Goddard was made chief executive of the organisation in July 2008 and oversaw the launch of the Chartered Insurance Institute’s (CII’s) chartered financial planner initiative.
During her leadership, the PFS has gone from having 24,000 members to 33,000. The chartered financial planner initiative now has more than 3,200 individual title holders, while there are 425 chartered financial planning firms.
Goddard said: “It has been a privilege to head the PFS through a time of great change and I am immensely proud of the way members have risen above and beyond the challenges.
“The financial planning profession is entering a new era and it seems timely to step down now and let someone new take the PFS forward through its next phase of development. I have no doubt the society will continue to go from strength to strength.”
Goddard will remain as the group’s chief executive until her successor is appointed and she will help during the transition period.
Sandy Scott, chief executive of the CII, added: “I am sorry that Ms Goddard will be leaving us, but she has successfully led the PFS through the RDR and will be leaving the organisation in excellent shape, both in terms of reputation and membership size.”