FPSB Announces World Financial Planning Summit Recommendations for Establishing Financial Planning as a Global Profession
-- FPSB Board of Directors Considers Summit Input in Its Strategic Planning Session --
TAIPEI – 29 April 2010 – Financial Planning Standards Board Ltd. (FPSB), the preeminent global professional standards-setting body for competent and ethical financial planners and owner of the CFP, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER and CFP Logo marks outside the US, announced recommendations developed during the World Financial Planning Summit, held in Chinese Taipei last week. Attendees at the Summit developed recommendations for FPSB to drive financial planning’s emergence as a recognized profession globally, similar to established professions like medicine, law, or accounting. Breakout sessions during the Summit focused on developing recommendations relating to the areas of regulation and professional oversight, delivery channels, building the body of knowledge for financial planning, and consumer advocacy. FPSB tasked the breakout groups with creating high-level recommendations that FPSB’s Board of Directors could incorporate into FPSB’s strategic plan and programs going forward.
“FPSB’s Board of Directors held a strategic planning session immediately following the World Financial Planning Summit, and discussed the Summit recommendations at length,” said Corinna Dieters, chairperson of the FPSB Board of Directors and a World Financial Planning Summit speaker. “With a stated goal of establishing financial planning as a global profession by the year 2025, FPSB’s Board considered the various Summit recommendations and their potential impact on FPSB’s immediate, mid-term and long-term activities and programs.”
“One recommendation we are implementing immediately is a global call for nominations for a public member to FPSB’s Board of Directors,” said Karen Schaeffer, FPSB Council Chairperson and emcee for the World Financial Planning Summit. “In developing desired qualifications for our 2011 board members, we added “consumer advocacy and/or public interest background” to our list of criteria. The recommendation came at an excellent time, because we are just starting our search,” Schaeffer added.
The recommendations from each discussion group are as follows:
Regulation and Oversight
1. The oversight of financial planning should involve cooperation among governments/regulators and professional bodies.
2. Consistent with established professions, professional bodies should have responsibility for developing the competency, ethics and practice standards for the financial planning profession.
3. FPSB should engage regulators at a global level and take consumer-centric positions on issues such as fiduciary standard, remuneration, etc.
4. FPSB should consider the benefit for consumers and the profession of encouraging protection by governments and regulators of the term “financial planner.”
5. While consumers are responsible for the input and regulators the output of the financial advice and product delivery system, the profession should be responsible for defining, developing and enforcing standards relating to the process and delivery of financial planning.
Body of Knowledge and Career Path
1. FPSB should provide universities with research grants, endowed chairs and funding to encourage academics to research financial planning theory and practice.
2. FPSB should create a global conference/summit and academic journal (or help to upgrade existing journals) to engage academics and researchers in developing and growing the body of knowledge.
3. FPSB should design a global curriculum, with textbooks and course outlines, to guide educators on teaching the “soft” skills of financial planning.
4. FPSB should work with product providers and large institutions to have them embrace the financial planning process and enhance marketplace credibility.
5. FPSB should work with education providers and financial services firms to connect to students and new entrants to the financial planning profession, providing opportunities and generating enthusiasm for careers in financial planning.
Consumer Interests
1. FPSB should appoint a public member to its Board of Directors, as should each FPSB Member organization.
2. FPSB should create a staff position to ensure that consumer interests are represented in all standards-setting, policy and related matters (similar to an ombudsman role).
3. FPSB should proactively provide financial literacy programs and encourage pro bono educational outreach by CFP professionals.
4. FPSB should engage in activities to define, measure and promote the value of financial planning to consumers.
5. FPSB should help consumers understand that CFP professionals meet rigorous financial planning competency, ethics and practice standards.
Practice and Delivery of Financial Planning
1. FPSB should encourage firms to build the financial planning process into product delivery so consumers receive more appropriate advice and products.
2. FPSB should consider developing a global program to recognize firms that support CFP certification and the use of the financial planning process.
3. FPSB should create marketing materials to promote the value of CFP certification and the financial planning process to firms, and their contribution to client relations, compliance and the bottom line.
4. FPSB should promote a consistent fiduciary-like standard of care to raise the quality of financial advice and products delivered to consumers.
5. FPSB should consider whether globally consistent pathway credentials would benefit those entering the financial planning profession, along with more practical training in how best to deliver financial planning.
About FPSB
FPSB manages, develops and operates certification, education and related programs for financial planning organizations to benefit the global community by establishing, upholding and promoting worldwide professional standards in financial planning. FPSB demonstrates its commitment to excellence with the marks of professional distinction – CFP, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER and CFP Logo Mark. Territories where FPSB has a nonprofit member organization include: Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Chinese Taipei, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, the People’s Republic of China, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, South Africa, Switzerland, Thailand, the United Kingdom and the United States. For more, visit fpsb.org.
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