“We’re building a profession,” they say. But are we still just dressing up distribution in a new robe?”
This week, the Personal Finance Society (PFS), under the influence of its parent body the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII), announced a £1 million initiative to recruit “new blood” into financial planning. They’ve called it Pathway to the Profession. A noble-sounding name, backed by shiny events and branded merchandise. But behind the fanfare lies a deeper question: whose future is this really serving?
A Fork in the Road: Sales Industry or Service Profession?
The PFS strategy is framed around “inspiring the next generation.” But when the vast majority of its membership work in distribution—advising on products they’re paid to sell—is this really about planning lives, or perpetuating the product push?
Are we helping young people enter a vocation of independence, ethics, and holistic service? Or are we recruiting them into a conflicted industry model that too often mistakes “salesforce” for “stewardship”?
This is the old Piscean model—an ecosystem built on assets under management, opaque charging structures, and intermediaries rewarded for retention, not transformation. Wrapping it in the language of inclusivity and opportunity doesn’t make it Aquarian. It makes it more palatable.
The Profession We Deserve, or the One They Can Control?
Let’s be clear: investing in the next generation is vital. But so is honesty about what they’re stepping into.
If these fresh recruits are being told they’re “financial planners” when their day job is “selling wrappers,” we have a duty to challenge it. Especially when member funds are being used to fund their onboarding into firms that are part of the very structure we need to evolve away from.
This isn’t just about semantics. It’s about systemic clarity.
- A profession puts people before products.
- An industry puts pipelines before people.
Follow the Money. And the Messaging.
The CII/PFS partnership is deeply embedded with the insurance lobby. It’s not a secret. Nor is the fact that many within their structure see “profession-building” as a means to secure future product distribution.
The question isn’t whether we should welcome new talent. It’s whether we’re inducting them into a genuine helping profession—or just giving them ethical camouflage while they meet sales targets.
What Should Change?
We need to:
- Call time on using member money to recruit into firms with conflicted business models.
- Distinguish clearly between regulated sales and holistic planning.
- Ensure newcomers are taught planning before products, not the other way around.
- Promote Aquarian pathways—those rooted in autonomy, transparency, and client empowerment.
Conclusion: A New Generation Deserves a New System
We don’t need more advisers shaped in the image of the old world. We need empowered planners, life designers, and financial freedom facilitators. If we’re going to spend £1 million, let it be to build that.
Otherwise, we’re just refining the art of recruitment into the wrong game.
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