Professional bodies are supposed to protect standards. They educate practitioners, represent the profession and help the public distinguish competence from salesmanship. But what happens when the body responsible for advancing professional practice is also embedded in the commercial system that existing practice sustains? That is where representation becomes conflicted. And it explains why some ideas are welcomed onto the professional stage while others are quietly kept outside the room. The...

The Kinder Institute is the Academy’s closest philosophical competitor, but not yet its closest commercial equivalent. The central distinction is: Kinder improves the adviser–client relationship. The Academy redesigns the relationship between the person, the planner, technology and the financial system. Kinder is principally a premium professional-training and designation business. The Academy is developing an agency infrastructure ecosystem: methodology, practitioner community, consumer...

A new survey by ValidPath has revealed that just 9% of Independent Financial Adviser (IFA) firms are treating succession planning as a central part of their business strategy. While 77% of advisers agree that it’s important, less than a third (31%) deem it vital, and over a third have barely begun to think about it—despite planning to retire within the next decade. In a profession built on planning, this seems an extraordinary oversight. So, what’s next for those preparing to hang up their...