About Us
PFS Annual Report 2023
The Personal Finance Society (PFS) is the pre-eminent professional membership body in financial planning. It represents around 40,000 members across the UK and internationally. Its core purpose is to serve the public by guiding the advice profession. It promotes the highest standards of professionalism by setting the standards for technical knowledge, customer service and ethical practice across the entire financial planning community.
Our vision
“Our vision is that PFS professionals build a world which delivers ever greater financial resilience for individuals and societies more broadly.”
Our mission statement
“Our purpose is to lead the financial planning community towards higher levels of professionalism exhibited through technical knowledge, client service and ethical practice.”
To achieve its aims, the Society provides its members with a programme of continuing professional development (CPD), relevant qualifications, learning materials, support services and many other practical benefits. Benefiting from the CII’s Royal Charter, its primary objective is to secure and justify public confidence and trust in its membership and the profession more broadly.
The PFS is a private company limited by guarantee and is a subsidiary company of the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII). As an Accredited Body licensed by the Financial Conduct Authority, the CII oversees the qualifications status, adherence to its ethical code, and continuing professional development of PFS members who require a Statement of Professional Standing (SPS), an annual licence required by Retail Investment Advisers. These functions have been regulated in the United Kingdom since December 2012, when the Retail Distribution Review (RDR) came into force.
The objectives of the PFS are prescribed in the company’s Articles of Association:
- To promote and facilitate the provision of financial advice relating to personal and corporate investment planning, life assurances, pensions, personal general insurances, mortgages, taxation, and trusts.
- To educate persons involved in the giving of such financial advice.
- To disseminate information and opinions relating to such financial advice.
- To promote professional development of persons involved in the giving of such financial advice.
