The Chartered Institute of Securities and Investments (Cisi) has admitted that 12 Institute of Financial Planning members resigned following the two organisations’ merger.
The merger, completed late last year, brought about widespread criticism from members, who launched a ‘save our IFP’ campaign.
A spokeswoman from Cisi said the body was concerned about members being unhappy about the merger, but added that her organisation needed to be “realistic” about it.
“There will always be some people who don’t like change, and there are some who were not happy while they were members of the IFP, mainly due to the difficulties with the Certified Financial Planner (CFP) process and the low pass rate,” she said.
She added: “One of the changes Cisi is making will enable more people to pass the CFP exam and case study.”
Of the 2,173 IFP members listed on 30 October last year, 12 resigned and 106 were already members of Cisi.
The rest have transferred their membership across to Cisi.
The decision on the merger was taken by the IFP’s board following a consultation with members in August.
During the consultation, more than 80 per cent of IFP members responded in favour.
Although there was no official vote, all members were given multiple routes to give their opinion on the merger, which were recorded as positive, neutral or negative, the Cisi spokeswoman said.
“This gave everyone the opportunity to say what they would like to see as a merged organisation, as well as any comments on what they didn’t like about the proposal.”
She also said Cisi had received a number of encouraging emails and feedback from IFP heritage members who were “pleasantly surprised” at the greater choice of resources available to them.
She added: “We are proactively working with our Financial Planning members and encouraging them to get involved.
“The forum is already making good progress and will be holding a launch event which we hope will attract many members where they will be able to see the commitment we have for the future of Financial Planning.”
In September last year, the IFP’s interim chief executive Stephen Gazzard stepped down from his role as the merger was approved.
katherine.denham@ft.com
