According to data from the PFS, 4000 of its 34,000 members now have chartered status, equivalent to QCF level six, with a further 7000 currently working towards the qualification.
Keith Richards, chief executive of the PFS, said: “This is a tangible indicator that the adviser profession is pursuing higher levels of professionalism, without doing so purely to comply with regulatory needs.”
He said that raising the profile of financial planning as a profession could only be a good thing in the eyes of the consumer.
Mr Richards added: “It is very encouraging to see so many taking on the challenge of attaining a higher professional qualification.”
This came two weeks after the PFS published its yearly survey, The RDR and Consumers, in which it found that, once the RDR had been explained, 35 per cent of people in the UK were interested in taking financial advice.
This equated to nearly 5m new customers across the UK, spending an average of £3.8bn in adviser charges, the survey suggested.
The 22-page report said: “If the advisory sector worked harder to win over the trust and confidence of especially those who think they can self advise, this number could increase to nearly 14m new customers spending more than £10bn.”
Adviser view
Duncan Glassey, chartered financial planner and co-founder of Wealthflow in Edinburgh, said: “The chartered financial planner title has been a tremendous thing. Consumers understand the title of ‘chartered’ and it raises the bar, proving to the outside world that this is a profession and not just about sales. It shows just how many dedicated people there are within this profession.”
