Kristian Manton, a Paraplanner at Attivo Group, achieved the prestigious designation earlier this month.
He joins a growing number of young Fellows in their early 20s. In 2018 Manchester-based Jacob Hartley became the youngest Fellow at the time after three and a half years as a trainee planner at LIFT-Financial’s Academy.
Mr Manton joined Cheltenham-based Attivo Financial Planning’s Business Submissions team in December 2017 and was supported in his studies by the Attivo Group Academy.
He started studying for his R0 exams with materials and exam costs covered by the company and took 8 months to complete the Diploma in Financial Planning, qualifying as a Paraplanner in February 2019.
Despite the pandemic causing delays to his exam schedule he said he was thrilled to complete his Fellowship in just 2 years and 7 months after his first exam. In total, he passed 16 exams first time, taking two Advanced Papers in one month, and submitted 1 piece of coursework.
He said: “I want to say a huge thank you for all the attention, time and effort Attivo Group has invested in me. I could not have reached this milestone in my career, without the study support and coaching from the Attivo Group Academy.’’
”It took a lot of early mornings, late nights and weekends revising but achieving this accolade has made it all worth it. A personal highlight was passing two advanced papers in one sitting."
He added he was grateful to a number of “great colleagues” who helped and supported him.
The majority of Attivo Group Financial Planners are qualified to Chartered and Fellow status with the PFS/CII.
The company says it has a business strategy of ‘grow your own’ talent through its own Academy and has partnered with the University of Gloucestershire (UoG) to create a Financial Planning Apprenticeship supported by the Government’s Apprenticeship Scheme.
Stephen Harper, Attivo chief executive, said: “We are incredibly proud of Kristian’s achievement. Reaching Fellow status is no mean feat, and to accomplish this at such a young age and in a short timeframe, with the additional challenges posed by Covid-19, is testament to his determination and focus.
“We believe that all Financial Planners and Paraplanners should be qualified to Chartered and Fellow status and be occupational pension specialists.”
Keith Richards, CEO of the Personal Finance Society, said: “On behalf of everyone at the PFS, we congratulate Kristian on becoming a Fellow at such a young age. Kristian’s achievement demonstrates an outstanding commitment to attaining professional qualifications and is the gold standard in technical competence. We look forward to following his career in our profession closely.”