My first weeks as CFP Board’s 2011 Chair have been busy and productive ones, which I take as a sign that this year will be one of significant progress for CFP Board and the financial planning profession.

Within a two-week period during January, government agencies released three important studies on issues that touch our profession. As CFP Board and our partners in the Financial Planning Coalition reviewed the studies, it was rewarding to see fruit from our labors of recent years. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released a study concluding that the fiduciary standard currently applicable to investment advisers should be extended to broker-dealers who provide investment advice, a conclusion the Coalition has advocated for vigorously since its inception. The SEC released an additional study that found that increased investment adviser oversight was needed and recommended three options, the first of which focused on the SEC retaining oversight of advisers, a conclusion that the Coalition also strongly advocated.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) also completed the first government-sponsored study related to financial planning apart from other financial services providers – a study that the Coalition successfully persuaded Congress to include in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, despite significant opposition from some financial service organizations. While the conclusion of this study – that no new regulation of financial planners was needed at this time – did not reflect our hoped-for outcome, the underlying findings, including consumer confusion related to financial planning and lack of data regarding financial planners, made a strong case for needed reform. Many of the GAO recommendations and findings invite further discussion and research.

The Coalition is committed to ongoing engagement with these issues of importance to the financial planning profession, and we are pleased that our work has contributed to giving the financial planning profession a strong and clear voice during important policy discussions.

Our achievements on these recent policy issues are due in no small part to the many CFP® professionals who shared their views with their legislators. I am grateful to everyone who has taken time to speak with or send a message to Congressional representatives in support of the Coalition’s proposals. And I hope you will be ready and willing to answer our calls for action when opportunities arise during the coming year.

I’d also like to express my gratitude to the talented and dedicated public policy and communications staff of CFP Board and our Coalition partners. In a political system where influence is often gained through deep pockets, our representatives on the Coalition have relied on persistence, strategic outreach, and the strength and persuasiveness of positions clearly focused on benefitting the American public. The Coalition has made significant progress on behalf of our profession, and we remain dedicated to moving forward with our work advising legislators and regulators on how to best protect consumers by ensuring financial planning services are delivered with fiduciary accountability and transparency.

In addition to the ongoing work of the Financial Planning Coalition during 2011, CFP Board will focus this year on raising awareness of the CFP® certification and the importance of personal financial planning so that people know that they don’t have to go it alone – they can partner with a CFP® professional. This spring we will launch CFP Board’s first major Public Awareness Campaign to increase public awareness of CFP® professionals. The Campaign has great potential to move CFP Board and the financial planning profession forward in our shared work to benefit the public.

I also look forward to CFP Board’s continued work to raise awareness of the importance of financial planning education. The financial planning profession is rapidly evolving as a field of choice for young people and career changers alike. Strengthening financial planning education is vital to the strength of the CFP® certification and the next generations of CFP® professionals. The financial planning education programs that support the CFP® certification are an important source of theoretical and practical knowledge for the profession, and CFP Board is dedicated to supporting them and encouraging their ongoing development.

During 2011, Kevin Keller and I will be visiting a number of cities around the country to meet with CFP® professionals and other stakeholders for a series of town hall-style meetings. The first of this year’s “CFP® Certificant Connection” events will be held February 7-8 in southern California and in Scottsdale, Arizona. During these meetings, we will provide updates on some of CFP Board’s work and, more importantly, allow attendees to set the agenda with their questions to let us hear what’s on the minds of CFP® professionals across the country. I hope everyone involved with the CFP® professional community will participate in these events as they are scheduled, and I hope you will stay connected with CFP Board during the coming year.

It’s an honor to serve as Chair of the CFP Board’s Board of Directors, and I feel fortunate to take up this role during a time that promises to be one of the most exciting for this organization since its founding more than 25 years ago. I look forward to working with CFP Board, the CFP® professional community and all those who support the CFP® certification to continue our work to raise the public’s awareness of the CFP® certification as the standard of excellence for personal financial planning.

Charles A. Moran, JD, CFP®
2011 Chair, Board of Directors
CFP Board

Contact CFP Board’s Board of Directors at
BOD@CFPBoard.org.
 
 

This year will bring an important milestone in CFP Board’s work to benefit the public, and one that we expect will provide lasting value to all who hold or support the CFP® certification. CFP Board’s first major national Public Awareness Campaign to increase consumer awareness of CFP® professionals is expected to launch in April 2011.

As I shared last December, CFP Board’s research on consumer perceptions is playing a large role in determining the substance and presentation of the Campaign, as well as for our plans to measure the Campaign’s impact. Other central factors in the development of the Campaign are the characteristics of the Campaign’s target market.

We know from our consumer research and from discussions within the CFP® professional community that awareness of CFP® professionals is relatively low among Americans across all demographics. However, to develop and implement a coordinated Campaign that makes the best use of our resources and allows us to measure the Campaign’s effectiveness, we needed to be selective in identifying and defining a target market. Before we could determine what we would be saying through the Campaign, we first needed to determine who to say it to.

As we reviewed secondary research on financial planning and financial services, the “Mass Affluent” demographic (individuals or families with $100,000 to $1 million in investable assets) stood out as the group best aligned with the expectations of consumers and CFP® professionals. CFP Board’s research found:

• 78% of consumers think consulting with a CFP® professional is appropriate for someone with $500,000 or less in investable assets;
• 73% of CFP® professionals responding to our August 2010 online survey indicated that most of the new clients they’ve added during the previous 3 years fell into the mass affluent range; and
• $500,000 was the median amount of investable assets for clients of CFP® professionals, according to our August 2010 phone survey.

As we conducted our own quantitative research within the Mass Affluent segment, there were a few demographics that surfaced as typical for the group such as income and education. But beyond that, further demographic segmentations were not predictive of which consumers were more likely to seek out a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional.

What was predictive was a particular consumer mindset. In our research, we asked questions designed to help us identify the mindset or personality characteristics predictive of whether someone would be more likely to seek out a CFP® professional after exposure to our messages. From this information we were able to develop our own proprietary segment, a segment we call the Mass Affluent Initiator based on the mindset characteristics they share.

This Mass Affluent Initiator mindset was very predictive of whether consumers were likely to seek out a CFP® professional. People within this group demonstrated a number of shared personality characteristics:

• They are exceptionally responsible and practical;
• They are confident, self-assured and optimistic;
• They believe they have gotten to where they are today because they have earned it;
• They feel life is too busy, and they think managing their finances is complex and time consuming;
• They prefer to work as part of a team and find it easy to open up to people; and
• They trust experts.

This group gives us a specific target within the US adult population to help us effectively shape and deliver our Campaign’s messages and resources. The total US adult 18+ year old population, as measured by Simmons, is 222 million adults. The Mass Affluent Initiator segment that is 35-64 years old is a concentrated 14 million adults or 6% of the US adult population.

The mindset of this Mass Affluent Initiator segment has not only given us a focal point for the development of the Campaign’s creative materials, but has also provided important guidance for our media planning and buying. What this means is we will be able to buy the TV programs, magazines and Web sites most likely to be viewed or read by consumers with our target mindset which will give us the greatest impact for our budget.

It is important to note that we are using the characteristics and mindset of the Mass Affluent Initiator group as a tool to help us design and deliver effective messages that will increase public awareness of CFP® professionals and that is our goal. We have a clear objective – increasing our target market’s awareness of CFP® professionals. We are developing Campaign materials and messages that have been tested with consumers in our target group and are proceeding with those the target group has found most engaging, motivating and effective.

As we move closer to the launch of the Public Awareness Campaign in late April 2011, I look forward to sharing with you more about the development of the Campaign’s messages and creative materials, and more specific information about our selection of media to carry the Campaign’s messages. We believe the upcoming Campaign will provide great value for CFP® professionals and the financial planning profession, and will be an important step in our shared work to further CFP Board’s mission to benefit the public.

Kevin R. Keller, CAE
CEO, CFP Board

Despite all the hype around sites like Facebook and Twitter, social media seems to be making only gradual inroads among financial planners. An informal CFP Board poll found that about 30% of CFP® professionals currently use social media as part of their marketing efforts. Those not using social media cited compliance issues as their biggest concern. But respondents also worried about the medium’s unwieldiness (unsubstantiated rumors spread easily and can be difficult to stop), lack of accountability, and potential threats to privacy. Some CFP® professionals were also put off by the time and effort required to set up and maintain a social media presence.

A study of 1,200 registered investment advisors (RIAs) by Schwab Advisor Services came to similar conclusions. Only 2% of the RIAs surveyed described themselves as social media “evangelists,” while just 10% described themselves as “early adopters.” “Tentative users” formed the biggest group, at 41%, with “skeptics” coming in second at 34% and “eager learners” third at 13%.

Yet the CFP Board poll also found that those with favorable views of social media regarded it as a potentially attractive way to market their services. “This seems to be a very effective way to reach clients,” wrote one respondent, “as long as advisors stay within ethical, common sense guidelines (largely yet to be defined).”

It is largely the lack of well-defined ethical, common sense guidelines that has prompted many financial planners to take a wait-and-see approach. To date, the Securities and Exchange Commission has not published definitive guidance. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) published a Regulatory Notice suggesting, among other things, that static content that is not frequently changed should be pre-approved while more fluid content, like Twitter posts and Facebook status updates, should be reviewed after the fact.

Given the lack of definitive guidelines, though, how can planners who want to use social media do so in a way that is compliant as well as engaging? For pointers, it might be instructive to look at a sector that faces some of the same social media challenges as financial planning — the pharmaceutical industry.

Pharmaceutical firms must comply with strict regulations regarding commercial messaging, just like financial planners. And the Food and Drug Administration, like the SEC, has been slow to provide guidance on how companies should handle social media. Still, some pharmaceutical companies have launched successful initiatives that achieve marketing goals while remaining well within the bounds of compliance. In the U.K., for example, Pfizer runs the ManMOT, a weekly online forum through which men can confidentially discuss health issues such as obesity with physicians. The forums take place every Monday; MOT stands for “Monday opportunity to talk” but is also a pun on the MOT (Ministry of Transport) test, the U.K.’s mandatory annual vehicle inspection.

Sheryl Garrett, CFP®, founder of the Garrett Planning Network, believes Web sites like Facebook and Twitter are “not the major Holy Grail for client generation but, managed appropriately, they can be a viable marketing means.”

She cites one colleague who regularly uses Twitter to achieve the same goals as Pfizer’s ManMOT: client information and education. Ten to 20 times a month, he posts a brief summary of a relevant article and a link to the full piece to his Twitter followers. The subjects cover the gamut of financial planning topics, from Social Security developments to the latest twists and turns in tax policy. The posts contain no personal judgments and nothing that could be construed as a recommendation. “This is valuable information, a kind of service provision for clients,” Garrett says. “The subliminal message, to clients and to prospective clients, is: I’m keeping my finger on the pulse of the industry for you.”

This also seems to be the strategy behind TD Ameritrade’s Web series “The Invested Life,” in which independent financial advisers coach consumers on everything from saving for college to retirement planning. Shown on msn.com, “The Invested Life” episodes are complemented by a presence on Facebook and Twitter, blog posts, video clips, and online materials to help users with their personal financial needs. CFP Board’s consumer outreach efforts have also made use of multiple social media channels, such as with the Lifelong Financial Strategies, a series of financial planning strategies from CFP Board’s Consumer Advocate, Eleanor Blayney, CFP®, presented through online videos, audio podcasts, and related posts through Twitter and Facebook.

Garrett points out, though, that it’s “not volume but value that matters.” Social media offer planners new ways to provide clients with timely, relevant information. The more targeted and useful that information is, the more satisfied clients and prospective clients will be.

John M. Comer, CFP®, of Comer Consulting, believes LinkedIn offers a valuable route through which planners can attract new clients. He describes one study using LinkedIn’s search criteria to identify all the employees of a major Los Angeles-based entertainment company. He found that 45,000 former and current employees of this firm had accounts on LinkedIn. He then narrowed the search to focus on those who held vice-president positions. There were about 4,500 vice presidents on LinkedIn, some 900 of whom lived within a 10-mile radius of the client for whom Comer performed the study.

Even with 900 high-quality prospective clients, a planner would still need to do more research to get the names and contact information for these people and to discover the right professional connections on LinkedIn. But, Comer argues, on LinkedIn “You don’t have to wait for clients; you can make the connection yourself. You can research individuals you may want to meet, get background information on them based on shared interests, and uncover a wealth of information for prospect meetings. LinkedIn gives you an excuse to get in touch. It can trigger a lot of conversations.”

Those conversations can have important upsides for professional development, too. Though Garret went Facebook-free because of the site’s tendency to mix the personal and the professional, she is an enthusiastic user of LinkedIn. A member of more than a dozen different LinkedIn groups, she relies on the site as an important source of business information. “It’s a wonderful resource from a business perspective,” Garrett says. “The automatic updates of group discussion postings, the links to articles of interest, the ability to connect with like-minded people — all make LinkedIn a useful, powerful tool and a collaborative way to become more educated.”

AdvisorTweets.com is trying to harness the profession’s collective business intelligence by aggregating the practice-related tweets of financial advisors. The site functions as a kind of online forum for professional learning, with advisors tweeting their tips and opinions around current topics in the industry.

Can planners who put time and money into a social media presence expect a return on their investment? A survey of 144 RIAs by Pershing Advisor Solutions and Aite Group suggests the answer could — possibly — be yes. RIAs who used social media professionally reported an increase in annual income of 19% over the previous year, the study found, while assets under management also increased by 19% and client bases increased by 21%. The increases for advisors who did not use social media were 6%, 6% and 7%, respectively.

A survey by On Wall Street and LederMark Communications pointed to a similar ROI — as well as to an emerging generation gap. Among financial services professionals under the age of 50, 85% use social media, the survey found. And more than 40% of that group said their use of social media had led to more business, compared to 19% of the over-50 crowd who said the same thing. A survey of more than 300 members of the Financial Planning Association found that 43% of respondents used online networking sites, and 60% of this group generated at least 16 leads per year as a result.

Of course, it will take more than a couple of surveys to prove social media’s effectiveness. And even if (or when) social networking becomes a standard part of the planner’s marketing toolbox, it is definitely not a quick fix for client generation. “It takes time to make the right connections,” Comer says. “You have to spend some time working the knobs to generate clients.”

Plus, it is unlikely that social media will ever completely replace the good old-fashioned face-to-face meeting. Especially during uncertain economic times, consumers want meaningful connections not just convenient ones. So, Comer suggests, once you’ve connected with prospective clients online, “integrate them into the other marketing you’re doing: Invite them to seminar, have a cup of coffee or dinner. Get things started on the social network, then move them into the real world.”

James Geary

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The Financial Planning Coalition – a collaboration of CFP Board, the Financial Planning Association, and the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors to advise legislators and regulators on how to best protect consumers by ensuring financial planning services are delivered with fiduciary accountability and transparency – recently released public statements in response to studies released by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on issues important to the financial planning profession.

GAO Study on Regulation of Financial Planners
On January 18, 2011, the Coalition issued a public statement responding to the findings of a GAO study on the regulation of financial planners. In its study, which was called for as part of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the GAO found significant evidence of consumer confusion surrounding the regulation and legal obligations of financial planners. The GAO also found that the full extent of the risk to consumers is murky because regulators do not currently track complaints and disciplinary actions specific to financial planners. While the GAO study identified numerous consumer protection and data collection issues associated with lack of specific, direct regulation of financial planners per se, it concluded that, given available information, an additional layer of regulation for financial planners does not appear to be warranted at this time.
 
“The Financial Planning Coalition – and the more than 75,000 stakeholders it represents – has championed the need for greatly increased consumer financial protection and the recognition and regulation of financial planning as a distinct profession,” said Charles A. Moran, CFP®, 2011 Chair of CFP Board’s Board of Directors. “While the GAO study did not reach the conclusion we advocated, it recognized significant consumer protection issues and outlined steps to address them. The study will help inform our ongoing discussions with policymakers and will provide an important building block in our efforts to achieve recognition of the rapidly growing financial planning profession.”
 
The Coalition expressed its interest in participating in the upcoming discussion about how best to address the findings of the GAO study. “The Coalition hopes that Congress and the various regulators who oversee the activities of financial planners heed the GAO recommendation to continue to study this issue and consider recommending an effective regulatory structure in the future,” said Marty Kurtz, CFP®, AIFA®, 2011 President of the Financial Planning Association. “We believe the study highlights the need for taking important steps to better protect consumers.”
 
SEC Study on Investment Adviser Examinations
On January 20, 2011, the Coalition issued a public statement welcoming the release of the SEC’s report on enhancing over investment adviser examinations and voiced strong support for the SEC's retention of continued oversight of investment advisers. The Coalition was pleased to note that the SEC study takes into consideration many of the issues detailed in its December 16, 2010 letter to the SEC. The Coalition expressed concerns over the options presented in the SEC report that would outsource the SEC’s oversight responsibility.
 
The Coalition has consistently urged Congress to provide the SEC – which has regulated the activities of investment advisers for the past 70 years – with the support necessary to continue its role as the best and most appropriate regulator of federally registered investment advisers. The Coalition recognizes the need to enhance the SEC’s existing resources to better accommodate their continued responsibility, but believes it is a significantly more logical step than handing the duties off to a self-regulatory organization with no experience overseeing investment advisers.
 
“We concur with the SEC assessment that continued SEC oversight will avoid difficult scope of authority, membership, governance and funding issues raised by an SRO for investment advisers,” said Charles A. Moran, CFP®, 2011 Chair of CFP Board’s Board of Directors. “Continued SEC oversight would also alleviate our significant concerns associated with the extension of FINRA oversight to investment advisers.”
 
SEC Study on Investment Advisers and Broker-Dealers
On January 22, 2011, the Coalition issued a public statement commending the SEC staff study for recommending that the fiduciary standard of care should be extended to broker-dealers who provide personalized investment advice. “Investors expect and deserve advice that is in their best interests, regardless of who is providing the service,” said Susan John, CFP®, AIFA®, 2010-11 Chair of NAPFA. “The Coalition looks forward to working with the SEC to ensure a meaningful rule is put in place that will protect consumers.”
 
Broker-dealers are currently held to the suitability standard, which requires that advice they provide clients merely be suitable – and not necessarily in the client’s best interest. The Coalition has consistently advocated for the extension of the fiduciary standard to broker-dealers who provide personalized investment advice, not just investment advisers, in order to ensure the highest consumer protection. The Coalition applauded the SEC study for recommending that the Commission exercise its rulemaking authority under the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 to establish a uniform fiduciary standard that applies to both broker-dealers and investment advisers that is no less stringent than the standard currently applied to investment advisers under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940.
 
“Time is of the essence and we urge the SEC to implement this important consumer reform quickly,” said Charles A. Moran, CFP®, 2011 Chair of CFP Board’s Board of Directors. “The extension of a fiduciary standard of care to all broker-dealers will build much-needed confidence among the average American consumer whose faith in the financial markets is still shaken.”

On January 14, 2011, CFP Board submitted a comment letter to the Department of Labor (DOL) regarding proposed regulations regarding target date fund disclosure. In its letter, CFP Board commended the DOL for taking steps to provide plan participants with better information regarding target date funds. While CFP Board generally supports the adoption of the DOL's proposed regulations, it expressed concerns that the proposed regulations do not go far enough to address the problem that plan participants do not sufficiently understand the extent to which many target date funds are managed in ways different than what may reasonably be expected. To that end, CFP Board recommended the DOL incorporate certain concepts from the Securities and Exchange Commission's rulemaking into the final rule.

Additionally, CFP Board recommended that the DOL require clear and prominent disclosures that will alert investors when a target date fund's equity allocation differs materially from the average allocation of peer funds with the same target date at the target date, at the landing point, and during the five-year periods immediately preceding those dates.

CFP Board's Board of Directors, at its November 2010 meeting, adopted an updated version of the Candidate Fitness Standards. The document outlines the types of conduct that will always bar an individual from attaining CFP® certification, and the types of conduct considered a presumptive bar to attaining CFP® certification, with procedures for petitioning CFP Board's Disciplinary and Ethics Commission ("Commission") for consideration of conduct considered a presumptive bar.

In June 2010, CFP Board formed a working group to review the Candidate Fitness Standards and identify areas where changes could be made to strengthen CFP Board’s investigation and hearing processes. The task force proposed a number of changes to the Candidate Fitness Standards, including three significant amendments:

1. Extending the application of these fitness standards to “registrants” (i.e., individuals who have relinquished their certification and are eligible for reinstatement without being required to pass the current CFP® Certification Examination);
2. Granting the Commission the authority to allow a candidate/registrant to re-apply for CFP® certification at some future date; and
3. Allowing appeals of the Commission’s decisions regarding a candidate’s/registrant’s fitness to the Appeals Committee of the Board of Directors.

The Board of Directors approved these recommendations at its November 2010 meeting. The updated fitness standards have been re-titled Fitness Standards for Candidates and Registrants and are available for review on CFP Board’s Web site at www.CFP.net/become/fitness.asp.

CFP Board’s Consumer Guide to Financial Self-Defense publication, released in September 2010, is featured in the Winter 2010-2011 Consumer Information Catalog, published by the GSA’s Federal Citizen Information Center in Pueblo, Colorado. The Guide describes “red flags” of potentially incompetent, unethical or illegal financial planning practices; offers self-defense moves to help people protect themselves from those practices; and highlights the high standards of competency and ethics upheld by advisors who hold CFP® certification. Consumers can request a free copy of the Guide using the order form in the Consumer Information Catalog or from the FCIC Web site.

It can be challenging to quantify the benefits of financial planning when asked to do so by a client or prospective client. After all, how do you put a dollar figure on a secure retirement, a carefully thought out estate plan, or general financial peace of mind? Now, though, planners can cite some hard numbers thanks to researchers at Texas Tech and Ohio State universities who estimated the value to consumers of comprehensive financial planning advice with help from a CFP Board grant.

According to the research carried out by Sherman Hanna and Suzanne Lindamood of Ohio State University and Sandra Huston and Michael Finke of Texas Tech University, an average college-educated household can realize a lifetime benefit from sound investment advice of over $300,000. Getting the right insurance advice can realize a lifetime benefit of over $200,000.

Financial planners also assist clients in avoiding potentially costly mistakes, in part by helping them stay focused on long-term goals. During the 2007-2008 recession, the researchers found, those who used a comprehensive financial planner were 76% more likely to maintain their investment portfolio rather than move to cash. “Individual investors have lost billions over the last decade simply because they did not follow a buy and hold strategy,” says Michael Finke, associate professor of personal financial planning at Texas Tech. “Those who had the wisdom, or the guts, to stick with their portfolio were much better off in the long run. Even more than education, income, or financial knowledge, the use of a professional financial planner was the strongest predictor of staying the course.”

Finke thinks this project was essential to fill the gaps left by existing research focused only on advice designed to generate investment returns. Investments are, of course, important, but they are just one of the financial planner’s tools. Finke and his colleagues wanted to look in more depth at financial domains where informed decision making in general, rather than investment advice in particular, delivered positive results. This study was thus among the first to demonstrate how financial planners add value — for high net worth individuals and average households alike — through comprehensive advice.

Working primarily with data from the Survey of Consumer Finances, Finke and other members of the research team estimated the value of financial planning services by identifying planning areas in which improved decision-making yielded the greatest benefits. Take retirement planning, for instance. Saving too little for retirement results in a post-retirement spending drop, which leads to a measurable loss in lifetime well being. Making poor investment decisions or engaging in poor tax planning could lead to the same result. The researchers calculated the difference between the uninformed decisions most Americans make and the optimal decisions that could be made with advice from a financial planner.

The team found that a client with an initial income of $50,000 can realize an estimated $141,000 in value by properly calculating the amount he or she needs to save for retirement, thereby preventing a forced drop in spending in later life.

Finke cites life insurance as another example of how planners can add real value. “Life insurance adequacy is an important part of a comprehensive financial plan that many households overlook,” he says. “We found that those who use a planner are far more likely to maintain adequate life insurance than either those who rely on a broker or who don’t obtain professional advice.”

Finke does not just see financial planning as a numbers game, however. Planners add value in non-financial ways, too, such as coaching clients to change unproductive financial behaviors. “Part of the art of financial planning is that the process involves intuition about how a client can change behaviors to meet goals,” Finke explains. “Our research provides evidence that, even among those who are the most educated and informed, the use of a financial planner is more likely to lead to measurable success. This is partly due to benefits from establishing and measuring progress toward goals through the financial planning process, and partly from the benefit of expert counseling that can help a client identify and confront barriers to meeting these goals.” (For more on coaching, see “Financial Planning and Counseling: To Coach or Not To Coach?”)

The research takes on added significance in the current economic climate, in which consumers are more aware of the need for financial planning but more wary of the financial services sector. “The good news is that many consumers are more focused than ever on the state of their finances,” Finke says. “The bad news is that the recession contributed to a general distrust of financial services. It appears that a lot of money is moving from traditional brokerages to investment advisors. The outcome may be a greater recognition of the value of ethical and competent advice.”

In this type of environment, the CFP® certification can become a beacon of ethics and competence. “If I can’t tell the competence and fiduciary differences between two professionals, each calling themselves a financial planner, then the end result will be decreased demand and lower average quality in the market for much-needed financial advice,” Finke says. “We can show in our research that good advice can lead to an enormous increase in welfare among consumers. This is the value of increasing recognition of the CFP® certification as a reliable signal of quality.”

The Texas Tech and Ohio State research should go a long way toward demonstrating the value of comprehensive financial planning advice to consumers — and the value of the CFP® certification to professionals.

Picking a Financial Planner
There is only one official “certification” for this profession: the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER[™ certification]. Those who earn this designation take an extensive series of courses in subjects ranging from investments to insurance, from taxes to estate planning. Then they have to pass a series of competency tests and agree to abide by certain principles, including always putting the client’s interests first and fully disclosing all fees, commissions and incentives in the products they sell.

Terry Savage
Chicago Sun-Times
January 26, 2010

Read this and other notable media references to the CFP® certification at www.CFP.net/certificants/marksinthenews.asp.

CFP Board’s media outreach efforts are greatly enhanced by the many CFP® professionals who are engaged in their own efforts to reach national and local media with the message of the benefits of financial planning and working with a CFP® professional. We appreciate all of you who help further awareness of CFP® certification across the country through your media contacts and your involvement in your communities.

CFP Board congratulates the following CFP® professionals on their professional accomplishments:

Louis Barajas, CFP®, of Santa Fe Springs, California, on the publication of his latest book, My Street Money: A Street-Level View of Managing Your Money From the Heart to the Bank.
 
I. Richard Ploss, CFP®, CPA, of counsel with Preti Flaherty's Trusts and Estates and Business Law Practice Groups in Portland, Maine, for being named to the 2011 Standards Committee of Financial Planning Standards Board Ltd. In his role with the Committee, Mr. Ploss – with representatives from Hong Kong, New Zealand, South Africa, the UK, and the United Arab Emirates – will oversee the establishment and maintenance of FPSB’s global competency, ethics and practice standards for the financial planning profession.
 
Mary Quist-Newins, ChFC®, CLU®, CFP®, of Frederick, Maryland, who was named the State Farm Chair in Women & Financial Services at The American College - the first and only endowed academic chair in the country devoted exclusively to the study of women and financial services issues. In this role, she works to increase The College's understanding of women's financially related expectations, attitudes, and actions.

CFP Board welcomes information about the activities and accomplishments of CFP® professionals. If you have information you would like to share with CFP Board, please contact us at mail@CFPBoard.org.

Exam results for the November 2010 CFP® Certification Examination were recently released to exam takers. Of the 2,384 individuals who sat for the November 2010 exam, 1,224 passed, representing a pass rate of 51.3%. CFP Board's CFP® Certification Examination requires full integration of knowledge covered in CFP Board's financial planning topic list and is designed to assess a person's ability to apply financial planning knowledge to real-life financial planning situations.

Individuals who sat for the November exam were sent a hard copy of their score results by mail on January 12, 2011, and exam results are now available online through examinees’ online CFP Board accounts.

The next CFP® Certification Examination will be held March 18 and 19, 2011.

The recent tax law changes enacted by the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance, Reauthorization and Job Creation Act of 2010 (the "Act of 2010") will be tested on the next CFP® exam, which will be administered March 18-19, 2011. CFP Board's standard policy is that the CFP® exam tests current tax law, and the tax tables and other indexed numbers provided to examinees with the exam booklets will reflect current year tax law, with the exception of any recent tax law changes signed into law six months or less prior to the exam administration date. Due to the extenuating circumstances of the recent tax law changes enacted by the Act of 2010, CFP Board's Council on Examinations determined that an exception to the standard policy was appropriate.

Information about this update to the tax coverage for the March 2011 CFP® exam will be provided to all registered examinees. All tax rates and tables that will be tested on the March 2011 CFP® Certification Examination, including those associated with the Act of 2010, will be provided in the exam booklets and is available for review at www.CFP.net/become/taxtables.asp.

The registration deadline for the March 2011 exam is February 1, 2011. Registration will be open soon for the July and November 2011 exams.

Join Charles A. Moran, CFP®, CEBS, JD, 2011 Chair of CFP Board’s Board of Directors, and Kevin R. Keller, CAE, CFP Board’s CEO for CFP® Certificant Connection town hall-style meetings this February. Meetings will be held in Orange County and San Diego, California on February 7, 2011, and in Scottsdale, Arizona on February 8, 2011.

These meetings are designed to provide CFP® professionals and other CFP Board stakeholders with the opportunity to engage in dialogue about the topic of regulatory reform, CFP Board’s national public awareness campaign, and other issues of importance to the CFP® professional community. Most importantly, these events are held in an open format to allow participants to address the topics of most concern to them, giving CFP Board the chance to listen to the variety of perspectives that coexist within the financial planning profession, thereby allowing us to ensure that the decisions made by CFP Board’s leadership are informed by those perspectives.

CFP® CERTIFICANT CONNECTIONS
 
ORANGE COUNTY, CALIFORNIA
Monday, February 7, 2011, 8:00 - 9:30 a.m.
Center Club, 650 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa, CA 92626
Registration
 
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA
Monday, February 7, 2011, 5:30 - 7:00 p.m.
University Club atop Symphony Towers, 750 B St. Ste 3400, San Diego, CA 92101
Registration
 
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA
Tuesday, February 8, 2011, 8:00 - 9:30 a.m.
Gainey Ranch Golf Club, 7600 Gainey Club Drive, Scottsdale, AZ 85258
Registration

Other 2011 CFP® Certificant Connections will be announced as events are scheduled. CFP Board will notify CFP® professionals and CFP Board stakeholders in areas near the CFP® Certificant Connection events when the meeting locations are secured.

CFP Board’s annual conference for directors and faculty of CFP Board-registered financial planning education programs will be held in Washington, DC on August 11-12, 2011. This year’s theme is “Preparing Future Financial Planners: Innovations in Curriculum and Instruction.”

The title of the conference has been changed from “Program Directors’ Conference” to “Registered Program Conference” to reflect the inclusion of both program directors and faculty in these annual conferences. As with the 2010 conference, the 2011 conference will also feature a research poster session for graduate students from CFP Board-Registered Programs to share details from their research projects.

Registration and additional information about the conference will be available soon. For the latest information about the 2011 Registered Program Conference, visit www.CFP.net/conference.

CFP Board is preparing to release an enhanced version of our popular “Search for a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ Professional” tool – a resource that will be featured prominently in the Public Awareness Campaign CFP Board expects to launch in April 2011. To be included in the search results, CFP® professionals must update their records with CFP Board.

CFP® professionals must meet three criteria before their business information will be included in results generated by the updated CFP® professional search tool:

1. Include a business address in your records with CFP Board;
2. Identify yourself as a practicing financial planner; and
3. Indicate that you currently accept new clients.

The updated search tool will also provide expanded information to consumers, including allowing CFP® professionals to have their Web site addresses displayed in their records, as well as other information about their practices, such as areas of specialization and a typical client profile.

To update your record with CFP Board, login to your secure online CFP Board account at http://www.CFP.net/login and follow the "Update your profile" link.

CFP Board’s work benefits greatly from the generous contributions CFP® certificants and other stakeholders provide through volunteer service. If you have interest in making a direct contribution to CFP Board’s work, please take time to complete a volunteer application form. Applications will remain on file with CFP Board, and you will be notified when specific opportunities related to your qualifications and interests become available.

Learn more about current volunteer activities and download application forms at www.CFP.net/aboutus/opportunities.asp.

CFP Board
1425 K Street, NW, Suite 500
Washington, DC 20005
P: 800-487-1497
E: mail@CFPBoard.org
W: www.CFP.net