The PFS says thousands of members downloaded the template within 48 hours of it being made available.
The template was made available after members asked for a way to support the professional body’s efforts to engage the newly elected government on issues affecting access to financial advice.
Key issues include the “hardening” of the Professional Indemnity insurance market as concerns grow about pension transfer business and the rapidly rising levy for the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.
The template was produced to help advisers write to their local MPs to explain how these issues affect constituents and to request a review of the way consumer compensation is funded.
The template refers to the Personal Finance Society’s funding solution, which enables consumers to benefit from enhanced financial education, includes funding for guidance services and delivers the same level of consumer compensation as the current system does.
The solution, which the PFS says would end the need for professional indemnity insurance, draws funding from both the market and a levy on the £9 trillion plus of retail investment assets in the UK.
The society says it has calculated that its levy - which would pay existing compensation and fund consumer education through the Money and Pensions Service - would equal only approximately 0.006% of assets under management.
Laurence Turner, Chartered Financial Planner and Chairman of IFT Wealth Management, was one of the first advisers to download the PFS template and wrote to Halifax MP Holly Lynch.
He told the PFS: “As part of a much larger and more united profession than ever before, I am confident we can make a difference to the current situation if we pull together and I am 100 per cent aligned and appreciate the guidance of my professional body.”
Keith Richards, chief executive of the Personal Finance Society, said “The rate of uptake for the new template is proof of the level of concern felt by the profession and the need for policy change. With 3,000 downloads within 48 hours, this clearly demonstrates the urgency for action felt across the personal finance profession.
“Many financial advisers have joined with us and independently raised concerns over the past few years. It is good to see more advisers taking the initiative, using the template and showing our profession can work together to compel our elected government to take notice and appropriate action.”