A key focus for the Personal Finance Society (PFS) for 2022 is building a strong, sustainable and profitable profession to ensure financial planners continue to empower people to have confidence in managing and planning their finances.
Faced with changing client needs and technology advances, Sarah Lord (pictured), President of the PFS said the profession must support clients with both human and tech-enabled services. So, in the year ahead, the PFS will continue to provide webinars, articles and good practice guidance to its members
In addition to considering how we best promote the value of financial advice to a changing demographic, Ms Lord said there is also a need to explore and evolve training programmes, including those provided by the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII).
The CII’s Shaping the future together consultation provided an opportunity for all Personal Finance Society members to have their say about the networking, skills and knowledge development they require from the professional body in the years to come.
Ms Lord notes: “Moving forward, it remains important to focus on new generations of clients, building a clear understanding of they want from their relationship with a financial planner.
“The inter-generational wealth transfer is upon us now, so we need to be on the front foot. We must ensure we can offer appropriate client experiences for the next generation of clients so we sustain our client base for the future.
“Only by securing our own financial futures through a clear focus on attracting fresh talent, building resilient business models and focussing on the client relationship, will our profession be well placed to empower more individuals to manage their money and achieve their financial goals.”
How to overcome these challenges and make the most of these opportunities will also be explored at the Personal Finance Society’s Festival of Financial Planning, which will take place at the Birmingham NEC in November 2022.
Mark Hutchinson, membership director of the Personal Finance Society, said: “During 2021 we have delivered over 200 events, with 50,000 members taking advantage of virtual technical and skills CPD from the comfort of their own offices or homes. But when we returned to face-to-face events in September the response from members was fantastic, with almost 1,500 delegates keen to return to in-person networking and good practice sharing, which is hard to replicate online.
“2022 will see the return of a full regional CPD programme and we look forward to connecting and learning together again. Plans are also afoot later in the year to welcome the whole advice sector to a second Festival of Financial Planning which will be a celebration of the importance and value of professional financial advice. Successive Governments have tried to shift the balance of financial responsibility from state to individuals and our sector has a real opportunity to demonstrate to consumers the power of professional financial planning.”
