The new syllabus for certified financial planner will help relaunch the designation, Jacqueline Lockie has said.
The head of financial planning at the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment said the new syllabus could also help address the fall in the number of certified financial planners in recent years.
Speaking on the FTAdviser Podcast, she said that since the CISI's merger with the Institute of Financial Planning in 2015, the number of certified financial planners had gone down from around 1,000 to 915.
Ms Lockie said: "Since the merger the CISI has been trying to restructure the CFP and to iron out some of the issues that were in the process when it came over and because that has taken longer than we expected some people have been unhappy about the time it has taken the CISI to do that."
She added that some advisers had decided not to keep the designation even though they had gained knowledge from it.
The CISI launched the new syllabus in March, restructuring the study pathway for candidates, with the changes making the professional body's level seven diploma the highest level financial planning qualification in the UK.
Ms Lockie said: "The aim of the new curriculum is to be able to set it out in slightly more bitesized chunks. It was quite an onerous assessment and so we have developed it out and split it into two parts.
"It gives people the opportunity for more training and support that has been put into place as well, with different levels and stepping stones to become a CFP."
She said bringing the qualification to level seven would give the assessment the recognition it deserves.
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