families face. Meanwhile, my colleague Aisha Alli speaks to philanthropist Daria Bukhman and actor-slash entrepreneur Sarah Jessica Parker. (Yes, she of Sex and the City fame)
Our Briefing section this time covers two themes: tax and philanthropy, while the Good Life takes note of recent releases and trends that have the potential to help readers lead a life well lived.
Here’s to the next 20 years – I hope you spend them well.
This article first appeared in Spear’s Magazine Issue 101. Click here to subscribe
