Nick Cann, chief executive of the Institute of Financial Planning, has said beneficial CPD will help the Financial Planning sector become recognised as a profession.
Mr Cann said the features of a profession were that it required intense academic preparation, rigorous testing through certification, education for life, ethical conformance and is a valued public service.
Writing on his UnCanned blog, he said he felt the 'education for life' example was particularly important regarding Financial Planners' need to complete CPD. While this is required, he said many Financial Planners were merely completing CPD as a regulatory requirement but were failing to benefit from it.
He said: "I feel strongly that completing CPD should not be a box-ticking exercise. It should form a valuable part of an overall training and competence plan which closely aligns with the personal and professional development of the individual."
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A good way to keep track of the benefits of CPD is the IFP's online CPD system which allows members to build an ongoing body of evidence to show employers, supervisors and Accredited Bodies.
The IFP CPD system has also partnered with Technical Connection and event organisers such as the Morningstar Investment Conference which is held in May. This means CPD can be gained from a variety of sources, not only IFP events.
Mr Cann said: "The journey towards acceptance as a profession is a long one but we are now making great progress.
"A positive change is adviser behaviour towards CPD and evidencing learning this year will take us to the next level where we become even less concerned with the quantity and the box-ticking component allowing a greater focus on the quality and the breadth of learning that is obtained as a result."

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