I am fortunate to have the  support of a strong, keen and enthusiastic council drawn from both the young and old, and from both general insurance and  financial planning backgrounds. The dinner has been at full capacity for the last three years and many have enjoyed the numerous social events.

The geographical area  is vast, covering a lot of Devon and all of Cornwall. We have just under a 1,000 members roughly split 50:50 between the CII and the PFS. Our challenge going forward is to continue with relevant assistance in education, exams and with providing relevant CPD for all.  

Education- For PFS members we have a support package for those that want to become financial planners and pass all their diploma level exams (you can’t give financial advice without having the diploma). The support is there to encourage those working in the back office roles to move forward into the front line of giving advice. I was recently told the average age of a financial planner  in our region is 57! For CII members we continue to assist with exam study groups and revision sessions.

CPD- CII members like the technical CPD as well as the life skill based CPD, but we have found that PFS members prefer the life skill based CPD, we think this is because the PFS already provides a daylong CPD regional event every quarter. We want to listen to our membership, so if you think there is something we should be providing please let us know.