On the go: Some 14 professional trustees have become fully accredited under the Association of Professional Pension Trustees framework.
In an update released on Friday, the APPT revealed that 40 more trustees have obtained provisional accreditation status. These professionals will become fully accredited as soon as they are able to complete the accreditation examinations and gain final Disclosure and Barring Service approval.
The provisional accreditation status is an interim measure introduced by the association in April, which allows prospective professional trustees to make progress towards full ‘gold standard’ accreditation, at a time when the coronavirus lockdown has made it impossible to sit the examinations required to gain full accreditation.
The first group to achieve the gold standard includes the industry’s first accredited female professional trustee, Shona Goulds at AAA Trustee, who said: “Accreditation is an important step forward for professional trustees, now more than ever, and will enable us to deliver the best outcomes for our members during these challenging times.”
Nita Tinn, APPT’s chair, said the association is very happy with the response received so far from the professional trustee community and is pleased that many of the applications received are from new members.
“The response indicates that professional trustees do see the benefits in being accredited, and we expect to see the numbers of professional trustees gaining official APPT accreditation increase over the coming months,” she said.
In order to become accredited, professional trustees will need to demonstrate their competency through passing exams covering technical and soft skills, as well as demonstrating that they are fit and proper, through criminal record and professional reference checks, the APPT said.
