Many thanks to all who took time to join us for CFP Board’s first Business Update Webinar of the year last month. And special thanks to Mark Johannessen, CFP® for his masterful work as our Webinar host. The Webinar took place immediately following the Board of Directors’ latest meeting, and we were able to share with attendees the Board’s adoption of updates to Article 2 of the Disciplinary Rules and Procedures, the latest updates on CFP Board’s work with the Financial Planning Coalition to develop a strategy for shaping regulatory reforms as they affect financial planning, and the Board’s decision to release proposed technical corrections to our Standards of Professional Conduct for public comment.

We received many thoughtful questions from the Webinar audience, and answers to the questions received before and during the Webinar have been posted to CFP Board’s Web site. If you weren’t able to join us for the live Webinar, I encourage you to view the recorded Webinar when it becomes available in early April.

Your participation in events like our Business Update Webinar series and our town-hall style CFP® Certificant Connection events gives us the chance not only to provide updates, but more importantly, to benefit from the good thinking from all segments of the financial planning profession. There are also many other opportunities for CFP Board stakeholders to contribute directly to CFP Board’s work through volunteer activities. At this time, we’re starting our search for qualified candidates to join CFP Board’s Board of Directors beginning in January 2010. It’s an exciting time to be part of CFP Board’s Board of Directors, especially with CFP Board’s work on public policy matters still in its early stages. If you have interest in serving on the Board of Directors, I invite you to read about the opportunity and submit an application form. If you know of someone whose insights and talents you believe would enhance the Board’s work, please encourage that person to contact CFP Board for information about the opportunity.

Given the ongoing uncertainties in so many areas of our country’s economy, I believe there’s never been a more important time to be part of the financial planning profession. All of us at CFP Board appreciate the dedicated services that CFP® professionals provide to their clients and communities on a daily basis. And we appreciate the contributions that CFP® certificants and other stakeholders have made to furthering CFP Board’s work and the value and recognition of the CFP® certification.

Marilyn Capelli Dimitroff, CFP®
2009 Chair, Board of Directors
CFP Board

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

Managing client relationships can be one of the toughest challenges financial planners face, especially during turbulent economic times like these. Those relationships can become even more complex when clients also enlist other professionals, such as attorneys and accountants, to handle some aspects of their affairs. Professional disagreements can put stress on even the best of relationships.

The advisor might suggest, say, an annuity as part of a plan to secure a stable source of retirement income. The client might take the idea to her attorney, who criticizes it. The advisor doesn’t hear anything back from the client, so doesn’t know what the client thinks of the idea. Or, the attorney might even convince the client to kill the idea, while the advisor thinks it still makes a lot of sense. Either way, the result is a serious breakdown in communication.

“Advisors often struggle with relationships with other professionals,” says G. Joseph Votava, Jr., CPA/PFS, CFP®, president and chief executive officer of Nixon Peabody Financial Advisors, which has offices in Boston, Rochester, N.Y., and Washington, D.C. “They want to include them but often have the impression that they are not feeling the love back. They can feel the client relationship is being hurt, and the question arises about who is controlling the client relationship. Advisors can feel they are not as valued as older, more traditional professions.” What can planners do to make sure their relationships with clients’ other professional advisors run smoothly?

“Become part of the conversation,” urges Votava, whose firm is a subsidiary of Nixon Peabody LLP Attorneys at Law. “Don’t stay in your own little corner. Go out to lunch, get to know the other professionals. Make them understand that planners are the good guys, that you can refer other clients, and that all professionals are integral parts of the client’s financial picture.”

“Planners should always be reaching out,” says Bob Glovsky, CFP®, president of Mintz Levin Financial Advisors in Boston and chair-elect of CFP Board’s Board of Directors. “You need a network of high-quality professionals that serves as both a referral network and a network of expertise.” He suggests a robust meet-and-greet routine — get to know local estate planners, CPA groups, and bar associations; attend joint meetings between bar associations, financial planning associations, and CPAs; even organize your own seminars, if possible. “Develop a stable of people you know and feel comfortable with,” says Glovsky, whose company is also an affiliate of a law firm. “Keep your network big.”

Estate planning is an area where good cross-discipline relationships are essential, says Glovsky: “Planners see themselves as generalists, but an estate planning attorney is a specialist. We figure out the plan, find out what’s already been done and what still needs to be done, then tee it up for the attorney, who completes the job.” And to make sure the job gets done, proactive communication is a must. Glovsky suggests attending client meetings with the estate planning attorney and following up afterwards to ensure that the implementation is going according to plan. “If we don’t,” he says, “we as planners have dropped the ball.”

To make follow-up easier, Votava suggests obtaining a letter of authorization from the client to speak directly with his or her other professional advisors. If there were a disagreement about annuities, for example, the letter would allow the planner and the client’s other professionals to discuss the issue directly. Such a letter would also come in handy if the client’s attorney or accountant said or suggested something with which the planner disagreed.

“It’s essential to be able to communicate about what’s going on in the client’s life,” Votava says. “It’s easier and more efficient to talk directly with the other professionals and not use the client as a go-between. If communication is done through the client, details can get lost in translation. And any little detail can change the whole plan. Plus, maybe the other professionals are in need of some education, too.”

Charitable giving, Votava suggests, is a good area in which to seek cross-referrals to achieve the best result for the client, especially if the aim is to establish a private foundation or if a gift is structured with some strings attached. A planner may, for example, see from a client’s tax return that he or she gives regularly to charity but is not doing it very efficiently. The planner and the client’s accountant can then work together to come up with more efficient alternatives. (For more on charitable giving strategies, see Philanthropy and Financial Planning in the December 2008 issue of CFP Board Report.)

Clients are, of course, always invited to be part of any conversation among professionals. But many clients are already busy enough and would be relieved to have their financial planner deal directly with their accountant or attorney. “If there is a genuine disagreement,” says Votava, “let the client decide. The final judgment should be the client’s anyway. The truth is, everybody is working for the client.”

- James Geary

Comments Requested on Proposed Technical Corrections to Standards of Professional Conduct

The Board of Directors of Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. (CFP Board) requests comments on proposed technical corrections to CFP Board’s Standards of Professional Conduct (Standards).

CFP Board’s Standards – which include the Code of Ethics and Professional Responsibility, Rules of Conduct, Financial Planning Practice Standards and Candidate Fitness Standards – establish standards of ethical conduct for CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ certificants. In 2007, CFP Board adopted extensive revisions to the Standards that are now in effect. The proposed technical corrections are intended to clarify ambiguities, eliminate redundancies and add terminology to achieve consistency between the Standards and other CFP Board publications.

A redlined version of the Standards displaying the proposed technical corrections may be reviewed on CFP Board’s Web site, www.CFP.net/aboutus/Standards_Proposal.asp.

Comments received during the 30-day public comment period, which ends April 29, 2009, will be posted to CFP Board's Web site and reviewed and considered by the Board of Directors.

We appreciate the opinions of all of CFP Board's stakeholders and welcome your thoughts on these proposed technical corrections.

CFP Board Adopts Revisions to Disciplinary Rules and Procedures

At its March 2009 meeting, CFP Board’s Board of Directors (“Board”) adopted revisions to CFP Board’s Disciplinary Rules and Procedures, which outline CFP Board’s procedures for enforcing the Standards of Professional Conduct for CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ certificants. The proposed revisions align the Disciplinary Rules and Procedures with changes the Board made in February 2008 regarding oversight of the Commission and to establish stated policies for certain activities related to the Commission that are not specifically addressed in the previous Disciplinary Rules and Procedures.

The revisions were adopted following the Board’s review and consideration of comments received during a public comment period. The text of the comments received, a summary of the comments, and a chart displaying the text of the previous and revised Article 2 are available on CFP Board’s Web site at www.CFP.net/aboutus/Rules_Proposal.asp.

The revised Article 2, which has been added to the Standards of Professional Conduct publication available on CFP Board’s Web site, now reads as follows:

ARTICLE 2: DISCIPLINARY AND ETHICS COMMISSION

2.1 Function and Jurisdiction of the Commission
CFP Board’s Disciplinary and Ethics Commission (referred to herein as the “Commission”), formed pursuant to and governed by the bylaws of CFP Board, is charged with the duty of reviewing and taking appropriate action with respect to alleged violations of the Rules of Conduct and alleged non-compliance with the Practice Standards as promulgated by CFP Board and shall have original jurisdiction over all such disciplinary matters.

2.2 Powers and Duties of the Commission
The Commission shall be required to:

1. Evaluate the performance of the volunteers during the hearings;
2. Periodically, and no less frequently than annually, report to the Chief Executive Officer and Board of Directors of CFP Board on the operation of the Commission;
3. Provide input to the CEO on the selection of prospective Commission members. The Commission Chair and Chair-Designee shall provide input to the CEO on the selection of prospective volunteers who serve temporarily on a Hearing Panel;
4. At its summer meeting each year, the Commission shall recommend to the CEO, subject to the CEO’s appointment, the Commission Chair to serve during the following calendar year;
5. Recommend to the CEO, as may be necessary and subject to review and approval of the Board of Directors, amendments to these Disciplinary Rules and Procedures;
6. Recommend, as may be necessary, for the CEO’s review and approval, proposed rules or procedures relating to the Probable Cause Determination process;
7. Adopt rules or procedures, subject to review and approval of the CEO, as may be necessary to ensure that the hearings, ratification process and disciplinary decisions are fair to all participants; and
8. Recommend to the CEO such other rules or procedures as may be necessary or appropriate.

2.3 Powers and Duties of the CEO of CFP Board
The CEO shall be required to:

1. Appoint the Commission Chair, members and volunteers of the Commission;
2. Oversee the Commission to ensure it follows the established rules and procedures required to provide a fair process to all participants;
3. Ensure that each Hearing Panel is comprised of individuals who act in an impartial and objective manner and have no conflicts of interest with the complainant or CFP® certificant subject to the complaint;
4. Conduct appropriate background investigations of prospective Commission members and volunteers; seek the input of the Board of Directors and the Commission on prospective Commission members; and seek the input of the Commission Chair and Chair-Designee on prospective volunteers; and
5. Report to the Board of Directors the intended appointments to, and activities of, the Commission.

2.4 Hearing Panel
The Hearing Panel shall consist of three persons, two of whom must be CFP® certificants. A Hearing Panel shall be comprised of two Commission members and one volunteer, unless circumstances make it impractical. One member of each Hearing Panel shall serve as Chair of that hearing. The Hearing Panel Chair must be a Commission member. The Chair shall rule on all motions, objections and other matters presented at, or prior to, a hearing.

2.5 Disqualification
Commission members shall refrain from participating in any proceeding in which they, a member of their immediate family or a member of their firm have any interest or where such participation otherwise would involve a conflict of interest or the appearance of impropriety.

2.6 CFP Board Counsel and CFP Board Advisory Counsel, and the duties thereof:

1. CFP Board Counsel refers to the attorney who presents the case to the Hearing Panel.
2. CFP Board Advisory Counsel refers to the attorney who acts in an advisory capacity in providing advice on the Standards of Professional Conduct and hearing procedures to the Hearing Panel and the Commission during the Ratification Meeting.
3. No person shall act as both CFP Board Counsel and CFP Board Advisory Counsel during the same set of hearings.

2.7 Venue
Unless otherwise approved by the Board of Directors, CFP Board’s headquarters shall serve as a central office for the filing of requests for:

1. the investigation of certificant or registrant conduct;
2. the coordination of such investigations;
3. the administration of all disciplinary enforcement proceedings carried out pursuant to these Procedures;
4. the prosecution of charges of wrongdoing against certificants or registrants pursuant to these Procedures; and
5. the performance of such other activities as are designated by the CEO.

Report from February 2009 Disciplinary and Ethics Commission Meeting

The Disciplinary and Ethics Commission (“Commission”) held its first meeting and hearings of the year on February 26 through 28, 2009. The Commission considered 23 disciplinary cases. Six cases were dismissed with caution, nine cases resulted in the issuance of private censure orders, and three matters resulted in decisions either to suspend an individual's right to use the CFP®, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ and federally registered CFP (with flame design) certification marks (the “CFP® marks”) or to revoke permanently an individual’s right to use the CFP® marks. Because the appeal periods in these cases have not expired, the disciplinary actions are not yet final. The Commission also imposed one interim suspension related to a pending case and reviewed three Petitions for Reconsideration and Reinstatement to use the certification marks, all of which were granted. Finally, the Commission rejected one proposed settlement offer; that case will be scheduled for a full hearing at the Commission’s next meeting.

The Commission's meetings would not be possible without the assistance of many dedicated volunteers. Jack C. Harmon, Sr, CFP® of Atlanta, Georgia is the 2009 Chair of the Commission. In addition to the ongoing support of the Disciplinary and Ethics Commission members, the February 2009 hearings and meeting included the assistance of Mary McFadden Hastings, CFP® of Lexington, Massachusetts, who has held CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ certification since 1992, Rebecca Lane Kohler, CFP® of Staunton, Virginia, who has held CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ certification since 1994, and Mary Frances Ray, CFP® of Scottsdale, Arizona, who has held CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ certification since 1998. G. Mark Shalloway, Esq., Shalloway & Shalloway, P.A. served on several hearing panels as a public volunteer. CFP Board is grateful to these volunteers who serve to protect the public by helping to enforce CFP Board's Standards of Professional Conduct.

Update on Financial Planning Coalition

On March 3, 2009, the following update was sent to constituents of CFP Board, the Financial Planning Association and the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors the Financial Planning Coalition:

Dear Colleague,

The Financial Planning Coalition is pleased to provide you with this important update on our recent activity in Washington. Last December, as you may be aware, leaders from Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc., Financial Planning Association® and National Association of Personal Financial Advisors met to review the likelihood that Congress is preparing to dramatically change the way the financial services industry is regulated. As a result of this landmark meeting, our Coalition released a Statement of Understanding that establishes our objectives as Congress undertakes regulatory reform. Our broad goals are to advance the financial planning profession and enhance consumer protection by creating a level playing field in the regulation of financial planners that helps the public identify those competent, ethical advice-givers who are subject to a fiduciary duty in the delivery of financial planning services.

Current Legislative Climate in Congress
We believe that now, more than at any time in the last 70 years, Congress is receptive to change. It is not clear when a major bill affecting retail advisory services will be introduced. We believe it likely that Congress will first tackle broad systemic risk in the financial system before turning its attention to retail advice. Our best estimate is that advice legislation will not gain “traction” or be the subject of hearings before May, and possibly much later in the summer. However, we are laying the groundwork now, in order to be fully prepared.

Coalition Activity Report
The Coalition has been extremely active and met most recently on February 25 for a joint meeting of key executives and Board members. Coalition volunteers and staff have:

• Met by phone on a weekly basis, sometimes more frequently, as we monitor the volatile political climate on Capitol Hill;
• Held numerous meetings with key policymakers at the SEC, including Chairman Schapiro, and key Members of Congress;
• In these meetings, framed the need for competency and ethical standards for the financial planning profession in any legislation that comes out of Congress;
• Actively reached out to potential supporters among consumer groups, regulators and the advisory community; and
• Listened carefully to concerns of potential opponents in the financial services industry.

We have heard directly from an overwhelming number in the financial planning community who strongly endorse our decision to work together in this financial crisis. While we are cognizant of the differences in our core missions, we are committed to working together in common cause to promote high, uniform standards for financial planners in law.

Thank you very much for your interest and continued support of our work together. Some of you who are members/stakeholders of more than one organization will receive duplicate emails.

Signed,

Marilyn Capelli Dimitroff, CFP®
2009 Chair
CFP Board

Kevin R. Keller
Chief Executive Officer
CFP Board

Richard Salmen, CFP®, CFA®, CTFA, EA
2009 President
Financial Planning Association

Marvin W. Tuttle, Jr., CAE
Executive Director/CEO
Financial Planning Association

Diahann W. Lassus, CFP®, CPA/PFS
2009 Chairman
NAPFA

Ellen Turf
Chief Executive Officer
NAPFA

CFP Board Grant Recipient Profile: Capital Area Asset Builders

Tax season is in full swing, and that means the outreach programs at Capital Area Asset Builders (CAAB) are in full swing, too. CAAB provides education in personal finance and wealth-building strategies to low- and moderate-income individuals and families in the District of Columbia. Tax season is an especially busy time, since CAAB organizes money management workshops and one-on-one financial counseling sessions at some of the free tax preparation sites located around Washington, DC. This year CAAB is even busier, thanks to a grant from the CFP Board that has enabled the non-profit to expand the financial planning services it offers through DC Saves, the local chapter of America Saves.

CAAB’s expanded programs couldn’t come at a better time, says executive director Colleen Daily, as the economic crisis prompts more and more consumers to seek competent financial planning information. “There has been a lot more interest in our money management course as a result of the credit crunch,” Daily says. “We’ve had 50 people or more signing up for the course; that’s the most that have ever signed up. People want to understand more about the market and what it means for the longer term.”

CAAB intends to use the CFP Board grant to arrange for CFP® professionals to lead seminars, clinics, and individual counseling sessions throughout the tax season. CAAB has already successfully done this at the DC Saves first annual financial literacy fair and now wants to extend the initiative into smaller neighborhood venues. The idea, Daily explains, is for “people to come in and have their taxes prepared and also receive mini-planning sessions from a CFP® professional. We’ll help them get their free credit report, and information from financial institutions will be available if they want it. We hope to reach the lower-income population this way and encourage them to attend our money management classes.”

CAAB will also conduct ‘train the trainer’ sessions for its DC Saves partners so that they can explain the benefits of financial planning to their clients. DC Saves already works closely with a variety of partners to provide savings programs, credit counseling, free tax preparation, and education on tax credits and other personal finance topics. There will even be a monthly Ask a CFP® Professional column on the DC Saves Web site, which currently features a range of financial literacy information and resources.

“A key aspect of our work involves outreach to employers and other non-profits,” says Daily. “As part of the CFP Board-funded project, we will partner with at least three organizations to offer expanded DC Saves programming — including free tax preparation and services by CFP® professional — to businesses or organizations with 50 or more employees. CFP® professional-led seminars are a good draw, and help us get in the door with employers.”

CAAB is modeling its efforts on the successful financial planning clinics organized by CFP Board. In fact, CAAB took part in the Financial Planning clinic in Washington, DC held last September at the Grand Hyatt (view a video from the event on CFP Board’s YouTube channel) and three CFP® professionals volunteered their time at the DC Saves financial literacy fair last April. “Our goal is to get more planners involved to offer free counseling and general financial information,” Daily says. “CFP® professionals can also help people looking for more advanced financial planning topics. Our target is people on low incomes, between $30,000 and $45,000 a year. But some people may already be saving quite a bit and don’t know what best to do with it. It would be valuable for them to spend time with a CFP® professional sorting through those issues.”

The goal, Daily says, “is to give under-served populations access to high-quality financial services. We want to encourage people to plan for their futures, especially given what’s happened in the market. We want to make clear to them that financial planning is for the long-term and, despite the current turmoil, they won’t be better off if they save nothing. There are lots of options out there, so people need to continue to educate themselves.”

CAAB also hopes its expanded program can serve as a model for other America Saves organizations around the country, says Daily: “We want to share best practices with and reach new audiences through other local America Saves campaigns. If we can set a good example here and share that information, hopefully other campaigns will take a similar approach.”

Second Annual DC Saves Financial Literacy Fair, April 4, 2009

CAAB and DC Saves host their second annual Financial Literacy Fair on Saturday, April 4, 2009 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Boys & Girls Club at THEARC (1901 Mississippi Ave. SE, Washington, DC 20020). For more information, visit dcsaves.org/about/specialevents.asp.

CFP® Marks in the News

Better Business Bureau Advice on Finding a Financial Planner You Can Trust
“Look for Credentials that Matter: There are many credentials that financial planners tack onto their names—with varying degrees of legitimacy. One important acronym to look out for is CFP which stands for ‘Certified Financial Planner.’ A CFP[® professional] has passed a rigorous exam and is required to pursue continuing education credits.
 
Don’t be sold by a slick pitch: A CFP[® professional] is required to put the client’s financial needs first and above his or her own.”

Better Business Bureau
March 3, 2009

How To Find A Financial Planner
“[Marc Lowlicht, an adviser with Further Lane Asset Management] believes people looking for top to bottom financial planning should go with a Certified Financial Planner, a title awarded by the Certified Financial Planner Board of the United States. The board puts advisers through rigorous education and testing....
 
[Lowlicht:] If you want to increase your odds of getting a planner who understands the planning process and the investment process, somebody who's gone through the rigorousness of the [CFP® exam] test will increase your odds of finding the right type of planner.”

David Serchuk and Michael Maiello
Forbes.com
March 5, 2009

Read these 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.

Accomplishments of CFP® Certificants

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

Jerome P. Niemiec, CFP®, CLU, ChFC for being selected as best advisor in Hays County, Texas in a community ballot organized by the San Marcos Daily Record.

James O'Connor, CFP®, CIMA® for being named Vice President at Morgan Stanley in Vero Beach, Florida.

Susan Reed, CPA, CFP®, of Sax Macy Fromm & Co., PC in Clifton, New Jersey, was honored by NJBIZ journal as one of 2009's New Jersey's Best 50 Women in Business, an award designed to recognize New Jersey's most dynamic and distinguished women in business today.

Gary Stanislawski, CFP®, president of Regent Financial Services, Inc. in Tulsa, Oklahoma, for his election to the Oklahoma State Senate in August 2008.

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.

• Request for Comments on Proposed Technical Corrections to Standards of Professional Conduct
• Standards of Professional Conduct publication with updates to Article 2 of CFP Board’s Disciplinary Rules and Procedures
• CFP® Certificant Connection schedule

CFP Board Meetings at FPA Retreat 2009

CFP Board is hosting two meetings at this year’s FPA Retreat, which will take place April 27-30, 2009 in Palm Springs, California:

CFP Board’s Ethical Standards and Enforcement Process
Monday, April 27, 2009, 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Join CFP Board for a discussion of the ethical standards for CFP® certificants established in the revised Standards of Professional Conduct. In addition to a review of sample documents designed to meet the disclosure and written agreement requirements of the revised Standards, this session will include an overview of the investigative and disciplinary processes CFP Board uses to enforce those ethical standards and feature a video presentation of a mock disciplinary hearing based on real cases reviewed by CFP Board’s Disciplinary and Ethics Commission.

CFP® Certificant Connection
Wednesday, April 29, 2009, 5:00 to 5:45 p.m.
Join Marilyn Capelli Dimitroff, CFP®, 2009 Chair of CFP Board’s Board of Directors, and your colleagues from the CFP® certificant community for a town-hall style discussion. Learn more about CFP Board’s current activities – including its ongoing work with the Financial Planning Coalition to develop a strategy for the regulation of financial planning – and engage in dialogue with CFP Board’s leadership on the topics of importance to you.

For registration and additional information about FPA Retreat 2009, visit www.fpanet.org/EventsConferences/Conferences/Retreat/About/

Save the Dates: Upcoming CFP® Certificant Connections

Marilyn Capelli Dimitroff, CFP®, 2009 Chair of the Board of Directors, and Kevin R. Keller, CAE, CFP Board's CEO, are hosting a series of town hall-style meetings to provide CFP® professionals and other CFP Board stakeholders with the opportunity to engage in dialogue on the topic of regulatory reform and any other issues of importance to the CFP® certificant community. The events will be held in an open format to allow participants to address the topics of most concern to them, and to provide CFP Board’s leadership the chance to connect with CFP® certificant communities across the country.

Save the dates and plan to attend upcoming CFP® Certificant Connection meetings to San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Minneapolis, St. Louis and Chicago later in 2009. For information on the current schedule, visit www.CFP.net/certificants/connection.asp or contact CFP Board at events@CFPBoard.org.

SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA
Monday, July 13, 2009
5:30 - 7:00 p.m. (Pacific)
Details coming soon

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
8:00 - 9:30 a.m. (Pacific)
Details coming soon

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
5:30 - 7:00 p.m. (Pacific)
Details coming soon

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA
Monday, October 20, 2009
5:30 - 7:00 p.m. (Central)
Details coming soon

ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI
Tuesday, October 21, 2009
8:00 - 9:30 a.m. (Central)
Details coming soon

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
Tuesday, October 21, 2009
5:30 - 7:00 p.m. (Central)
Details coming soon

CFP Board Seeks Qualified Candidates for 2010 Board of Directors

The Nominating Committee of Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Inc. (CFP Board) seeks individuals to serve on CFP Board's Board of Directors beginning in January 2010. Board Directors serve four-year terms on CFP Board's governing body.

Nominations Open for Community Leadership Awards Honoring Philanthropic Spirit of Financial Advisers

Nominations are now being accepted for the third annual Community Leadership Awards, a program established by the Invest in Others Charitable Foundation and Investment News to recognize and celebrate financial advisers for their leadership and contributions to their communities.

The Invest in Others Charitable Foundation will make a $10,000 donation to the charity chosen by honorees in each of four award categories:

• Volunteer Team Award: Presented to a team of advisers and/or an office staff for their current, collective involvement of at least three years as volunteers for a charity in their community.
• Mentoring Excellence Award: Presented to an adviser who has been actively mentoring a young adult for at least two years and has demonstrated qualities as a role model and "champion for youth" in his or her community.
• Volunteer of the Year Award: Presented to an adviser who has been actively serving as a volunteer at one or more local, non-profit organizations for at least two years and has made a contribution considered to have a "lasting impact."
• Community Service Award: Presented to an adviser who has made managerial contributions to a local, non-profit organization - as a fundraiser, organizer, board member, or other executive positions - over a period of at least five years and has made an outstanding contribution to the community “with distinction.”

Nominations may be submitted to www.investmentnews.com/communityawards. The deadline for entries is July 3, 2009.

Employment Opportunities at CFP Board

CFP Board has employment opportunities for a Compliance Manager in our Professional Review Department, a Continuing Education Manager in our Education Department, and a Senior Public Policy Analyst in our Public Policy Department. If you or someone you know is interested in helping shape the ongoing development of CFP Board’s mission, we invite you to learn more about available employment opportunities at www.CFP.net/aboutus/jobs.asp.