Chris Budd, the founder of the non-profit Institute for Financial Wellbeing, is to step down as chairman after three years.

Experienced Financial Planner Ruth Sturkey, currently vice chair, will take over as chair.

The group was founded in 2019 by Chris Budd, the founder of Financial Planning firm Ovation Finance, to promote and encourage wellbeing among financial services professionals.

The group, previously called the Initiative for Financial Wellbeing, recently gained Institute status.

It trains financial professionals on wellbeing and runs seminars and events.

The organisation started after Mr Budd sent out a press release asking for expressions of interest and received over 400 responses.

Mr Budd said he was stepping down as he felt he had “achieved his mission” of establishing an institute which focuses financial advice on happiness, not just the accumulation of wealth.

He said: “This doesn’t mean that I don’t want to carry on being involved, quite the opposite.

"The IFW has taken up a huge amount of my time over the last three years, and in some ways, we have only just reached the beginning. There is still lots of work to do if we are going to get financial wellbeing accepted as Version 3.0 of financial advice (where technical advice was version 1.0 and planning was version 2.0).”

His successor Ruth Sturkey co-founded and led The Red House, a London Financial Planning firm which merged with Paradigm Norton.

Ms Sturkey said: “I have long believed that the true purpose of money lies not in its accumulation, but in its ability to enable a life of happiness and contentment. 

“I am super excited to have the opportunity as chair of the IFW to build on the foundation that Chris has created and supported by the IFW board, team and our early members make this a reality.  We would love to welcome others in financial services to help us on this mission.”

Mr Budd says while he will step down he will maintain his interest in the area and will finish his second book about financial wellbeing, due to be published in Spring, and continue to spread the word about the IFW.