The Personal Finance Society now recognises the Society of Later Life Advisers (SOLLA) Later Life Adviser Accreditation as counting towards achieving Fellowship membership status.
To achieve the SOLLA Later Life Adviser Accreditation financial planners must evidence their later life technical knowledge, demonstrate they work within a supportive environment and confirm ongoing maintenance of competence within their online submission. Advisers undertake a final Viva assessment, and their overall application is scrutinised by an independent accreditation panel to check the adviser’s application of knowledge and soft skills before the Later Life Adviser Accreditation is granted.
To achieve Fellowship of the Personal Finance Society membership status financial advisers must complete further examinations after achieving the Chartered Insurance Institute’s coveted Chartered status.
Credits are awarded for every Chartered Insurance Institute qualification unit passed and those with at least 350 credits are awarded Fellowship.
Following talks between SOLLA and the Personal Finance Society, SOLLA Later Life Adviser Accredited financial planning professionals can now make a formal application for recognition of this award as part of their request for Personal Finance Society Fellowship membership status.
Financial planning professionals simply need to complete an online application form on the CII’s website and attach evidence of their current SOLLA Later Life Adviser Accreditation, which is recognised as 30 credits.
The recognition of SOLLA’s accreditation comes after the CII ‘Shaping the future together’ consultation proposed regulated qualifications and experience would no longer be the only way to achieve Chartered and Fellow designations.
Mark Hutchinson, membership director of the Personal Finance Society: “Achieving Later Life Adviser Accreditation from the Society of Later Life Advisers is an endorsement of a financial planning professional’s skills and experience of working with, and understanding the needs of, older people and their families and carers. “Being awarded Fellowship of the Personal Finance Society represents the pinnacle of academic professional achievement. Many advisers choose to specialise in their drive beyond minimum knowledge and qualification standards and we are keen to acknowledge the role of high-quality third-party courses and accreditations in contributing towards the achievement of Fellowship status.“ “Many practitioners have achieved high calibre accreditations that are robustly assessed but aren’t regulated by Ofqual. We are proud to announce that the SOLLA accreditation is the first to help Chartered Financial Planners on their route toward Fellowship status.”
Tish Hanifan, Founder, and joint Chair of SOLLA: “We are pleased to have worked with the CII to establish the SOLLA Later Life Adviser Accreditation (LLAA) as a recognised contribution to the financial planner framework and pathway towards Fellowship status. This development highlights the importance of combining the right engagement skills with technical expertise in the expanding later life advice sector .”
Paolo Rosolek, PR Financial Bristol and SOLLA Accredited Later Life Adviser: “Having devoted a considerable amount of time in developing my higher levels of applied knowledge and advice skills to achieve the SOLLA Later Life Adviser Accreditation (LLAA), I am extremely delighted that my SOLLA Accreditation is recognised by the CII and that the 30 points will contribute to my final completion of their prestigious PFS Fellowship programme.”
