Why Is A4A Providing An Audience Of CFPs With Ideas From CFA Institute? Hot

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At that point in my career, I had been writing about financial planning daily for 15 years, and Tom was telling me there was a whole other universe that I needed to learn about.
I knew that the financial services universe was separated by advisors who specialized in insurance, tax, investment, or financial planning. However, Tom’s words made me see that all of these worlds were drawing closer together and would eventually become one solar system. He specifically raved about the CFA Institute’s educational programs.

In 1998, CFA Institute was a world apart from the financial planning world I knew so well. It was dominated by research analysts at brokerages and institutional investors, and it was driven by a global vision for the CFA designation. Then the mutual fund scandals of the 2000’s led to a fundamental change.
Wall Street’s legion of analysts were suddenly unwanted because Wall Street research was a joke, larded with undisclosed conflicts of interests. Wall Street was forced to lay off a lot of CFAs serving as research analysts on Wall Street. Seemingly overnight, CFA Institute and CFA charterholders around the country had to figure out what to do for a living. The answer: advise wealthy individuals.  
CFA Institute has reinvented itself over the past 10 or 12 years. CFA Institute’s Private Wealth section — 15 years ago a stepchild in an organization dominated by Wall Street and institutional investors — is now far more influential among CFA charterholders. The educational curriculum has changed to ensure CFA charterholders are qualified to advise individuals.
However, because CFA Institute’s knowledge base is largely derived from large institutions with virtually unlimited resources, the quality of its research, data, and best practice ideas for professionals is very advanced.
So there you have it. That’s why A4A is inviting CFPs to hear about their distant cousins, CFAs. I have come to see that the CFP world is provincial in thinking that it owns the higher moral ground or best ideas in financial advising. And the CFP world's provincial outlook is rivalled in its myopia by the worlds of CPAs, CIMAs, ChFCs and other serious professional designations. They all seemingly pretend the others do not exist. They fail to capitalize on each other's strengths because they are competing with each other. So A4A is doing things a bit differently by bringing you voices from all of these different spheres.     
And Horan happens to a brilliant guy. He's one of the top executives in CFA Institute and previously ran the private wealth section. He holds a Ph.D. in Finance and Economics from SUNY at Buffalo, and Certificate in Investment Performance Measurement as well a CFA designation.
I wrote about the CIPM recently because I believe transparency will come to be more important to RIAs serving UHNWIs in the years ahead, and CIPMs can help RIAs create a track record compliant with the Global Investment Performance Standards (GIPS). Steve Horan will talk about how CIPMs can help RIAs create a GIPS-compliant track record that can be used in marketing and advertising materials.
Point is, connecting A4A members, who are predominantly financial planners, with best practices from outside the CFP world, makes me happy. Let me know if it has the same effect on you.
Stephen Horan’s webinar on Friday will be eligible for continuing professional education credit for CPAs, CFPs, CIMAs, and other financial advice designations. If you’re an A4A member ($60 annually), you can see all sessions 24/7 and receive many other benefits.
Because of the glowing praise I have lavished on CFA Institute, I want to point out that CFA Institute is not perfect. CFAs have no annual professional education requirement and that’s something CFPs will want to ask Horan about at the session Friday. He will also be speaking about CFA Institute initiatives for all kinds of advisors—including those who are not CFA charterholders.
 

 

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With classes approved for over a decade by the CFP Board, IWI, and NASBA, Advisors4Advisors CE classes are an optimal knowledge stream for CFP®, CIMA®, CPA, CPA/PFS®, CFA®, and other practitioners. It's not a grab bag of speakers willing to sponsor CE content. Nor is it a one-man CE course. It's a group of subject matter experts with amazing communication skills and a history of thought leadership that, together, give advisors a well-rounded knowledge system for running a professional practice ethically and intelligently.

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A4A CE classes for financial professionals began in October 2008, the week Lehman Bros. collapsed. Initially billed as “The Financial Crisis Webinar Series,” A4A connects advisors with authoritative sources on investing, tax, and financial planning, chosen by A4A Editor Andrew Gluck, a veteran financial reporter. A4A members get a stream of CE classes for an advisor who: 

  • holds a CFP®, CIMA®, CPA, CPA/PFS, CFA or other designation requiring CE annually 
  • values monthly CE classes by Fritz Meyer, Craig Israelsen, Bob Keebler, Frank Murtha, or Andrew Gluck
  • diversifies a core of client portfolios in low-expense funds
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It is not possible for me to overstate the cumulative value that Craig, Bob and Fritz have added for over 10 years to my investment advisory practice, as well as for personal and family financial planning. A4A gets my highest recommendation
Lynn Najman, CFP®
I’ve subscribed to A4A since its inception, and always find it intellectually stimulating and on point. It’s one of the few CE solutions out there that doesn’t waste my time by pushing product or talking down to me.

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Pete Deacon, CPA, CFP®
A4A has had a profound effect on my business. Since 2009, I’ve relied on the consistent messaging and updates to run my business successfully. Being able to present the information from Bob, Fritz, and Craig's ongoing CE webinars has been a significant benefit.

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Fredric Mayerson, MBA, PhD, CFP®
I've been a financial professional and professor of finance for 35 years and find Fritz Meyer and Robert Keebler to be among the most engaging, incredibly knowledgeable, and experienced presenters I’ve encountered. They deliver an extraordinary amount of information in an extremely interesting way — sequentially and developmentally, utilizing pedagogical tools and techniques that few possess.  A4A to is the most consistently excellent CE program available.  
Ron Roge, MS, CFP®
I’ve been attending A4A many years because the CE classes are outstanding, and my time is valuable. Though I have over 35 years of experience, I’m always learning something new on A4A. I attend fewer conferences now because the CE is generally not advanced. If you want to learn from the best, in a faster, easier, and less expensive way, I highly recommend A4A.

John R. Day, CPA/PFS®

I’ve been a member since 2011 and never miss the monthly webinars with Fritz Meyer. I appreciate Fritz’s independent views on the economy and markets and Bob Keebler keeps me updated on excellent tax planning ideas. A4A is a great value!

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Norman Politziner, CFP

I wouldn't miss a Fritz Meyer webinar unless my pants were on fire. I've relied on Andrew Gluck's knowledge systems --client communications and CE -- for two decades. It's simply the best solution for tax, financial, investment, and risk-management professionals.®   

Dan Hawley, CFP® 

A4A, for over a decade, has been a great resource for useful and accurate information and CE. A4A and Advisor Products are bargains for an advisory practice. 

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Kevin Brosious, MBA, CFP®, CPA/PFS®

I get CPA CE credit and CFP credit for the webinars.  But not only that, the A4A content is terrific