PFS members have been up in arms ever since NMA revealed in April that the CII was planning to deregister the professional body for the third time. If subsumed by its parent body, the PFS would lose control over its own finances, operations and, most importantly, members.

Former PFS presidents and senior society members have recently formed pressure groups in an effort to force the CII to change its approach, but although the PFS board voted down registration the other week, later events at its annual general meeting (AGM) highlighted just how much of a fight PFS members have on their hands.

Walker tells Fitzgerald that the CII has not been transparent in its dealings with PFS members - especially in regard to deregistration - and claims that the CII’s CEO's behavior at its AGM last week showed that she was not listening to the concerns of members.

He adds that if the CII won’t take heed of IFA members' concerns, or at least answer their questions truthfully, then it is time to break the PFS away from its parent body and start afresh. That way, he says, PFS members will be the masters of their own destiny and not have to deal with, what members claim, is a society that has treated the PFS like a cash cow for far too long.