From today onwards, anyone who wants to apply for, or renew, his corporate chartered status under the auspices of the UK's Personal Finance Society (which counts financial advisors who are wealth managers among its members) can do so on a new application form.

The requirement for a qualification that forms part of "chartered status" is the CII Level 6 Advanced Diploma in Financial Planning –  regulated by Ofqual (in England), Qualifications Wales (in Wales) and the CCEA or Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (in Northern Ireland).

Since the Financial Conduct Authority’s Retail Distribution Review came into force, a financial advisor must have a CII Level 4 Advanced Diploma in order to advise clients. In acquiring "chartered status," an advisor has to acquire more qualifications than the FCA requires of them if they want to operate.

This latest initiative is designed to make the application and renewal process for "corporate chartered status" easier.

In May the Personal Finance Society, which is part of the Chartered Insurance Institute, revealed that it was relaunching its "corporate chartered proposition" for the insurance and financial planning profession.

The new criteria for achieving "corporate chartered status" for financial planners will require 50% of advisors to be chartered by January 2020. Under the current rules only 25% of advisors must have earned their charters. The new form automatically works out whether a business meets the right criteria for staff. If, for example, more chartered advisors are required, the form will say this.