The Personal Finance Society’s interim chair, Andy Briscoe, has quit the role after only six months.

Mr Briscoe was one of five new directors appointed to the PFS board in July after a spate of board resignations.

His role as interim chair of the 40,000 member professional body, which awards the Chartered Financial Planner qualification, will be taken by fellow director Christine Elliott.

Mr Briscoe, a former chair of the Money Advice Service, left the board on 1 December, shortly after the PFS AGM.

In a statement today the PFS said Mr Briscoe decided to step down after leading the organisation successfully through its 2023 AGM.

The PFS said: “The PFS can confirm that Andy Briscoe left the PFS board on Friday 1 December 2023. Andy joined the Society in June, and soon was asked to take up the role of interim chair. The wider PFS Board drew on his breadth and depth of experience to re-establish solid organisational and governance foundations for the society.

“Having led the organisation through its 2023 AGM, and with the new PFS Board well established and functioning effectively, Andy felt it was time he stepped down from the PFS board to focus on other work and personal commitments. He wished the PFS board well, and the PFS board thanked him for his contribution and wished him well for the future.”

In late November former PFS board member and Chartered Financial Planner Vanessa Barnes FPFS wrote an open letter to Mr Briscoe to raise her "grave concerns" about the alleged retention of PFS funds by the Chartered Insurance Institute. It's not known how much influence the letter was on Mr Briscoe's decision to quit although Financial Planning Today understands it was not as a factor.  

He joined the PFS board in July along with Neil Buckley, Christine Elliott, Edward Grant and Catharine Seddon for an initial period of one year.

The PFS board saw a spate of resignations earlier this year in a row with parent body the Chartered Insurance Institute over governance and the use of PFS funds.