Caroline Stuart has become the first paraplanner to be elected as president of the PFS.
The founder of outsourced paraplanning firm Sparrow Paraplanning was officially announced as the president at the Personal Finance Society’s AGM last week, after serving for two years as vice-president.
She takes over from Sarah Lord, who served for two years in the role.
In her initial statement, Caroline re-emphasised the need to attract more people to the profession, saying it is vital for its future, given the number of those expected to retire in the coming years.
Speaking on her appointment, Stuart said: “I would like to thank Sarah for the incredibly important role she has played during her term both as a Board member and our President.
“I am looking forward to continuing her good work as we seek to build on recent principles of agreement with the Chartered Insurance Institute, engage with PFS members about their priorities for the wider profession and help policymakers and regulators recognise the important role our members can play during the UK’s cost of living crisis.
“One of those priorities must be around attracting more people of all backgrounds, ethnicities and ages with the goal of creating a profession as diverse as the public we serve. It is the job of myself, the Board, the leadership and our members to show that a career in financial planning is worthwhile, fulfilling and can deliver progression for anyone.”
The appointment of a new President means the PFS now has two new figures in key leadership positions; Don MacIntyre became Interim CEO in August 2022.
The first act of their leadership was to announce at last week’s AGM that PFS member fees will be frozen for the next two years, in order to help members during the cost of living crisis.
The appointment of MacIntyre last month signaled a desire to build the PFS’ organisational capability, by re-instating day-to-day executive leadership. One of his principal tasks will be to ensure the PFS is in a position to appoint a permanent CEO in the new year, as well as explore the possibility of making further staff appointments.
