Institute of Financial Planning chief executive Nick Cann believes that Financial Planning should become more “normal” or mainstream if it wants to increase membership.

Speaking at the IFP annual conference this afternoon, he said that it should not be seen as being elite or niche.

Mr Cann said: “Our goal has to be to make Financial Planning normal and not the pursuit of the elite or niche. If we can do that and add in innovation and interest, more will consider it.

“It should be a normal thing to join the IFP and start a career in the Financial Planning profession and we must work towards these ends so that the Government, regulator and the consumer understand the place of Financial Planning.”

It is known that Mr Cann hopes to increase membership by the end of 2013 to 4,500, more than double the current number.

He also praised the small and medium sized businesses that had best embraced the changes brought about by the RDR and were growing at a time of economic uncertainty.

This compared to larger firms who have struggled to work out a proposition and change adviser behaviour.

If this did not change, he said, the industry would lose advisers and roles would not be filled.

“More needs to be done to find and develop talent at the Paraplanner and Planner level to take advantage of these opportunities. We will see new players but regulation and technology needs to significantly improve on where we are today to get a greater connection and engagement from the UK consumer.”

In order to stimulate interest in the profession among “Generation Y” and encourage more people to enter the industry, Mr Cann said that Financial Planning needed to engage better with the consumer.

“We need to understand behaviour far better and apply technology and social media to these strategies. Understanding Generation Y and the changing dynamics of the demographics should help us but flair and genuine innovation is required.” 

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