Who is PIMFA?

The Personal Investment Management & Financial Advice Association (PIMFA) is the trade association for firms that provide investment management, investment services and advice to everyone from individuals and families to charities, pension funds, trusts and companies. Our sector currently looks after £1.65 trillion in private savings and investments and employs over 63,000 people.

PIMFA is a diverse and flexible organisation who continues to serve its members through hybrid working. Our membership is corporate and consists of two groups – full and associate member firms.

Full members provide a range of financial solutions including financial advice, portfolio management, as well as investment and execution services and assist everyone from individuals and families, to charities and pension funds, all the way to trusts and companies.  Associate members provide professional services to the PIMFA community.

PIMFA was created in 2017 as the outcome of a merger between the Association of Professional Financial Advisers (APFA) and the Wealth Management Association (WMA) with a history as a trade association since 1991.

Our Mission

Our mission is to create an optimal operating environment so that our member firms can focus on delivering the best service to clients and providing responsible stewardship for their long-term savings and investments.

What We Do

  1. Represent the diverse range of firms that provide investment management, investment services and advice with a unified voice
  2. Provide industry thought leadership, consolidating our extensive technical insights and expertise in regulatory and policy areas
  3. Lead the debate on policy and regulatory recommendations to ensure an optimal operating environment for firms and clients, maintaining the UK’s position as a leading global centre of excellence
  4. Through our advocacy work, we promote the industry as a key catalyst to develop a culture of savings and investment in the UK
  5. Promote a greater understanding of the sector, the value of advice and its role as a beneficial force in transforming the way people save and invest for the future
  6. Facilitate dialogue across industry stakeholders, while developing best-practice guidance

PIMFA Members Manifesto - Our 6 Pillars

The PIMFA Members Manifesto sets out our five year approach to creating the optimal operating environment for member firms to deliver services and meet client needs.

At the core of the Manifesto are six pillars summarising our key areas of focus to achieve the vision for the sector, these are:

Enabling access to the sector
Such as promoting the sector as a force for good; targeting policy that acts as an enabler for savings and investments; clarifying advice vs guidance.

Designing a sector for the future
Including the future of regulation; future employees and skills; diversity and inclusion; raising awareness of Sustainable Finance and Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG) factors.

Ensuring appropriate and proportionate regulation
This includes Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS); Professional Indemnity Insurance (PII); FCA policy making and supervision; Regulation of Sustainable Finance and ESG.

Developing robust and thriving markets
Enabling retail investment in markets.

Enabling business protection
Through data protection and cyber resilience; sharing of good practice; operational resilience.

Enabling digital business transformation
Through sharing of digital good practice, level playing field for digital; removing paper from the system.

Our History

On 1st June 2017 the two leading UK trade associations in the investment management and financial advice sector , APFA and the WMA, merged to create the Personal Investment Management & Financial Advice Association (PIMFA).

The Association of Professional Financial Advisers (APFA) was the representative body for the financial adviser profession. APFA formed in 1999 as the Association of Independent Financial Advisers (AIFA). At the time of the merger there were approximately 14,000 adviser firms employing 81,000 people. 40% of investment and protection products were sold through financial advisers, with annual revenue estimated at £3.8 billion (£2.2 billion from investment business, £1.2 billion from general insurance and £400 million from mortgages).

The Wealth Management Association (WMA) was created as a trade association in 1990 and was originally called the Association of Private Client Investment Managers and Stockbrokers (APCIMS). At the time of the merger WMA represented 180 wealth management firms and associate members that provided a range of financial solutions including financial advice, portfolio management, as well as investment and execution services. These members firms looked after over £825 billion of wealth for over 2.2 million retail investors – comparable in value to around 40% of GDP. These firms operated across more than 580 sites, employed over 27,000 staff, ran over 5.5 million client portfolios and carried out over 20 million trades a year.

Get in Touch

Please visit our website www.pimfa.co.uk or call us on +44 (0) 20 7448 7100 to find out more. Feel free to send us an email at info@pimfa.co.uk


We will ensure that our products and services meet our customer’s expectations, our own high standards and comply with all relevant regulations. Specific quality objectives will be set and reviewed through our management review process.
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