CFP Board Welcomes New Registered Programs

During the first quarter of 2009, the four financial planning education programs listed below completed the requirements to become CFP Board-Registered Programs. The addition of these new Registered Programs brings us to a total of 345 active Registered Programs at 215 institutions.

Loyola Marymount University
Executive Certificate in Financial Planning
 
Rhode Island College
Certificate of Graduate Study in Financial Planning (G.C.S.)
 
University of North Florida
CFP® Certification Professional Education Program
 
University of St. Thomas
Executive Certificate in Financial Planning
 

Education Update Webinar

CFP Board hosted its first Education Update Webinar April 15, 2009, hosted by Ivan Roten, CFP®, Chair, Council on Education and a Program Director at Appalachian State University. Over 50 individuals tuned in to learn about new and upcoming changes impacting Registered Programs. Notable changes announced during the Webinar include:

• Plans for implementation of a Financial Plan Development Course requirement, effective January 2012;
• Plans to solicit feedback about student enrollment and examinee projections;
• Updates about the 2009 Program Directors’ Conference in Arlington, Virginia;
• Plans to implement an annual Registered Program fee of $100, effective January 2010, and move to an annual renewal of all programs.

Thank you to all who submitted questions and feedback during the event. We appreciate your time and hope you will continue to share your thoughts and questions with us.

Upcoming Request for Comments: New Financial Plan Development Course Requirement

The financial plan development course requirement announced during April’s Education Update Webinar is a topic of ongoing discussion, and many details have yet to be finalized. Your feedback is important to the shaping of the new requirement, and your suggestions and concerns related to implementation, assessment, and resources will be essential for its success. As such, CFP Board is making plans to announce a 60-day comment period on the new requirement, scheduled to begin August 3, 2009. More information about the comment period will be shared with all Program Directors and program contacts in the coming weeks.

Oakland University’s School of Business Administration Partners with YMCA to Help Youth Get Fiscally Fit

A lemonade stand is the closest thing to personal finance most kids will attempt this summer.

It’s a great teachable moment, financial experts say, from product planning and packaging to promotion and sales. But like summer break, such moments are fleeting, and parents often miss the opportunity to leverage lemons into life skill lessons. Capital One’s 2006 Back to School survey indicated that while 43% of parents had discussed the importance of prioritizing needs and wants with their children, 42% had not taken any steps to discuss financial basics with their children. But there’s a solution: as few as 10 hours of classroom instruction can be enough to persuade students to improve saving and spending habits, according to the National Endowment for Financial Education.

During its summer day camp program, the YMCA of Metropolitan Detroit is seeking to address this issue by including a component on financial literacy for its program participants. YMCA’s introduction of a financial literacy component to the YMCA day camp program was made possible through a partnership with Oakland University’s School of Business Administration (“SBA”) and its longstanding CFP Board-Registered Program. Through the day camp financial literacy component, which is partly funded by a recent award from the United Way, approximately 3,000 children in grades kindergarten through eighth grade will have the opportunity to build an important foundation in financial literacy.

SBA’s Financial Planning Program, developed by retired Professor of Finance, Sid Mittra, CFP® more than 20 years ago, was one of the first programs in the country to be registered with CFP Board. The program continues to take a leadership role in southeastern Michigan in educating students about the techniques and knowledge necessary to provide competent and ethical financial planning services to clients. The dedicated, qualified and experienced practitioner instructors at SBA shared their knowledge and expertise to develop and implement a successful curriculum for financial literacy education with the YMCA, developing the curriculum and training the YMCA day camp program instructors/facilitators who will deliver the financial literacy training to YMCA participants.

“The financial literacy program has great potential,” said Josh Landefeld, regional director for YMCA Youth Sports & Day Camp. “Kids will be learning essential life skills, helping to create a generation of financially savvy consumers."

And studies say those students will have a positive impact on society. For example, the United States' Financial Literacy and Education Commission states that financially literate people are more likely to be self-supporting, prepare for setbacks and emergencies; increase their standard of living through wise spending, saving, planning and investing; and are less susceptible to scams and identity theft.

Share your Registered Program's stories with your colleagues and the CFP® certificant community. If you have a story you'd like to see included in future editions of CFP Board's newsletters, please send information or media coverage of your program's activities to Tim Stifel at tstifel@CFPBoard.org.

Registered Program Renewal Process

Registered Programs with renewals in the first quarter of 2009 were the first to receive the recently revised Registered Program renewal application materials. In an effort to provide programs with a simplified process, the application form has been updated, with a program’s previously-reported information pre-populated on the form, and we now accept electronic submissions.

With the revised process, Registered Programs are asked to verify the information CFP Board has on file, noting any changes to faculty, program staff and course descriptions. In some instances, supplemental materials are requested as part of the renewal, such as syllabi or curriculum vitae. Renewal materials also include an updated copy of the Registration Agreement, as well as the 89-financial planning topics alignment sheets.

Renewal application materials for programs due in the third and fourth quarters of 2009 were sent electronically to Program Directors at the end of April. If you have questions about renewing your program’s registration with CFP Board, please feel free to contact us at education@CFPBoard.org.

Adding New Faculty to Your Program

Have you recently made changes to your faculty or program staff? When adding a new faculty member or Program Director to your Registered Program, we ask that you send us a current copy of the individual's curriculum vitae to illustrate that they meet the requirements for faculty and/or Program Directors set forth in CFP Board’s Criteria for Registration of a Financial Planning Curriculum.

Registered Program faculty are required to hold: a) an appropriate graduate degree, or b) a current CFP® certification plus a bachelor's degree in a related field, or c) a current CFP® certification, a bachelor's degree, and significant experience related to the course content.

The faculty vitae may be mailed to education@CFPBoard.org or sent via mail, whichever is more convenient for you. Please indicate which course(s) the individual will teach.

March 2009 Exam Score Release

Exam results from the March 20-21, 2009 CFP® Certification Examination were sent to exam takers on Wednesday, May 13 via first-class mail and have been made available online to examinees through their online CFP Board accounts. Exam results are not released to examinees over the phone, by fax, or by e-mail. Individuals who passed the CFP® Exam received instructions on how to complete the next steps in the initial certification process.

The exam results for the March 2009 CFP® Exam were accompanied by a new Diagnostic Summary Report. The new report, provided to all examinees, includes a graph which plots an examinee's performance across the seven major content areas, in comparison to the average performance of those who passed the exam (Pass Group). Additionally, deficiencies are now identified across the seven major content areas, rather than each of the individual topics. Given the small number of questions included at the individual topic level within a particular exam and the fact that the number of questions at the individual topic level can vary across exam administrations, identifying deficiencies at the major content area level provides a more stable measure and enables comparison of performance across exam administrations.

Content areas marked as deficient indicate performance that is proportionally below the number of points necessary to pass the overall exam. Deficient content areas are defined by applying the proportion of points necessary to pass the entire exam to each major content area. This means that if the seven major content areas had been scored individually, an examinee would have “failed” content areas marked as “deficient.” Examinees should review all topics covered under deficient content areas.

March 2009 Exam Statistics for Registered Programs

Individual Pass/Fail Reports have been sent to all Registered Programs who had students sit for the March 2009 CFP® Certification Examination. The report includes the names and pass/fail status of students from their institution who authorized CFP Board to share their exam results.

Distribution of overall program performance statistics will be sent to Registered Programs in early July. The report provides statistics at the program-, institution-, and national-level for the March 2009 exam, as well as cumulative institution and national-level statistics. Institutions with examinees at more than one Registered Program will receive a separate report for each program.

Upcoming Exam Dates and Deadlines

The next CFP® Certification Examination will take place on July 17-18, 2009 (registration for this exam closed on June 3).

Students wishing to sit for the November 2009 CFP® exam should submit complete exam applications to CFP Board no later than 5:00PM Eastern time on October 6th. Late applications will not be accepted under any circumstances. A complete exam application consists of:

• Completed application form
• $595 examination fee paid in full
• Appropriate qualifying eligibility documentation (i.e., copy of the transcript, copy of designation/degree, or letter of authorization)

Students who have successfully completed coursework at two or more CFP Board-Registered Programs but have not completed, or had credits transferred to, any one entire program, may qualify to apply for the CFP® Certification Examination under the "Coursework from Multiple CFP Board-Registered Programs" status. After applying for the exam with this status, students will be required to provide transcripts from each institution to verify completion of the education coursework requirement. Documentation may be sent to education@CFPBoard.org or faxed to 202-379-2299, Attention: Education Department.

Streamline Your Students’ Exam Registrations with Electronic Graduate Lists

CFP Board-Registered Programs are strongly encouraged to provide electronic lists of their financial planning program graduates to CFP Board. The lists certify that the named students have earned the degree or certification provided by the program, serve as verification that they have met the education required to sit for the CFP® Certification Examination, and enable graduates to apply for the CFP® Certification Examination online without having to provide hardcopy documentation of their education.

We appreciate the efforts of the many registered programs that currently submit electronic graduate lists, and we will continue to facilitate this process to provide an exceptional level of service for individuals who seek CFP® certification. To request an electronic template for your program, please contact us at education@CFPBoard.org.

Please note that the process for verifying students’ education is not fully automated. Exam applications pending education verification are manually cross-checked against the eligibility list for a given institution. Therefore, students should allow 1-2 days for their education to be verified from the time they submit an exam application. Once a candidate’s exam application is complete, an automated e-mail confirmation is sent.

Questions about Qualifying Work Experience

CFP Board often receives inquiries about the Work Experience requirement from individuals who are considering enrolling in a Registered Program. A common question is whether certain experiences will meet CFP Board’s requirements. Many individuals contact CFP Board to request a determination on their work experience before registering in a financial planning education program.

Please note that while CFP Board can offer general information about the work experience requirement, CFP Board can not make a final determination about an individual’s work experience until after that individual passes the CFP® Certification Examination and completes a Work Experience Reporting Form. The CFP® certification requirements are subject to change over time, and it is CFP Board policy to apply the experience requirements in effect at the time an individual applies for the CFP® Certification Examination he or she ultimately passes.

After passing the exam, individuals are asked to report work experience by completing a Work Experience Reporting Form. CFP Board then reviews the reported work experience and provides the individual with a determination.

For more information regarding CFP Board’s Work Experience requirement, please visit www.CFP.net/become/work.asp or contact us at 800-487-1497.

Building CFP Board's Marketing Support for Registered Programs

In order to develop more robust marketing support for Registered Programs, CFP Board will be in touch with you over the next few months to gather some information. CFP Board's Marketing Department will contact you via e-mail to identify a marketing contact within your program or school. We will also be requesting copies of your current marketing materials (fliers, advertisements, etc.). These materials are for CFP Board's internal review and will not be disseminated publicly. We hope to identify areas where we can make the most impact based on the materials that are currently in use. Thank you in advance for your cooperation.

Guide to CFP® Certification Prospect Lists

Registered Programs have access to quarterly lists of individuals who have recently requested CFP Board’s Guide to CFP® Certification. The list is now available online through our secure file transfer site: https://www.CFP.net/cfpsft/. Updated on or before the fifteenth day of January, April, July, and October, each list will remain posted for one quarter, until the next quarter’s list is available.

If you have not already signed up for access to the secure site, you may request access by completing the List Request Form available at www.CFP.net/downloads/Guide_List_Request_Form.pdf and submitting it to education@CFPBoard.org. Once requests are received and processed, those individuals listed as authorized contacts for the institution will receive instructions for accessing the list.

Audit of CFP® Marks Use on Registered Program Web Sites

CFP Board is in the process of reviewing the Web sites of all Registered Program to assist them in complying with CFP Board’s Guide to Use of the CFP® Certification Marks. Each program with a Web site currently linked to CFP Board’s Web site listing of Registered Programs will be reviewed. Program directors can expect to receive an electronic version of their Web site with corrections noted, if necessary. Results will be distributed to all programs in July.

After receiving results from CFP Board, programs will be asked to make noted corrections within 90 days. During this time, trademark staff will be available to answer any questions and provide additional support and education regarding marks use. Corrected Web site addresses should be forwarded to trademark@CFPBoard.org. Failure to comply may result in revocation of the program’s registration with CFP Board.

Have you recently updated your program’s Web site? Send the updated link to trademark@CFPBoard.org for marks review prior to posting. Once reviewed, we will coordinate linkage of the site to CFP Board’s Web site listing of Registered Program.

In addition, please remember to submit a copy of all printed marketing materials for review prior to printing or posting. Please allow three weeks for review of your materials. Trademark will contact you directly with approval or required edits, if necessary. Our goal is to ensure that the CFP® marks are used properly and that the certification process is represented accurately. Electronic copies may be sent directly to trademark@CFPBoard.org, or send hard copies by fax 202-379-2299, Attention: Trademark Department.

Registered Program Statistics Survey Feedback

To better gauge the usefulness and quality of the performance statistics shared with Registered Programs after each exam cycle, Program Directors and staff were asked to participate in an online survey March 5-13. Feedback consistently received from respondents (28%) is summarized below:

• Provide a deficiency report by topic area for each exam, both at the program- and institution-level, in order to better assess strengths and weaknesses;
• Provide data broken out by program type (certificate vs. degree programs);
• Include data about the number of examinees who took a review course.

Financial Planning Careers in the News

Jobs That Are Red Hot Right Now
A recent article on Yahoo! HotJobs featured financial planning careers: “Even amid the industry shakeout, financial analysts and financial planners still have plenty of opportunities.” The article lists a $61,000 salary for financial planners (based on median salaries taken from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and PayScale.com for professionals with five years or more experience) and mentions the CFP® Certification Examination as a typical pre-requisite, along with a Bachelor's degree in finance is often preferred. Read more.

Help Wanted: Advisors Under 50
Think financial jobs are scarce? Think again.
An April 20, 2009 article by Joshua Lipton on Forbes.com highlighted the increasing median age of those employed in the financial services industry, as well as issues that may be preventing younger professionals from entering the industry. The article addresses the decrease in training programs at large financial services firms. “Luckily, some universities have been stepping in to fill the void. There are now about 100 university financial planning programs across the country, including at schools like Kansas State University, Virginia Tech and Texas Tech, where students take classes on retirement planning, risk management, estate planning, tax law and the latest planning technology. The students graduate prepared to take their [CFP® certification examination]. Starting salaries are usually between $50,000 and $60,000.” "’We don't have enough financial planners to handle all the baby boomers,’ [says Deena Katz, CFP®, associate professor at Texas Tech University]. ‘They will all need advice. They can't do it on their own. It is way too complicated, and they have now been way too devastated. They aren't prepared for retirement. So this is a huge opportunity for kids. It's one of the best-kept secrets.’” Read more.

Sizing Up a Future Career
On June 3, 2009, the News-Press of Fort Myers, Florida, ran a story written by Tim Engstrom and featuring James Stoddard, a student at the CFP Board-Registered Program at Florida Gulf Coast University who participated in a “Shadow Day” career development program with established CFP® professionals organized by FPA of Southwest Florida. “He hopes recent financial woes may enhance the demand for his knowledge and skills by convincing some people that some professional advice might be a good idea. ‘There are a lot of people out there who don't have a clue how to manage their money and my friends are always coming to me for advice,’ he said. ‘This is something I can continue to do into my 70s and 80s.’"

Out of the Army Now: Why Shahirar Chowdury Tried His Luck as a Financial Planner
The June 8, 2009 edition of Express magazine (a publication of The Washington Post) published a story about Shahriar "Sha" Chowdhury, CFP®, a graduate of the CFP Board-Registered Program at Georgetown University, and the experiences that led him to pursue a career in financial planning. Chowdury said of the CFP® certification: "It's like a CPA for the financial-planning world." The article notes that financial planning is great for career changers, quoting [Edwin] Schmierer: "Financial-services firms like life experience – people who have refinanced a home, put their kids through college, bought insurance." Read more.

Encourage Students to Establish an Account with CFP Board

We strongly encourage students interested in learning more about the CFP® certification requirements to create a secure, online account with CFP Board by completing the form located at www.CFP.net/students. Creating an account will allow CFP Board to provide your students with the most current information about CFP Board policies and the process for becoming a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ certificant, as well as connect them to resources, such as the monthly CFP Board Report newsletter.

Students who establish an account with CFP Board early in their Registered Program experience will also be one step ahead with respect to registering to sit for the CFP® Certification Examination, since an account is required in order for an individual to apply to sit for the CFP® exam.

Student Questions? We Have Answers

CFP Board welcomes questions from students and others working toward CFP® certification. For the most current information about policies and procedures related to CFP® certification – including exam registration, the bachelor’s degree requirement, work experience and Candidate Fitness Standards – students should contact CFP Board’s Support Specialists, who can answer questions and direct students to resources available at our Web site. Our Support Specialist team can be reached at 800-487-1497 or initialcert@CFPBoard.org.

CFP® Certificant Connections in California: July 13-14, 2009

Marilyn Capelli Dimitroff, CFP®, 2009 Chair of CFP Board’s Board of Directors, and Kevin R. Keller, CAE, CFP Board’s CEO, will be hosting CFP® Certificant Connection receptions and town hall-style meetings in San Diego, Los Angeles and San Francisco on July 13-14, 2009. We invite you to attend one or more of these events and hope you will extend the invitation to the faculty and students at your program.

These receptions and 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, the Financial Planning Coalition’s proposal for a professional oversight body for financial planning, and other issues of importance to the CFP® certificant 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.

Our discussions can only benefit from a diversity of viewpoints, and the perspectives of financial planning educators and those working toward attaining CFP® certification are especially valuable to CFP Board’s work. Registration is open to everyone involved in the financial planning profession, even those who don’t currently hold CFP® certification.

Please make plans to attend and encourage your colleagues to join us at these important meetings. Registration information is listed below and available on CFP Board’s Web site at: www.CFP.net/certificants/connection.asp.

SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA
Monday, July 13, 2009
5:30 - 7:00 p.m. (Pacific)
The University Club Atop Symphony Towers
750 B Street, Suite 3400
San Diego, CA 92101
Registration

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
8:00 - 9:30 a.m. (Pacific)
Hyatt Regency Century Plaza
2025 Avenue of the Stars
Los Angeles, CA 90067
Registration

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
5:30 - 7:00 p.m. (Pacific)
The City Club of San Francisco
155 Sansome Street, 10th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94104
Registration

CFP Board Business Update Webinar: July 14, 2009, 1:30 – 2:45 p.m. (Eastern Time)

Join CFP Board’s leadership on July 14 at 1:30 p.m. for CFP Board’s Business Update Webinar. During this Webinar, Marilyn Capelli Dimitroff, CFP®, 2009 Chair of the Board of Directors, Robert J. Glovsky, CFP®, 2009 Chair-Elect, and Kevin R. Keller, CAE, CFP Board's CEO, will provide updates on two of CFP Board’s priorities for 2009: public policy and public outreach. Hear the latest on CFP Board’s involvement in the Financial Planning Coalition that has called for a national oversight board for financial planners, and learn more about CFP Board’s efforts to educate consumers about the importance of ethical and competent financial planning services provided by professionals who hold CFP® certification.

This free informational Webinar is the latest in a series designed to update CFP® certificants and other CFP Board stakeholders on CFP Board's activities and key issues related to CFP® certification. These events also give certificants an opportunity to ask questions and provide their input. Participants are invited to submit questions for the Webinar panelists prior to and during the program. Submit questions through the registration process or via e-mail to webinars@CFPBoard.org.

CFP Board Business Update
Tuesday, July 14, 2009, 1:30 p.m. - 2:45 p.m. (Eastern Time)
Cost: Free (No CE granted)
Registration: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/244761682

This year’s Program Directors’ Conference will be held August 13-15 at the Sheraton National Hotel in Arlington, Virginia. A central focus of this year’s conference is the recently announced financial plan development course requirement. If you haven’t yet made plans to attend this year's event, we encourage you to participate and be involved in these important discussions.

Updated information about the event, including current agenda, details about the keynote speaker and a link to online registration, is available on our Web site at www.CFP.net/conference.

Please note that in order to reserve a room at the reduced conference rate, reservations must be made by July 17.