Tags: CFP Board

The certifying body for the financial planning profession is getting some new blood at the top, including several noted advisors.

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The CFP Board of Standards has elected four new directors to replace current chairman Chuck Moran, Charles Robinson, and Terry Lister.

In the process, the group is not only expanding its top-level advisory pool but shifting focus more into an entrepreneurial  direction.

Joining are accountant John Connell, noted New York State planner Joe Votava, educator Eva Kampits, and Michael Greene, who runs the planning practice at Ameriprise.

All new directors will begin four-year terms in office on January 1.

Tags: CFP Board

CFP Board of Standards leaders recently gave the industry a frank take on how well fee-only advocates are getting their message out on Main Street and Washington alike.

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Chuck Moran, chairman of the Board, seems most focused on getting the financial planning message to retail investors.

He's got quite a bit to say about how his team is working in the FPA and NAPFA --  forming the Financial Planning Coalition -- to get the SEC to extend the fiduciary code to brokers.

But that effort seems stalled until at least 2012, simply because the SEC has so much else on its plate.

Meanwhile, the Coalition is taking the fight to the public by running free planning days and building new promotional websites.

If retail investors demand a fiduciary relationship -- and let potential advisors know about it -- then some brokers may be more motivated to switch models on their own.

The problem, of course, is that all that marketing is in vain if the final rules boil down "fiduciary" duty to letting your clients know you're acting to enrich yourself at their expense.

In that scenario, spending money to boost the "fiduciary" brand is a zero sum game.

Getting the SEC to impose a real fiduciary standard -- no conflicts of interest at all -- would create real change in the industry.

And as for the campaign to move RIA supervision to FINRA or some other self-regulatory organization, I'm not sure the CFP Board understands just what a huge concern this is for SEC-registered advisors.

They seem to think the proposal will die in the Senate.

That might be so, especially with an election year coming up fast to distract just about everyone.

But let's hope all the same that there's a lot of lobbying behind the scenes to protect RIAs from being handed to a group that many think is actively hostile to their business model.

Maybe we just don't see it.

"While we've been urging the SEC to get started with the fiduciary rulemaking, it now appears that it will be pushed off until next year," he said.

Among the reasons for the holdup is the SEC's uncertainty over how to conduct a reliable cost-benefit analysis of the impact of a uniform standard, an area where the CFP Board and its allies in the Financial Planning Coalition are hoping to contribute.

Tags: financial planning

Tags: independent broker-dealers

The Financial Services Institute has accomplished what nobody else in the industry has ever even tried: bringing tens of thousands of independent reps together under the same banner.

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A4A readers may well disagree with the FSI's stance on topics ranging from fiduciary duty to who should regulate RIAs. 

After all, the group exists to lobby on behalf of independent brokers and advisors with dual RIA/IBD registration. Most of them are not fee-only advisors, and their interests naturally differ from those of fee-only firms.

But their latest press release reveals that they've enrolled a startling 31,500 advisors, which given estimates of about 90,000 independent Series 7 holders in the country would translate into 35% of the target membership base.

(The group claims that its member firms alone represent 180,000 advisors, but they're by no means all traditional IBD reps.)

They did it primarily by courting the firms themselves and getting them to sign up their affiliates. Most recently, they signed a deal with the Cetera IBDs -- FNIC, MFS and PrimeVest -- to bring another 3,500 advisors under their banner.

Last year, the FSI barely had 15,000 members behind it and was largely focused on independent contractor issues. Now they're swinging at the big issues.

Pure RIA firms tend to be a lot smaller, but there are a lot more reps in the channel -- as many as 275,000.

If someone like NAPFA could weld 35% of those advisors into a cohesive lobbying bloc, then maybe the fee-only ethos would have a comparable voice in Washington.

The genius of the FSI is that it thought to bridge the gulf that traditionally separates isolated IBDs and offered them a mutually beneficial goal to work toward.

Fee-only advisors who feel strongly that the current regulatory system is best for their clients and for the retail investor in general could definitely take a page from that book.

About Cetera Financial Group: Cetera Financial Group is the parent company of the nation’s largest privately held family of independent broker-dealers. It provides comprehensive broker-dealer services, competitive advisory programs, and innovative technology for nearly 5,000 independent financial professionals and more than 700 financial institutions and their investor clients, nationwide. Through its three distinct broker-dealer platforms, Financial Network Investment Corporation, Multi-Financial Securities Corporation and PrimeVest Financial Services Inc., Cetera combines the benefits of efficiency and ongoing investment provided by a large broker-dealer with the relationship focus and customized solutions of a smaller firm. Based in Los Angeles, Cetera is committed to helping advisors grow their business and strengthen their relationships with clients. For more information, visit www.cetera.com