A fall-out and a make-up scene during the summer of 2022 may have lulled members into a false sense of security that the relationship was back on track.
Merry Christmas?
But it was not so. As a Christmas present to the press, the CII announced the reason for appointing its members to the PFS board was that mediation – a course often recommended by divorce lawyers to get the couple to reconsider their decision to separate – had failed.
But the PFS members and former board members have told FTAdviser that the CII's actions were "aggressive" and "shocking".
Strong words have been written and retweeted by advisers and members of both the PFS and the CII, which cannot help but pour fuel on the fire, whether you are Team Johnny or Team Amber.
It is understood the CII neither wishes to part ways with the PFS nor believes that divorce is inevitable or even viable as an option.
So divorce may not be on the cards, yet unless continued mediation works and an agreeable resolution can be found, this relationship will continue to face severe turbulence.
And it needs to be resolved soon.
There are thousands of PFS members left wondering what the future might hold as these two parties take to the press to battle it out.
Maybe they need a film star to come in and help sort it out, with or without sequins. It worked for Mae West.
Simoney Kyriakou is editor of FTAdviser
