If you were alive in 1986 and paying attention — perhaps while coaxing a fax machine to send an important form — the world looked reasonably predictable. The Cold War was still simmering, interest rates were eye-watering, and nobody had yet invented the phrase “Have you tried turning it off and on again?” Forty years later we’ve had rather more excitement than any strategic plan would sensibly include.
The late 1980s – walls come down, markets wake up
The first tremor arrived in 1987 with “Black Monday”, when global stock markets discovered gravity at speed. It was a sharp lesson that computers could sell faster than humans could find the kettle. Yet the decade ended on a note of optimism. In 1989 the Berlin Wall fell, taking with it an entire geopolitical order and a good number of concrete souvenir paperweights. The message was clear: the old rules were giving way to something new, even if no one quite knew what that was.
The 1990s – a new world order (and dial-up internet)
The Soviet Union dissolved in 1991 and suddenly atlases needed updating. The European Union formally emerged in 1993, promising friction-free borders and baffling paperwork in equal measure. The decade also delivered the first Gulf War, the Good Friday Agreement in Northern Ireland, and the creation of the World Wide Web — initially accessed via a noise that sounded like two robots arguing in a biscuit tin. Email began to replace letters, though many of us still printed emails in order to read them “properly”.
Culturally we were treated to Britpop, the Spice Girls, and the unsettling discovery that Leonardo DiCaprio would not, in fact, fit on that door in Titanic. Hong Kong returned to China in 1997, while Tony Blair, Bill Clinton and a new generation of leaders spoke confidently about globalisation. We believed them because the economy was growing and our Nokia phones appeared indestructible.
The 2000s – terror, triumph and the financial crisis
Any illusion of calm ended on 11 September 2001. The attacks on the United States reshaped security, travel and politics overnight. Removing your shoes at airports became normal; losing them in the tray became inevitable. The Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts followed, dividing opinion across Europe.
Then came 2008, when the global financial system had a mid-life crisis without the sports car. Lehman Brothers collapsed, banks were rescued, and the word “sub-prime” entered dinner-party conversations where it was not welcome. For financial advisers it was a period of intense seriousness, offset only by the dark humour of watching experts explain that nobody could have seen it coming — except the people who had.
Yet the decade also produced moments of genuine progress: the expansion of the euro, medical advances, and the election of Barack Obama in 2009, a milestone that suggested politics could still inspire.
The 2010s – referendums and reality TV presidents
Britain voted for Brexit in 2016, demonstrating that even mature democracies enjoy the occasional plot twist. The following year Donald Trump took office in the US, governing via Twitter with the enthusiasm of a man discovering the caps-lock key. Europe faced the sovereign-debt crisis, Greece teetered, and central banks experimented with quantitative easing — essentially printing money but with better PowerPoint.
We also saw the Arab Spring, the rise of smartphones, and the #MeToo movement. By 2019 climate change had moved from a specialist concern to an everyday worry, helped along by Greta Thunberg and by summers that felt suspiciously Mediterranean — handy if you were running offices in the Algarve, slightly less handy if you were commuting on the M25.
The 2020s – pandemic, war returns to Europe
In 2020 the world caught COVID-19 and everything stopped except Zoom. We clapped carers, baked questionable banana bread, and discovered which colleagues looked good as small squares. Governments spent with wartime intensity to keep economies alive.
Just as we emerged blinking into daylight, Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. Energy prices surged, inflation roared back, and the West rediscovered the uncomfortable business of deterrence. For retirees it was another reminder that pensions must survive real history, not just the tidy version in brochures.
Technology – from fax to artificial intelligence
Across all four decades the quiet revolution was technological. We moved from paper applications to electronic signatures, from landlines to video calls, and now to artificial intelligence capable of writing blogs about fax machines. Social media connected expat communities and occasionally convinced them the earth was flat. Cryptocurrencies appeared, multiplied, and then behaved like over-caffeinated teenagers.
Politics and people
Leaders came and went: Thatcher to Starmer, Reagan to Biden, Felipe González to a procession of European prime ministers whose names many Brits can pronounce only after two glasses of Rioja. The European project expanded eastwards, while the UK chose to expand queue times at Dover instead.
A bit of humour, a lot of resilience
Looking back, the last 40 years resemble a family Christmas: long periods of warmth punctuated by arguments, unexpected guests and at least one turkey nobody ordered. Through it all, businesses that began in 1986 — like Blacktower — had to adapt repeatedly, keeping client care best in class and compliance rock solid while the world did its impression of a progressive-house remix.
What have we learned?
Markets recover, though rarely on our preferred timetable.
Geopolitics affects portfolios more than horoscope columnists.
Paperwork never disappears; it merely changes font.
A sense of humour helps when the printer doesn’t.
As we enter the second half of this decade with the same goals as at the beginning: to look after teams, to serve clients with the highest levels of care, and to remain best in class when it comes to compliance. The world will doubtless provide further events to summarise in 2046. By then the fax machine will be in a museum — and someone will still be trying to find that Titanic door.
For now, four decades on, we can raise a glass to resilience, progress and to the simple truth that international financial planning must move with real lives, real people and a gloriously unpredictable planet.
This communication is for informational purposes only and is not intended to constitute, and should not be construed as, investment advice, investment recommendations or investment research. You should seek advice from a professional adviser before embarking on any financial planning activity. Whilst every effort has been made to ensure the information contained in this communication is correct, we are not responsible for any errors or omissions.