The Institute of Financial Planning and Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment have revealed details of what their merged structure will look like.
The outcome of extensive discussions is that there will be five new regions for the Cisi and four new regions available to the former IFP members, following on from the previous structure of the IFP using one person to run the regions, while Cisi ran through a committee format supported centrally.
A spokesman told FTAdviser: “We examined in detail the content of the events offered by both the Cisi and IFP and there is around 75 per cent overlap. The regions will therefore now be able to offer a stronger local CPD offering.”
The Cisi’s regional director Richard Bennett and chief executive Simon Culhane attended the last IFP branch chairmen’s day and the new structures were discussed. The former IFP presidents will also receive more central support and have a dedicated client relationship manager.
The spokesman added that Cisi has been awarded a license to offer certified financial planning by the Financial Planning Standards Board in the US for five years.
“The CFP will undergo the same rigorous review as all Cisi qualifications and a panel of CFP practitioners will feed into this to ensure that it is kept relevant and up-to-date.”
He added that the Cisi has already committed to developing a level four qualification so that candidates can meet the entry requirements to the CFP through their membership organisation.
Late last month, the IFP’s interim chief executive Stephen Gazzard stepped down from his role as the merger with the Cisi was approved ahead of a 1 November completion date.
Back at the start of August, the IFP announced a consultation with its members regarding a merger proposal, with 154 of the 218 registered votes being in favour.
This was despite a ‘save our IFP’ campaign being launched and dropped within the space of a few days, amid accusations that the IFP was not in a good financial state, which Mr Gazzard denied.
According to the IFP board, the merger will help in the expansion of the financial planning profession and improve the service and support it can deliver.
FTAdviser sister paper Financial Adviser also revealed that all 15 IFP staff members will have to relocate to London as part of the merger.
peter.walker@ft.com
