Who can be instructed as a PODE ?

Thu, 02 Oct 2025 11:14:13 +0000

What does PAG 2 say ?

For readers not familiar with the term, when I say PAG2, I am referring to A Guide to the Treatment of Pensions on Divorce (Second Edition). The key aim of PAG 2 is to improve interprofessional working, provide a consensus on the law and improve practice and, most importantly, improve outcomes for individuals involved in the resolution of pensions issues on divorce.

The guide is perhaps the best resource available when it comes to answering the question of who can be instructed as a PODE to prepare a report for pensions on divorce, with Appendix C of the guide saying:

Pensions on Divorce Experts (PODEs) acting as a Single Joint Expert are required to have high levels of technical knowledge, experience and have good communication skills in order to convey complex information to a variety of readers. PODEs come from a range of professional backgrounds and have varying professional affiliations. These include:

Actuaries who are members of and are regulated by the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA);
Actuaries who are not members of the IFoA and who therefore fall outside its regulatory system;
Independent Financial Advisers (IFAs) who are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and approved to practice by the Chartered Insurance Institute and/ or the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment;
Financial Planners and former Financial Advisers who are not regulated by the FCA;
Members of the Academy of Experts or the Expert Witness Institute, which are not professional bodies but have codes of practice and complaints procedures;
Others who do not fall into any of the above categories, but hold themselves out as having, possibly with good justification, the necessary knowledge and expertise to carry out PODE work.

There is currently no professional qualification or regulatory system for PODEs but PAG 2 does make some recommendations regarding regulation, indemnity insurance, standards and competencies. Not all PODEs provide expert reports for the courts but may provide other support such as acting as a shadow expert, acting as a Financial Neutral or helping with implementation of Pension Sharing Orders.

Our PODEs

We now have four PODEs at Southdown, with a range of professional backgrounds, experience and professional affiliations. We do believe this diversity is very much a strength, enabling us to draw on different experiences and applying our extensive combined knowledge when shaping our standards and processes for preparing and issuing all reports.

My background and also Ian's is rooted in financial planning, with us both having a particular focus on pensions on divorce related work. Scott is a Chartered Actuary (Fellow) coming from a pensions consultancy background. Since joining Southdown, Luke has gained the necessary knowledge and expertise to carry out PODE work.

Regulation, Indemnity, Standards & Competencies

PAG2 makes some recommendations on all of the above, which we endorse and have adopted:

Regulation:

All of our PODEs are members of a professional body, be that the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries or the Chartered Insurance Institute, meaning we are all subject to rules of professional conduct.

Indemnity:

We have in place Professional Indemnity Insurance that covers the nature of our work, with a limit of liability of £2m.

Standards:

We adopt a 100% peer review process, meaning that all reports before being issued are reviewed by at least one other PODE. For example, all reports prepared by Luke are peer reviewed by either Me, Scott or Ian and all reports prepared by Scott are peer reviewed by Ian, Luke or myself. The same applies to Ian and I.

Competencies:

All of our PODEs engage in appropriate Continuing Professional Development (CPD) in order to keep up with current issues.

Self Certification

We also endorse the recommendation in Appendix D of PAG2 that all PODEs are willing and consider themselves able to certify that they have the competencies relevant to each case they prepare a report for.

To Conclude

Before instructing a PODE, the person(s) making the instruction, should ideally gather sufficient information to allow them to be satisfied that the firm and PODE being instructed has appropriate knowledge, is willing to self certify this and can provide evidence of, if felt necessary, membership of professional bodies, indemnity and company standards and processes.

I hope this overview on who can be instructed is helpful. If questions arise from this, please do get in touch with me.