The Institute of Financial Planning has launched an Accredited Financial Planning Firms award for the best performing firm on the register.
This award will run alongside the David Norton Building Excellence award and will be awarded at the IFP Annual Conference in October.
Applications will be judged on a firm's impact on the Financial Planning profession and its business performance. This would include innovation, service excellence and best practice. Firms must be on the register for at least six months.
Nick Cann, chief executive of the IFP, said this award would recognise the best performing firm, in comparison to the David Norton award which recognises the firm with the most potential.
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Applications would open on 1 June for a month and would then be judged and shortlisted by IFP President Rebecca Taylor, Nick Cann, Brett Davidson from FP Advance and IFP board member Janet Walford.
Mr Cann also said the IFP had established a working group to support the IFP with its marketing of the Accredited Financial Planning Firms. This would be chaired by Ian Howe from Baigrie Davies and supported by Mike Stafford from Stafford and Co and Ben Westaway from Jessop Financial Planning.
The primary aims for 2013 would be educating the consumers and looking for marketing opportunities to promote the register.
It is also working with organisations such as Standards International, NS&I and Camelot to think about how Financial Planning is all about and how it can be aligned with these bodies.
The Accredited Financial Planning Firms conference is being held in London today exclusively for the 51 firms on the register.

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