M&G Investments and Octopus Investments has signed up to become mentors for the CISI’s 2020 Financial Planning Mentoring scheme.

They will provide technical expertise and support to mentees new to the profession.

The scheme, set up in 2019, matches those with a Certified Financial Planner designation as mentors for mentees.

Mentees must be members of both the CISI and the CISI Financial Planning Forum.

The CISI pilot Financial Planning Mentoring Scheme in 2019 was able to match 20 mentees to mentors. The scheme bought together mentors and mentees from 14 different regions across the UK.

The technical helplines provided by Schroders, Royal London and James Hay received 5-10 calls per month from mentees and mentors seeking technical expertise.

The scheme has been relaunched this year aiming to increase regional participation.

On her experience as a mentee, Jenny Madhoo of Acumen Financial Planning, said: "My mentor has been approachable and supportive, and by keeping notes of our discussions she is able to hold me to account from one session to the next which is extremely valuable.”

On her experience as Jenny’s mentor, Nicola Watts of Jane Smith Financial Planning said: “My mentee comes to each meeting having made progress in the areas we have previously discussed along with a fresh and new action list to aid her personal development. She is focused on what she wants to achieve and is willing to take action and build a plan to get there.”

In a change for 2020, the scheme has set up two separate streams. One stream caters to mentees already in the Financial Planning profession. The second stream is aimed at those who are new or are aspiring to be Financial Planners.

Jacqueline Lockie, CISI head of Financial Planning said: “We are delighted to be operating our Financial Planning Mentoring Scheme again this year.

“We had an excellent uptake of both mentors and mentees in 2019 and, having listened to feedback, we’ve made some improvements to the scheme, this includes creating two streams, as outlined above, to ensure that support is available within the Financial Planning profession.”