The board of the Personal Finance Society (PFS), the professional body for the financial planning profession in the UK, is recruiting an interim CEO – reinstating the role removed by the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) a year ago.
A full-time CEO will be recruited in 2023.
The PFS said the new role will provide executive leadership as the professional body works to evolve its working practices to better meet its members’ interests.
The move follows a failed attempt by the CII to de-register the PFS as an independent body last year and take it under full control along with the four other societies the CII already fully funds and operates.
The organisations have worked together for the past 18 years but the role of PFS CEO was dissolved in June 2021 by the former CII CEO.
The decision to recruit another CEO for the PFS was unanimous from the organisation’s volunteer board which said that while the general insurance and personal finance sectors have evolved in differing directions, there remained merit in investigating future approaches together with the CII that will ultimately serve the needs of both organisations’ members while maintaining public confidence in the two disciplines.
Recruitment of the interim CEO will be undertaken using a professional consultancy after a service tender and it is anticipated that the successful individual will be in place before the end of summer 2022.
The interim CEO will then work with the incoming permanent CEO to ensure there is a smooth transition in leadership.
Sarah Lord, president of the Personal Finance Society, said: “Over the last year the PFS has worked with the CII to establish the most effective way to manage the organisation.
“It has become clear that the best way to represent and advocate the PFS members’ interests and preserve and protect its assets and deliver tailored member support is through the appointment of a full-time executive CEO role.
“Our members provided feedback supporting the need for a dedicated executive championing their interests within the CII’s ‘Shaping the future together consultation’ last year. The CII executive is supportive too.
“This is why we are commencing an executive search process immediately and will appoint an Interim CEO in the first instance while we seek a permanent appointment,” she added.
For the rest of this year, the board expects that the interim CEO, the volunteer board and employees at the CII, who under a service contract are dedicated to providing defined services and supporting PFS members, will work together.
The PFS’s priorities for the remainder of the year include:
- Ensuring there is a dedicated champion focusing on members’ best interests and reflecting the divergence of the personal finance sector and that of general insurance, while maintaining public confidence in the professional services of members.
- Promoting the PFS strategic business plan and to deliver a successful annual general meeting in September.
- Enabling the PFS to deliver the Festival of Financial Planning event in November.
- Supporting the volunteer board to ensure the PFS continues to meet its purpose and, through the CII, is able to provide members with chartered status.