The appointment of four members of the Chartered Insurance Institute's executive leadership team to the Personal Finance Society board earlier this month has triggered accusations of creating a conflict of interest that threatens the future of the PFS.
The ongoing conflict between the PFS and the CII has been running for several years, dating as far back as 2018, when the manner in which the CII sold the Aldermanbury building – its historical home – was questioned.
Other disputes have included CII attempts to de-register the PFS and moves by the CII to take control of the PFS board amid "failed mediation".
Earlier this month it flared up again, when the CII appointed four members of its executive team to the board of the PFS, replacing four existing members also appointed by CII.
The CII announced it had appointed Matthew Hill, the CII’s group chief executive, and three other members of the organisation’s executive leadership team – Trevor Edwards, the CII’s executive director of resources and people who still holds the group finance director position, Mathew Mallett, the CII’s chief digital information officer, and Gill White, the CII's executive director of member engagement and learning.
They replace four existing CII-appointed directors – Neil Buckley, Sarah Howe, Catharine Seddon and Neil Watt – who, outside of the PFS board, did not have any operational responsibilities within the CII.
The new board now has 13 members: two lay (independent and appointed by the board), four PFS member directors appointed by the PFS, while the remaining seven are CII appointed.
Once again the move has prompted accusations of conflicts of interest from those campaigning for the interests of the PFS.
The CII on the other hand, has always denied that any of its actions are motivated by a desire to squash the PFS and roll-it into the CII or to secure the PFS’s assets and reserves to prop up the CII.
At the time of announcing the new board appointments, the CII said that the addition of the new appointees would bring additional strength to the PFS board and help achieve this strategic alignment for the benefit of members.
In a press release, the CII said: “CII executives have previously served on the PFS board over many years. Re-establishing a PFS board structure that combines both external and internal knowledge and expertise will ensure the group’s strategic ambitions for the PFS are best achieved.
“They include delivering high-quality learning opportunities, developing our exceptional member offer, and making significant advances in our IT services.”
Alasdair Walker, managing director at Handford Aitkenhead & Walker and member of campaign group Our PFS, was chair of the PFS’s financial planning panel until he resigned in January last year amid the ongoing rows.
Walker says he fears that appointing the four people who hold the top roles at the CII to the PFS board could lead to the PFS board being less objective in making decisions in the best interests of PFS members.
