Two-thirds of CFEB's 800 volunteers are IFAs
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Two-thirds of the 600 volunteers running the Consumer Financial Education Body’s workplace seminars are IFAs.
The CFEB’s Making The Most of Money seminars run in 800 workplaces throughout the country and are part of the body’s remit to offer free financial planning to employees.
It says it has 600 volunteers and around 400 are IFAs. The other 200 are made up of tied advisers, bankers and other people with financial services experience. They offer simplified advice after taking a short CFEB course.
The seminars, which have previously been run for the last three years through the FSA, offer employees information and education on money management, credit, debt and state and work-based pension schemes.
CFEB manager Chris May says: “We have definitely heard from people who would not have had the confidence to see an IFA otherwise and who have since got good advice after being prompted by the seminar.”
Technology £; Technical dir-ector Kim North says: “I am a big advocate of the CFEB but I am a bit reluctant if non-IFAs are setting up in the employee benefit area are because really specialised advice can sometimes be needed there.”
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Readers' comments (6)
Barry Evans | 1 Oct 2010 1:35 pm
They couldn't advise them when they had money what chance now......
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Gillian Cardy | 1 Oct 2010 3:28 pm
It's worth emphasising that advice is NOT given in the seminars. Firstly, they only last one hour and cover just about everything (using a pre-prepared and prescribed content). Secondly there can be anything from 10 - 50 people in one session so advice is also impractical, nay impossible.
Finally, we are specifically forbidden to get into advice and suggest that people seek financial advice if the talk has raised any issues about which they may now have concerns or want to take action.
Where our presentations (fed from the Head Shed in Canary Wharf) include material specific to the employer in question it's factual information about eligibility for company pension and other benefits and reminders about how to sign up for the various benefits to which staff are entitled - again no advice given.
The quote above is clear - people have been prompted by the seminars to seek advice - and I'm not sure how anyone can consider this to be a bad thing considering how much we've all been banging on about the inaccessibility of financial services to the mass market.
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Anonymous | 4 Oct 2010 7:51 am
Sounds Great, how do you volunteer?
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Anonymous | 10 Oct 2010 10:07 am
How do you manage to access the CFEB short course?
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Exasperated Me | 4 Apr 2011 1:59 pm
So why does it cost so much? Where does the money go?
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Anonymous | 4 Apr 2011 2:34 pm
This is how the fat cats at canary wharf would like us all to work -for free.
Agree with exasperated me, where does all the money go if they have everyone volunteering?
Why on earth should you volunteer if someonev at the top is on a hector style salary and bonus.
Seems like everyone except IFAs benefit from the big society.
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