“Shambolic, shameful and unsurprising” were just some of the words used to describe the news that the CII had appointed four of its executive team to the PFS board.
FT Adviser reported this morning that a spokesperson for the Institute said it had become “apparent” the PFS would benefit from having more CII executive members on its board.
The appointments included group chief executive Matthew Hill as well as Trevor Edwards, Matthew Mallett and Gill White, who make up part of the executive leadership team.
They replaced four existing institute appointed directors with immediate effect - these were Neil Buckley, Sarah Howe, Catharine Seddon and Neil Watts.
Vanessa Barnes, chartered financial planner at Hannay Wealth, said her biggest concern and question was what were the PFS directors resisting that they had to be replaced by full time CII executives?
“Many PFS members saw the accusations aimed at the PFS member nominated directors as a cynical ploy by the CII chair to deflect attention from CII mismanagement and the loss of £50mn in CII reserves. The institute directors appointed to take over the PFS board have now been subject to a further coup as they are replaced by the senior leadership team of the CII.
“The cost and standards of services provided to the PFS by the CII will now be held accountable by the CII itself. How is this not a severe and significant failure of governance?
“When they were appointed, the CII described the new institute directors as having ‘immense professionalism and exceptional experience’ and they were ‘mandated to focus entirely on protecting and securing PFS interests.’
“This was reiterated at the PFS AGM by the independent chair (at that time) who highlighted the conflict of interest caused by CII employees responsible for service delivery having positions on the PFS board.
“My biggest concern is what were those PFS directors resisting that they had to be replaced by full time CII executives? While Helen Phillips has been chair, there have been four chief executives in two and a half years and three independent chairs of the PFS in 10 months.
“Her final term expires in 2026 (unless there is a successful attempt to extend her term) and it is difficult to be certain whether the PFS and its reserves will survive that period,” she expressed.
Elliot Guthrie, chartered financial planner, believed this was nothing more than “a takeover” of the independent PFS board by the CII.
“At a time when the CII appears to be in disarray, both operationally and financially, central to the concerns that I and many other members have, is that funds earmarked for PFS member activities and development could well be misappropriated by the CII,” he added.
Matthew Walne, managing director at Santorini Financial Planning, was “not surprised” by the news at all and was “sad” to see what had happened to the PFS.
