2016 is now well underway and another financial year is coming to an end. In early February, we reached the first 100 days milestone of the now larger CISI community, and we took the opportunity to reflect on the activities which had been completed in this time. Since the announcement of the IFP/CISI merger, our focus has been channelled into three phases – embedding, embracing and expanding.
Much of what we were able to achieve in this time would not have been possible without the support of Becky Taylor CFP
TM Chartered FCSI; Alan Dick CFP
TM Chartered MCSI and members of the former IFP Board – Sam Rees-Adams, Alicja Trzuskowska, Lawrence Gilgallon and Sue Whitbread who joined from the IFP, and the immense support we have received from yourselves, the financial planning community. We would like to thank Lucy Courtenay for joining us during the transition period, passing on to us her wealth of experience and knowledge of financial planning and the IFP qualification structure, and we wish her well for her future endeavours.
I encourage you all to remain involved in CISI life – we are committed to growing the financial planning profession and with your support, we will do this together. We’re delighted to be introducing our new level four financial planning exam, which will sit within our Investment Advice Diploma. The exam workbook is in production and will be released in June 2016 for candidates to begin their exam preparation. New entrants into the financial planning profession, for the first time, will have a clear pathway to the higher level CFP
TM certification.
The merger has enabled us to grow the number of CISI UK branches from 19 to 24, and we are establishing committees in Cotswolds, Essex, Lancashire and Cumbria, Northern Home Counties and Thames Valley, to support presidents in each of these areas. We appreciate some frustration has been experienced by members after the data migration, particularly relating to branches and event notifications. We apologise for this. We are rectifying the issues you have experienced and we do appreciate hearing your views on how we can adapt our processes to ensure we are meeting the needs of the financial planning profession. The annual conference will again be held at Celtic Manor on 3 to 5 October. Becky Taylor has joined the Conference Committee and the theme has been agreed as Standing Tall Together.
To book on to the conference,
click here.