The Institute of Financial Planning has now officially merged with the Chartered Institute of Securities and Investment as of 1 November and CISI welcome packs are on their way this week to IFP members.

The packs will explain the benefits of CISI membership, stress continuity between the two organisations and provide more information on the merger which is part of a long term drive to expand the Financial Planning profession in the UK.

In a special welcome to IFP members in the next issue of Financial Planner out in two weeks, CISI chief executive Simon Culhane writes: "I am delighted to welcome you to our newly merged organisation, which I believe is the start of an exciting chapter for both former IFP and current CISI members. I am also delighted that six members of the IFP staff will be helping us.

"The CISI has long recognised that Certified Financial Planners are at the pinnacle of the advice industry, with highly skilled practitioners operating from a deep knowledge base, with exemplary standards of behaviour. These three attributes of skills, knowledge and behaviour are the powerful triumvirate which define professionalism – and mirror the standards we expect of all our members."

The IFP office in Bristol has now officially closed and business has been transferred to the London-based CISI. Some IFP staff have opted to take redundancy but a number have decided to transfer to the CISI to help the transition process and work with the CISI. There will be a skeleton IFP staff remaining in Bristol until the end of the year to complete any remaining work but the merger has itself has now been completed and the IFP membership has been transferred to the CISI.

Many familiar IFP events and conferences will remain and the IFP name will continue for at least three years. Other key moves include:

• The IFP Annual Conference will continue along with the annual IFP Paraplanning Conference
• CFP^CM Certification and other qualifications will continue alongside the CISI's Chartered Wealth Manager qualification
• A new Level 4 Financial Planning qualification will be introduced by the CISI early next year to help more advisers move towards the Financial Planning profession
• The IFP board now forms the new IFP Financial Planning Professional Forum Committee within the CISI
• New IFP President Alan Dick CFP^CM has become Chairman of the Forum
• Financial Planner magazine will continue and will be published next month and Financial Planner Online will continue to bring you news about the profession

Alan Dick said recently that the IFP's merger with the CISI is the IFP's “one chance to get it right."

In an interview with Financial Planner magazine, Mr Dick said: “This is our one chance to get it right and ensure the new merged CISI/IFP is the voice of Financial Planning in the UK. That voice needs to be heard to be able to make a real difference to the lives of Financial Planning professionals and their clients.”

He said: “We mustn’t underestimate the scale of the task of fully integrating two great bodies such as IFP and CISI. Fortunately, we are both well aligned ideologically but we need to make sure that the practicalities don’t get left to chance.”

Immediate past IFP President Rebecca Taylor FIFP CFP^CM will join the CISI board. She said the merger was about achieving “critical mass” for Financial Planning in the UK.

In a press briefing at the IFP Annual Conference recently she said the IFP had been growing only slowly in recent years hampered by lack of money and resources.

She said: “We are growing slowly but this (merger) will accelerate our growth in the marketplace.”