PFS announces new Board member and Vice Presidents

PFS announces new Board member and Vice Presidents

Ben Wright will join the PFS Board from March 2024

The PFS Board has announced the appointment of Ben Wright as a new Director of the organisation. Mr Wright, a Chartered Financial Planner and Fellow of the PFS based in Sheffield, will serve for an initial four-year term, with his first Board meeting on 21 March.

The PFS Board has also elected two of its existing Directors, Carla Brown and Daniel Williams, as Vice Presidents of the professional membership body. Both Ms Brown and Mr Williams will act as Vice President this year, with one of them to be elected (by the PFS Board) to serve as President in 2025, subject to confirmation at this year’s AGM. The other individual will serve as President in 2026, again subject to confirmation at the next AGM.

Ms Brown will additionally take on the role of Chair of the PFS Power Panel, on which she has served as an active member for several years. 

Anthony Ward, President of the PFS, said: “I am delighted to welcome Ben to the PFS Board following a rigorous recruitment process that benefited from more than 200 applications. Our Nominations Committee recommended Ben for appointment on the basis of the wide range of skills and knowledge he will bring to our Board, while additionally strengthening the representation of our active members. I am also pleased that we are able to give our members certainty regarding the leadership of the PFS through the appointments of Carla and Dan as Vice Presidents.

Ben Wright, said: “It’s a real honour to be elected to the board of the professional body I’ve been a member of for 20 years and it feels like the perfect time to help shape the next chapter of the PFS’s story. I’ll be heavily focused on what we can do to practically support our members as they deal with the challenges of today, whilst keeping an eye on preparing for their future. I’m also keen to find new ways to bring through the next generation of financial planning professionals, cementing the future of our profession.”

Christine Elliott, interim Chair of the PFS, said: “Delivery for members is the top item on our agenda. Having Ben join the Board will help us maintain a laser focus on value for our membership, in a rapidly developing, important and exciting profession."

Don MacIntyre, interim CEO of the PFS, said: “The addition of Ben Wright continues the rapid evolution of the PFS Board over the past year, while Carla and Dan’s appointments provide members with a consistency of vision for the medium-term. Our members’ passion and dedication to their professional membership body shone through the application process and I know our organisation is now well-placed to drive forward our ambitious business plan for 2024 and beyond.

Biography: Ben Wright

Ben is the Founder and Director of Progress at financial services consultancy firm, Change Squared. As an ex-financial adviser, Ben now works with financial advice firms of all sizes on business efficiency and soft-skills adviser coaching. Having worked in bancassurance, as a financial adviser, in fund management, with white-labelled platform solutions and on the exec board at a financial advice network, Ben has the benefit of seeing profession through many lenses.

Ben is a Chartered Financial Planner and a Fellow of the PFS. Having left school with only GCSE's, completing the CII's financial services qualifications allowed Ben to attend Manchester Metropolitan University in 2016, where he graduated with an MSc in Financial Planning and Business Management.

Ben is also Trustee of the Suit Works, a charity focused on social mobility by helping unemployed people back into work, and an INED at a national financial advice network.