Author: financialwalker

I understand that more than 1,500 PFS members have sent an email to don.macintyre@thepfs.org asking for an EGM. This mailing list now has almost 600 recipients. If everybody who receives this email persuades one person to send that email, we will reach the numbers we need! Act today before it is too late.

What will an EGM solve? At this stage it is all about holding the executive and board of the CII to account for their actions. We need to make it clear that their approach, whilst apparently legal, is both unethical and likely to backfire. The CII needs PFS members more than the PFS members need the CII. We can, and need to show that we will, vote with our feet. There are three SPS awarding bodies in the UK, all of which provide examinations, training, CPD management, and Chartered Titles. The CII does not have the monopoly that they seem to think they do, and the PFS’s popularity is down to the amazing work undertaken by its volunteer member-directors, local regional representatives, and panel-members. Without those volunteers, and without that good-will, the PFS wouldn’t be the success that it is.

In the news 1. Sarah Lord and I appeared on the “Retirementals” podcast with Abraham Okusanya From the show notes: Abraham is joined by Sarah Lord and Alasdair Walker to discuss what’s going on between the PFS and CII. You’ll gain clear insight into the issue at hand, covering:What is going on with the PFS and CII, and the relationship over the past few years?The announcement on 21st December 2022 and what that meantWhat led to the CII making this decisionWhat is the primary focus of the PFS?Does the CII actually have to consider feedback?What is the way forward and the key actions which need to be taken? 2. Keith Richards on “The CII’s Major Mistake “In my view, the CII board needs to seriously reconsider its position urgently and recognise the unnecessary damage it is causing to itself and the wider professions of insurance and financial planning before it becomes irreversible. The CII simply needs to step back, and respect the independence of the PFS, which is aligned to the needs of the members and relevance to them of having their own dedicated professional membership body. Both bodies can co-exist in harmony as they once did, where there is a will, there will always be a way.” 3. Vanessa Barnes’s “Right to Reply” email leaked She said: “You have claimed that I have failed, as a member of the PFS board, to properly pay for the services provided by the CII to the PFS. There have also been claims that the CII has met expenditure that allowed the PFS reserves to accumulate unfairly. “This is not true. You have failed to control the spending of your executive leadership team. The PFS reserves have accumulated from the work of our former CEO, past and present board members, volunteer networks and diligent, committed membership. In recent years, the development of sponsorship revenue has accelerated those reserves that should be invested by a practitioner led board in improved member services. “We have been rendered deliberately inquorate and when a formal complaint was made by the PFS board, you did not act as a proper Independent chair.” 4. 150 People Lose Chartered Status After “CII Error” This included Vanessa Barnes, whose Chartered status was apparently “removed in error”. I confirmed this and for a period of time following her email, her member status included the statement “Chartered title rescinded” – scary stuff.

I will try to keep this short.

I have volunteered with the CII and PFS for most of the last decade, first as a council-member at the local Insurance Institute, and more recently as a panel-member and chair of the Financial Planning (Power) Panel.

My intention and motivation has always been this: Financial Planning is a fantastic profession, and I want to be part of the movement that drives it forward.

I have worked with the PFS as they have the largest membership, and the most opportunity to make a positive difference.

I genuinely believe the panel, and the Power project, has done and is doing great things. It has been described to me as the “Jewel in the crown” of the PFS, and our recent announcement of the launch of Power Planning marked the first time the PFS were going to formally support a financial planning approach.

With all of this said, I am deeply disturbed by the recent behaviour of the CII, and I do not feel that I can carry on supporting the PFS as a volunteer whilst there are so many unanswered questions about the CII’s hostile takeover attempt.

Furthermore, having read Caroline Stuart’s harrowing account of her time as president of the PFS board, I cannot support an organisation who feels it is fair or right to apply those kind of pressures to the volunteer workforce it depends on.

All PFS members should be concerned and interested in what is happening at CII head office. It may seem like boardroom politics and detached from your day job, but it has the potential to severely impact the future of our profession and actively work against the hard work we are all doing.

Please head to https://ourpfs.co.uk and find out more, or contact me directly at

hello@ourpfs.co.uk.

-Alasdair Walker FPFS, Chartered Financial Planner