Membership

Certified Professional in Financial Advice

If you're a fully active financial adviser, a Member of The London Institute of Banking & Finance – and hold our Statement of Professional Standing – you’re eligible for Certified Professional in Financial Advice status.

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Do your customers know what an accomplished professional you are?

If you’re a fully active retail investment adviser  –  qualified at Level 4 or above  –  we can award you Certified Professional in Financial Advice (CPFA). This will help you stand out from your peers:

  • on social media
  • on your website
  • in your email signature, and
  • on the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) Register if your membership’s been included.

And it’s free to Members of The London Institute of Banking & Finance (MLIBFs), who hold a Statement of Professional Standing (SPS) with us.

CPFA status comes with an eye-catching digital badge, which you can use on your website and in other digital communications. Existing and prospective clients can click on this to see the skills, knowledge and ethos that your CPFA status demonstrates.

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Becoming a Certified Professional in Financial Advice

To be eligible for CPFA status, you must:

  • hold your Statement of Professional Standing (SPS) with us, and
  • be a Member of The London Institute of Banking & Finance (MLIBF).

If you meet the above requirements, we’ll contact you to let you know you’ve achieved CPFA status.

If you're not already an MLIBF, you can apply for membership through the homepage on your MyLIBF account. For an annual fee of only £85, membership will give you other benefits too, including a 50% discount on your next SPS.

Your CPFA status will be added to our Professional Services Register and you’ll be awarded your digital badge. Your CPFA will last as long as you hold:

  • membership of The London Institute of Banking & Finance
  • your Statement of Professional Standing (SPS) with us.

If you apply for new membership and SPS at the same time, your CPFA status will last for 12 months. You will be invited to renew your membership and retain CPFA status before your membership expiry date. If either your membership or SPS lapse, you’ll no longer qualify for CPFA status.

If your SPS has lapsed – perhaps because you're not currently advising – you may be eligible for our Certificate in Professional Achievement (CPA).

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Frequently asked question (FAQ)

If you are applying for new membership and SPS at the same time, it will last for 12 months. You will be invited to renew your membership and retain CMA status before your membership expiry date.

If you’re not advising but are looking to win recognition for professional development, why not consider our Certificate in Professional Achievement (CPA). You’ll need to have completed our Diploma in Financial Advice (DipFA), met the requirements of our CPD scheme and adopted our Code of Ethics.

No, not directly. But to maintain your SPS, you need to undertake 35 hours of CPD each year, with at least 21 hours being structured.

CPFA is free provided you hold an SPS and membership with us.

You will need to ask whoever populates the FCA register in your company or firm to do this for you. 

Your credentials come in digital form – we call it a ‘digital badge’. We use a third party called Credly to help deliver these. There is no paper or pdf certificate.

Yes, only members are given access to our log. The log can store your CPD certificates or any other documents safely and you can download a pdf copy of the log any time.

However, we don’t expect you to duplicate any CPD records you might hold elsewhere.

You will need to stop using the CPFA status. You’ll also notice your digital badge shows up as expired when anyone clicks on it.

You should also notify your firm that any membership they have added to the FCA Register needs to be removed.

You don’t have to be a member of LIBF to use our products and services. But we can’t offer Certified Professional Financial Adviser to non-members or those whose membership has expired. In these circumstances, you might consider our Certificate in Professional Achievement (CPA).