The CISI is urging UK Financial Planners to get involved in this year’s Financial Planning Week to help consumers cope with the “huge shock” of Covid-19.

The week - focused on helping families this year - will take place from 5-11 October.

The professional body - which runs the Certified Financial Planner qualification - says consumers need a “steadying hand in this year unlike any other.”

Financial Planning Week - #FPWUK - is an annual campaign organised by the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (CISI). It aims to promote the benefits of Financial Planning to the nation.

It encourages consumers throughout the UK to book a free session with a Financial Planner to find out more how Financial Planning can be a “life-changing’ experience.

Because of the Coronavirus pandemic it’s expected most of these sessions this year will be ‘virtual’ over the phone or via a video calling system.

Financial Planners who are CISI members can sign up at cisi.org/registerfpweek

During the week Financial Planners in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are encouraged to:

• Join the campaign to help highlight the benefits of Financial Planning
• Consider offering one-hour free consultation surgeries, via video call or over the phone to members of the public
• Take part in “Ask a Planner” online sessions and offer written responses to individuals’ queries
• Provide talks to local schools about Financial Planning profession as a career

Jacqueline Lockie CFP, CISI head of Financial Planning, said: “This year of Covid-19, unlike any other, has highlighted the fragility of all of our lives and how easy it can be for our personal foundations, including family, friends, jobs and finances, to be shaken to the core. 

"This is our chance to demonstrate our planners’ social responsibility credentials for all consumers to understand the real benefits having a financial plan can bring them."

During the week planners will also join forces with 26 other countries under the Financial Planning Standards Board/IOSCO World Financial Planning Day #WFPD2020 on Wednesday 7 October to raise the profile of Financial Planning around the world.

Martin Ruskin CFP chairman, CISI Financial Planning Forum, said: “People will have been through a huge shock emotionally and financially. Our Financial Planning Week theme this year focuses on the family, in all of its many guises and blends, and this national CISI campaign gives our Financial Planning community a chance to help those families who might not have or may never even consider seeking help.

“It is so easy for the CISI’s Financial Planners to get involved, by reposting and engaging with Financial Planning Week 2020 content on LinkedIn and Twitter, talk to Financial Planners (who are CISI members) who you know have not taken part before, volunteering to call any firms not planning on getting involved (planner to planner) and submitting case studies or articles, or curating existing content that you have created.”