🏛️ Reimagining Financial Planning: Inside the AoLP Governance Charter

By Steve Conley, Founder of the Academy of Life Planning
📅 June 2025

“This Charter is more than a document—it’s a declaration of our shared commitment to build a profession grounded in trust, transparency, and empowerment.”

After over a decade of pioneering ethical, holistic, and transparent life planning, the Academy of Life Planning (AoLP) is now transitioning into a member-owned co-operative society. At the heart of this evolution is the newly published Governance Charter, a foundational document that enshrines our values into an enduring structure—designed to outlast any individual, even its founder.

This Charter lays the legal, ethical, and operational framework for AoLP to function not simply as an education provider—but as a professional body for trustworthy advisers, distinct from those operating within the conflicted product-based advice system.

🌱 Why Now?

The financial advice profession remains deeply conflicted—rife with incentives that benefit providers, not clients. AoLP was born in response: a sanctuary for planners who reject product sales, asset-gathering quotas, and misleading business models. As the movement grows, so too does the need for a democratic, transparent, and sustainable structure—owned by members, accountable to no one but its mission.

📜 What the Charter Sets Out

The Charter defines how AoLP operates, who can join, and how decisions are made. It outlines:

Our purpose: to democratise financial planning and reduce inequality
Our vision: a world where everyone has access to ethical, holistic, and trustworthy advice
Our legal form: a cooperative under the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act
Our members: ethical professionals who commit to being both trusted individuals and part of a trusted system
Our structure: General Assembly, Board of Directors, Executive Team, Regional Ambassadors, and Advisory Circles
Our education: the GAME Plan—an internationally recognised diploma in holistic wealth planning
Our safeguards: Chinese walls separating generic advice from regulated services, ensuring ethical boundaries remain clear

⚖️ The Pillars of a Trustworthy System

During our recent consultation meeting, we explored what makes a truly trustworthy financial planning system. The consensus: it must be designed to prevent betrayal—structurally. That means:

No product intermediation
Flat, transparent fees
Client co-ownership of the planning process
Regulatory independence and structural autonomy
A system that differentiates ‘trusted’ from truly ‘trustworthy’

This last point is critical. Trust isn’t just about character—it’s about context. The most honest adviser, trapped in a conflicted system, can still fail the client. That’s why AoLP focuses on system integrity just as much as individual ethics.

🧱 Chinese Walls: Wearing Two Hats Ethically

One of the Charter’s essential additions is the recognition of Chinese walls—the structural boundaries that allow individuals to wear multiple hats (regulated and generic) without compromising either. These walls ensure that any regulated financial advice remains entirely separate from generic planning conducted under AoLP, upholding the Academy’s mission of independence and public trust.

👥 Expanding Membership: Now Including Students

The Charter now also recognises Student Members, ensuring the next generation of ethical planners is welcomed and nurtured. Alongside our core tiers—Professional, Affiliate, Ambassador, and Community—this new category reflects our commitment to inclusion and succession.

🔁 Structural Permanence: Beyond Any One Leader

This isn’t just about today. The Charter builds in continuity and trust transfer protocols, ensuring AoLP will endure long after any founder or board member departs. We’re creating something not only impactful—but lasting.

📣 Get Involved

This Charter is your Charter. As a member—or a prospective one—you are invited to:

✅ Download and read the Charter (v1.1).
✅ Share your thoughts in our feedback form.
✅ Watch the consultation replay on Vimeo

✅ Dowload and read the consultation meeting notes.
✅ Join the Academy’s future sessions to help shape this evolving framework.

🔚 Closing Words

The AoLP Governance Charter is not the end of a journey—it’s a new beginning. A bold, structured step toward transforming financial planning into a profession of integrity, not intermediation. With your input, this Charter will help redefine what it means to be a planner in service of people—not products.

We are not just building a professional body. We are restoring public trust, one planner at a time.

📣 A word from our Founder

“This Charter is more than a document—it’s a declaration of our shared commitment to build an organisation that empowers individuals to reclaim agency over their lives and wealth. It ensures the Academy of Life Planning remains transparent, ethical, and member-driven for generations to come.”

– Steve Conley, Founder, Academy of Life Planning