To Increase Advocacy Efforts, FSI to Raise Membership Fees

FSI spokesperson Chris Paulitz told PLANADVISER that the increased fees will allow the institute to achieve its central objectives: to boost engagement between FSI and its 30,000 members – 19,000 of which joined this year, partially due to FSI’s partnership with LPL (see “LPL and Financial Services Institute Form Partnership”), and to expand the scope of its advocacy efforts.

Paulitz says that at the beginning of 2011, FSI has 11,000 members – that figure is now up to 30,000. The increased fees will allow FSI to add to its membership staff and allow for more direct communication between FSI and its members.

FSI will also be doubling its advocacy staff, which will give the institute a larger presence in Washington and enable it to branch out into new areas of advocacy, said Paulitz. Some of these new areas of advocacy will include securities and investment advisory regulatory issues, and retirement and taxation issues. FSI also plans to tackle issues on a state-level, advocating for uniformity and modernization.

With a larger and more active advocacy staff, FSI is hoping to strengthen its voice in the news media. “Lawmakers are much more likely to speak to an association when they pick up a newspaper and see that organization quoted in the news,” says Paulitz.

The new fee structure can be seen here, and the letter sent from the Board of Directors to all of FSI’s members is available here.