The CFP® Professionals
Sentiment Indices

The CFP® Professionals Sentiment Indices (CPSI) measure the financial and economic outlooks of CFP® professionals and their clients. They provide investors, the media and the public with a new set of data that will measure the strength of the economy, leveraging the trusted advisor-client relationship. The CPSI capitalizes on the voices of more than 100,000 CFP® professionals to provide valuable information on economic performance and consumer/investor sentiment. 

April 2025 Results

CFP® professionals report that their clients’ financial outlook has deteriorated over the past three months. CFP® professionals, at the same time, are more optimistic about their own financial outlook than their clients.

More than a third of CFP® professionals report their clients have a negative financial outlook — up five times the 7% indicating so during the Winter 2025 survey. Conversely, 23% of CFP® professionals indicate their clients hold a positive outlook, less than half of the 54% of the Winter 2025 survey respondents indicating the same. Further, CFP® professionals are over four times as likely to report that their clients’ outlook had become more negative relative to a year earlier (63% versus 15%). 

Two in five CFP® professionals have a positive outlook, down from 61% during Winter 2025. Forty-two percent of CFP® professionals are more negative in their financial outlook compared to a year earlier. Nonetheless, CFP® professionals signal optimism for the future, with 48% anticipating better economic conditions 12 months from now, compared to 32% expecting a deterioration. 

Finally, 52% of CFP® professionals report that their client bases have expanded over the past year, and 63% expect to take on more clients over the next 12 months. 

In your opinion, which of the following best summarizes your clients’ current financial outlook?

(A higher index score indicates clients are more positive.)

Percentages may not add to 100% due to rounding.