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Is
a True Financial Planning Coalition on the Horizon? By
Paul M. League, QFP, CFP® - IAQFP.org Chairperson & President
(January 28, 2005) A January 2005 InvestmentNews article reports that the FPA (the organization that exclusively supports the CFP® designation), and the AICPA (the CPA society that supports the PFS designation) appear to now be “vying for PFS designees”. FPA board member Kacy Gott is therein quoted as saying “we want to be the community for all who promote Financial Planning”. Did you hear that? The FPA, after years of being CFP® - centric, now wants to be “the community for all”, now isn't that a rather peculiar departure? What’s
behind this apparent change?
Clearly, the FPA is pressed for holding onto its members
and must have determined that in order to maintain and expand
their numbers, and influence, that they must appeal to a far
broader base. What
this most likely indicates is that the CFP Board, the FPA, and the
AICPA may, and I emphasize may, have finally struck a deal of
sorts that possibly foretells reciprocity between their competing
designations that will finally result in them being treated as
equivalent. IAQFP
is pleased to learn that these parties finally appear to accept
what IAQFP already has; namely, the equality of these two
designations, and still 3 other designations (ChFC; MSFS; MS), as
representative of one who is educated and trained under
substantially the same qualifying criteria, and one who therefore
is also qualified in the application of its methodology,
discipline and integrative perspective.
The
CFP Board & FPA (Financial Planning Association), in
particular, have been opposing this for years, while IAQFP, after
making several approaches to both, but only being ignored and/or
refused, decided to recognize the equality of all 5 (CFP®, PFS,
ChFC, MSFS and MS –the latter two with a concentrated study in
Financial Planning). IAQFP
has long welcomed each of these designation earners to be covered
under its QFP, or Qualified Financial Planner designation, the
single unifying designation created to represent all Financial
Planning and its professionals.
IAQFP further codified this by allowing all 5 of these
designees FREE registration into its public Registry resource so
that the public can both easily verify and locate said
professionals (the IAQFP – QFP Verification Registry of
Qualified Financial Planners at:
www.iaqfp.org/qfp_registry.html). While
the above has been developing, IAQFP has led in exposing repeated
hidden and controversial initiatives by the CFP Board, assisted by
the FPA, the longest being their desire to become the PRO or SRO
of the Financial Planning profession. In a November 2004 IAQFP
Member-wide deliberation, and vote call, Members voted 82% against
the need of a Self-Regulatory Organization (SRO), or Professional
Regulatory Organization (PRO), to regulate the profession or the
activities of planners. When
it came to the question of what would happen if the government, or
other body, were to appoint one anyway, and whether or not that
appointee should be the CFP Board, FPA or any party related to
them, IAQFP Members voted a resounding 91% against. Several
months later we learn through another InvestmentNews article
(1/2005) that the FPA has set up a committee to “consider
planner oversight”, this on the heels of a Probe Newsletter
article by Ed Morrow, Chairman of IARFC, that makes a strong case
against the need of an SRO/PRO for either planners or public
benefit. That article
also strongly cautions against support for either the CFP Board or
the FPA as SRO/PRO, citing as an example their rather problematic
handling of referrals that are only made to CFP® certificants who
are also required to be FPA dues paying members, while restricting
access to all other planners bearing other equally qualifying
designations. How is it beneficial to consumers when the CFP Board
& FPA collude to disenfranchise the majority of equally
qualified Financial Planners who hold other valid Financial
Planning credentials, simply because they don't also hold a CFP®?
Further,
who selected the CFP® credential to be the “chosen one”?
CFP® stakeholder designees themselves were not even given
a voice, opinion or vote on this.
Clearly, the CFP Board & FPA have made that
determination, but again they have done so without the vote or
consent of either their own stakeholders or of the far broader
community of 100,000 Financial Planners.
The CFP Board and FPA have presented no evidence that
consumer confusion is eliminated or lessened as a result of
holding the CFP® designation over any other. The question
still has not been answered: “How do we distinguish the
Financial Planning process itself from the various vehicles and
products used to fund such Plans?”
Obviously, just holding the CFP® designation, or any
other, is not enough. The
answer is that this
is already being done by Financial Planners themselves, helped in
some cases by the entities that issue their credentials and/or the
advocacy organizations they support, such as IAQFP.org.
Now,
by also designating itself as the best candidate for PRO, or SRO,
and the CFP® designation as the one designation to represent all
of Financial Planning, the CFP Board and/or FPA are trying to
cement a monopoly hold over the entire Financial Planning
field…a hold that IAQFP Members, and others as herein noted that
represent a clear majority, have strongly voted and spoken
against. Rather
than more infighting and increased turf wars, the Financial
Planning community needs to unite, and in doing so, to create
solutions that truly have the potential of actually being
beneficial to planners and consumers alike. If we, as a
profession, are truly concerned with distinguishing what we do as
planners from the products we use, and of providing consumer
protection and reducing consumer confusion, then now is the time
for all Financial Planning professionals, and the entities from
whom they obtain their credentials, and the organizations they
support, to unite. Any
solution must be inclusive of all those currently qualified,
representing a true coalition. IAQFP.org
was formed to be that unifying coalition organization.
IAQFP.org has sought to uncover
perceived consumer concerns and to address the common goal of
eliminating public confusion over who is and who is not a
qualified Financial Planner through the introduction of the QFP
designation. IAQFP
researched in depth the designations of those who claimed to be
Financial Planners and determined that five designations, from
four entities, met the minimum criteria.
IAQFP took all of these steps because these 4 entities,
and the organizations that support them, were, and largely remain,
dedicated to acting alone…with the apparent current exception
that the CFP Board and AICPA may now have brokered some
kind of a unification deal. Whether this is for real, or
beneficial to planners and the public, remains to be seen;
however, if any such unification also causes further pursuit of
the SRO or PRO position, then all Financial Planners, along
with the public, remain at serious risk for at least the single
reason that no one appears to want either. Renewing
the IAQFP effort to bring all of these entities together is an
idea whose time has certainly come.
However, for this to have the greatest chance of success,
members of these entities must also register at www.IAQFP.org/register.html
and immediately begin using the unifying QFP designation.
Such actions take nothing away from the other 5 designations of
Financial Planning, their issuing entities, or the organizations
that support them. The four entities who offer designations
maintain them, with their designees simply adding their qualifying
credentials, which just serves to bring extra credit to each and
every qualifying designation and entity, with all of them together
being unified as QFP – Qualified Financial Planners. The
opportunity to join this coalition is open and free. The
potential exists, but can only be fully realized when the eligible
100,000 equally qualified Financial Planners begin using the
unifying QFP designation that IAQFP.org has already authorized
them to use, and then to register their use in the QFP
Verification Registry for all the public to see.
Finally, these 100,000 must also formally request that
their respective organizations be an active and positive part
of the coalition. A unified coalition & profession obviates the need of an SRO or PRO for planners and public alike. |