One of the things that we pride ourselves on at Wealth Matters is our commitment to ongoing growth and collaboration. We find that the financial planning profession is a very giving, generous environment, filled with people who are happy to share learning and best practices.

The CISI Financial Planning Forum has been established to provide strength and greater presence in the financial planning sector, by encouraging CISI members to share their ideas. If you’re not already aware, the CISI (Chartered Institute of Securities and Investments) is the leading professional body for practitioners working in the financial planning profession.

Katherine Pautard, one of our wonderful Financial Planners here at Wealth Matters, was recently invited to join the Forum – we are very proud of her for being approached!

This is a real testament to both Katherine’s hard work and dedication, and the commitment we have as a company to pioneering excellence.

When asked about her involvement, Katherine said:

    “I was approached by other members of the committee and in a male dominated industry I believed that it is important to ensure the committee is diversified and has female representation.
    The committee is made up of a number of financial planners and CISI representatives from different ethnicities, backgrounds and genders.

    I think it is important to encourage the younger generation into the financial planning industry. It is not something that is spoken about at careers fairs or in schools. I remember having the options of teacher, nurse, police officer, maybe a lawyer, but until I left school, I knew nothing about financial planning. One of the many aims of the Financial Planning Forum is to attract young talent to the industry and find different ways to do this.”

The Forum operates under the Chatham House Rule, so Katherine is unable to share specific details of the discussions here. However, she reflected on how her involvement links up with her role at Wealth Matters:

    “As someone who has worked in the industry for over 12 years in different roles, and is now a Certified Financial Planner, I believe that I am able to look at challenges from different perspectives. It is an honour to have been asked to join the committee and I hope that my involvement will help the industry move forward and attract others, no matter how small.

    It’s still early days – I’ve only been to one meeting so far! – but I believe that the work from the Forum will increase accessibility to good financial planning overall.”

We are thrilled to have Katherine involved with the Forum, and are confident that the takeaways from the discussions will help us continue to provide the best service possible for our clients.