Nearly 1,800 people have attended this year's Personal Finance Society National Conference in Manchester today - far exceeding expectations, with hundreds more attending than predicted.

An estimated 1,200 PFS member were expected to attend but in the event 1,484 came through the doors by lunchtime, the PFS said.

In addition there were 300 attendees who were exhibitors, speakers and others with total attendance at the event of just under 1,800.

The one day event took place today at the Manchester Central conference venue in the heart of Manchester. The event was free for members with a charge for non-members.

This year’s event unravelled the growing impact of the digital world on the Financial Planning profession. The conference title was: 'Rewired - Planning for a hybrid world'.

PFS President Carla Brown said: "We are delighted to have welcomed so many PFS members to our National Conference, and the buzz around Manchester Central has been palpable.

"It has been a brilliant day for the PFS, providing more than 20 sessions that I know will have helped all those members in attendance to meet the needs of both traditional clients and digital natives in a hybrid world.

"Curating events of this quality is one of our specialities, and I’d like to thank all our partners, exhibitors and colleagues for bringing this event together.”

The conference looked at every aspect of financial advice support for for millennials and Gen Xers. It also looked at finfluencers, TikTok and how an increasingly 'remote' working world may impact the profession. 

Keynote speakers included Jason Bates, tech entrepreneur and co-founder of Monzo and Starling bank; Iona Bain, founder of the Young Money blog and a financial journalist and broadcaster; Guenther Steiner, former team principal of the Haas F1 teams and Karun Chandhok, former F1 racing driver and commentator.

There were 20 concurrent sessions in five theatres covering all aspects of Financial Planning including coverage of Consumer Duty, the Sustainability Disclosure Regime, inter-generational wealth planning and AI.

The event was taking place just days after PFS interim CEO Don Macintyre quit after two years in role. The event was preceded by the PFS AGM which saw members vote to reject two key motions in a protest about the CII's running of the PFS.

The PFS, the professional body which awards the Chartered Financial Planner qualification, has 40,000 members and its event is one of the biggest in the Financial Planning calendar.