Nearly 7,000 UK financial advisers have reached Chartered Financial Planner status 15 years after the designation was launched, according to the latest figures from the PFS.

The body, which is marking 15 years this year since it was founded, says the number of Chartered Planners has grown from 389 since 2005 - when Chartered status was launched - to nearly 7,000 by December 2019.

Chartered Financial Planner status is one of two designations for UK Financial Planners with the alternative Certified Financial Planner status offered by rival body the CISI.

Other key PFS milestones over the past 15 years include:

• Membership nearly doubling since 2005 from 22,200 when the society was formed by the merger of the Society of Financial Advisers (SOFA) and the Life Insurance Association (LIA).

• Today membership has reached 40,000

• In 2005 only 3,913 members were qualified to Level 4 Diploma compared to 21,126 qualified to at least Level 4 today (53% of members)

The professional body will mark its 15th anniversary this year with the return of its popular Festival of Financial Planning which attracted 3,500 delegates in 2017.

Inaugural President of the Personal Finance Society, Brian Steeples of Turris in Glasgow, said: “The whole sector should be proud of just how far it has come in such a short space of time. Qualification levels is a stark indicator of how financial advice has moved from an industry into a more trusted profession.”

Recent initiatives by the PFS include the creation of The Pension Advice Taskforce and the creation of Pension Transfer Gold Standard.

Keith Richards, chief executive of the Personal Finance Society, said: “Financial advice is now recognised as an essential public service by government and regulators.

“We are expanding our pro-bono programmes and increasing the reach of our My Personal Finance Skills programme in schools nationwide as a way of both educating students about personal finance, but also showcasing the rewarding careers available in the sector.

“It is encouraging for the future of our profession that we are beginning to attract new generations of advice professionals with a clear benchmark and role within a Chartered profession. Over the next 15 years I am certain that we will see further growth in the numbers of advisers and, together with innovative Fintech solutions, will finally start to address the advice gap.”