PFS president Sarah Lord looks ahead to the ways in which the PFS can help advisers to assist their clients with building better financial future
Every year I am so pleased to get out of the month of January and into February. January always seems like a long, hard month of short days and grey cold weather! The year ahead will no doubt bring its own challenges but it is a year when we must continue to focus on all the great things we do as a profession.
Since the beginning of 2022, the news has been filled with details of how the actions and behaviour of certain MPs during Covid-19 lockdowns are impacting public trust and confidence in the government. This has focused my mind even more greatly on the importance of ensuring that, as a profession, we continue to strengthen and deepen our relationships with key stakeholders such as policymakers, the regulator, the press and, most importantly, the customers we serve.
The PFS’s Articles of Association state that our objectives are, first and foremost, to promote and facilitate the provision of financial advice. Therefore, as a board we will continue to focus on the ways in which this is done, as we always have.
As a profession we are brilliantly placed to drive good client outcomes through the advice we provide
Crucial focus
One of the most crucial ways to promote and facilitate financial advice is to continue to engage with consumers to demonstrate the need for and benefits of financial advice, with a relentless focus on deepening consumers’ engagement with their finances, their financial resilience and, importantly, our profession.
However, one of the hardest things to do is measure engagement at this level. It is often intangible, particularly given that there are so many layers to it and so many key stakeholders that can have an influence. Just because it is hard, however, does not mean it is impossible. As PFS president, I am keen for us to explore ways in which we can improve our understanding of the public perception of the work we do, measuring the impact of the initiatives and activities we undertake to promote and facilitate the provision of financial advice.
I have said it a fair few times in the last 12 to 18 months, but will say again, due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic there is a need now more than ever for financial advice and financial planning to rebuild consumers’ confidence in their own financial futures.
As a profession, we are brilliantly placed to drive good client outcomes through the advice we provide and, collectively, we must continue to demonstrate the power and value that financial advice brings to consumers’ lives. Let me finish by wishing all our members a happy, healthy and successful 2022!
Sarah Lord is president of the PFS
