Rejoining the Club? The PFS, Admin Errors, and the Shrinking Membership

Let’s be clear: if you’re a financial planner who isn’t an active financial adviser, you’ve likely felt the sting of exclusion from the Personal Finance Society (PFS). Up until December 2023, the message was loud and clear—thanks, but no thanks. They were asking financial planners who weren’t flogging products to quietly leave the building. Case in point: they did it to me in 2019. Now, fast forward to this month, and I’m being told I can rejoin. What changed? Was it all just an admin error? And more to the point, how many others has this happened to? It’s enough to make you wonder if anyone’s steering the ship.

But, surprise, surprise, the PFS seems to be facing a bit of a membership crisis. According to their year-end results, published just last week, the number of members fell by nearly 400 in 2023. To be exact, they lost 367 souls, which, frankly, probably includes a few of us who were shown the door for not being “advisers” anymore. Now, the cynic in me wants to ask: how much of this is because people, like me, were told they didn’t qualify anymore, only to be invited back once the numbers dipped?

This loss of membership obviously impacted revenue. In fact, their total membership revenue fell by a tidy £0.29 million. Now, if you’re running an organisation with nearly 40,000 members, you’d think they might’ve noticed the numbers dipping a bit sooner—perhaps a little more foresight could’ve kept people on board. Or maybe they were too busy hosting that grand Festival of Financial Planning in 2022, which, by the way, they didn’t bother repeating in 2023. Shockingly, that decision led to a massive drop in event sponsorship, down £0.83 million. Who knew throwing a festival was such a lucrative business?

Despite this, the PFS managed to host 78 regional events and 17 specialist roadshows in 2023. So, it wasn’t all tumbleweed and crickets, but when your sponsorship revenue plummets, maybe you reconsider the decision to skip the next festival?

And speaking of costs—total operating expenses increased by nearly £1 million, largely thanks to a hefty central overhead recharge from the CII, including a £1.24 million “exception charge.” Apparently, that’s code for non-routine expenditure related to central capital and members' qualifications. Translation: more of your membership fees were going to things you probably didn’t notice.

Oh, and let’s not forget the £0.85 million in legal and advice fees in 2022. Why, you ask? Well, the PFS had to hire external consultants to help them navigate the CII’s desire to start mediation. All this bickering over the future operating model has been a costly distraction.

So, while it’s been tough enough trying to carry on as a financial planner without a credentialling organisation for the past five years, it’s a bit rich that now—suddenly—I’m being invited back in. How many others are in the same boat? And will this revolving door policy fix the sinking ship? Time will tell, but one thing’s for sure: being part of the PFS has never felt quite so... optional.