Membership packs welcoming IFP members to the CISI will be sent out next week.

Information is set to be posted to members as the merger becomes officially completed on 1 November.

The IFP Bristol office will close with effect from that day and all business will be conducted from the CISI headquarters in London.

When members receive their membership pack they will need to log into MyCISI and, like all new CISI members, and complete the online test IntegrityMatters in order to activate membership.

All memberships will be payable annually and the membership year will run from 1 April to 31 March.

To simplify the process, members who are due to pay in 2015 will be asked to pay until 31 March 2016 and from January 2016 members will be asked to pay up until 31 March 2017. The IFP and CISI said the majority of membership fees will go down.

When members begin their CISI membership they automatically become part of the IFP Professional Forum.

To view a full list of key questions and answers about membership check your copy of Financial Planner magazine, out this month, or view it on the digital edition HERE.

The IFP board itself will no longer exist in its original form but instead will become the IFP Financial Planning Professional Forum Committee.

All the IFP board have transferred over to the forum. The role of President also ceases to exist and so Alan Dick CFPCM has the new title of Chair of the IFP Financial Planning Professional Forum Committee.

Mr Dick said: “As a result of the change, it’s great that we no longer have to worry about some of the issues of a board of directors would typically handle including finances, accounts and filing Companies House returns.

“We can now focus exclusively on developing Financial Planning including the content for qualifications, training and events. I’m looking forward to building upon everything we loved about the old IFP and develop this further to grow the profession for the future. There is certainly plenty to do.”