CFP in the News

The results are in. According to CFP Board’s January 15, 2020, report entitled CFP BOARD REPORTS STRONG GROWTH IN 2019, the Board summarized the results of key diversity programs as follows: “The Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards finished the year [2019] with very strong numbers, reflecting the results of CFP Board initiatives as well…

CFP Board’s December 17, 2019, Independent Task Force Report Apparently, there’s a new Sheriff in town.  As a result of a recent task force analysis, CFP Board will now conduct annual background checks on CFP® Certificants.  An overview of the Board’s report follows: Overview On July 30, 2019, the Board of Directors of CFP Board (“The Board”)…

CFP® Certificant in the News According to the CFP Board, “the percentage of women CFP® professionals has remained flat at 23 percent for at least a decade.” Based upon CFP Board commission researched aimed at increasing that percentage, the “WIN Council” and “WIN Advocates” were created by the Board. Key information follows: “WIN Council Following…

CFP Board’s November 2019 “Let’s Make a Plan” newsletter addresses digital security and more There’s never been a time in history when it was more important to keep online financial records private. For example: A 2019 Pew Research Center FACTANK report indicates 9 in every 10 Americans use the internet for online shopping and social…

CFP Board Releases 2019 Survey of CFP® Professionals. CFP Board surveys its Certificants every two years. The 2019 survey canvassed 800 CFP® Professionals and addressed a number of topics, including job satisfaction and key demographic metrics. Job Satisfaction CFP Board reported a continued trend of high job satisfaction among CFP® Professionals working as financial planners.…

While pundits have predicted a recession that has yet to happen for several years, clients do worry about the impact to their finances if a recession occurs. According to a recent survey by CFP Board, CFP® professionals and other financial advisors make a difference in client confidence when facing recession concerns. According to the survey,…

CFP® Certificant in the News A CFP® Certificant is subject to a greater duty, the duty to adhere to the Practice Standards, to clients when providing Financial Planning vs. when providing Financial Advice. As we will see in just a moment, a Certificant may be subject to the Practice Standards based upon what the client…

CFP® Certificants in the News True or False? A CFP® certificant is allowed to have a material conflict of interest with a client when providing financial advice. Answer. The statement is conditionally true. A certificant can have a conflict of interest with a client as long as the conflict is fully disclosed, the client agrees…

CFP® Certificant in the News Here’s the big news for CFP® certificants: Effective October 1, 2019, a fiduciary duty is owed to clients in more circumstances than under the previous CFP Board requirements. Fiduciary duty is the very foundation upon which a great deal of the new Code and Standards rests. A CFP® certificant is…

CFP® Certificant in the News In our last blog, we illuminated CFP Board’s expectation that a certificant either avoid OR disclose and manage material conflicts of interest. That’s a simple instruction, right?  Maybe or maybe not.  It’s easy to confuse “material conflict of interest” as only sales-related compensation such as upfront commissions, deferred sales charges,…