January's announcement that Joanna Hague CFPCM of Investment for Life had become the 1000th practicing CFP Professional in the UK was a significant milestone for both the IFP and the Financial Planning profession.
Whilst regulatory requirements mean that retail investment advisers need to have a level 4 qualification in order to practice, many advisers and planners are now recognising that to be competitive and to provide the confidence and reassurance that clients are increasingly demanding, they need to be qualified to a higher level than simply meeting this minimum standard.
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CFP Certification is a level 6 qualification, and one which more and more planners are setting as their goal. It is widely accepted as representing the global standard of excellence in Financial Planning with 153,000 individuals across 25 territories having met the required standard to call themselves CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNERCM professionals.
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But is it just about having another qualification to your name? What are the real benefits?
Ask an existing CFP professional what the process is like and they'll tell you that it's a tough test. However, the vast majority will say that by going through it they learned crucial skills which have helped them deliver a better service for clients and operate a more profitable business too.
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Since the RDR, having a robust client proposition that helps clients to see right from the start the value in the service they will be paying for is essential. CFP certification helps you to deliver a financial planning service that does just that. So how do you get there? If you're already qualified to level 4 or above, you'll firstly need to pass FPSB UK's Principles of Financial Planning exam. IFP provides lots of training opportunities to help you prepare effectively for it. As with most things, the secret of success is making sure you prepare correctly – and that's for both the examination and the assessment.
Once you've passed the exam, a further Preparation Day is available to make sure your skills and knowledge are sufficiently advanced to get started on the process of preparing your financial plan for assessment based on a client case study. It will help you to understand the CFPCM certification standards so you have a better idea of how to meet them as well as helping you to practice the preparation of a financial plan. {desktop}{/desktop}{mobile}{/mobile}
An E-Learning programme supports this workshop and is also available on a standalone basis.
As a busy practitioner, you need to know that investing your valuable time and money in pursuit of advanced qualifications will pay off in business terms. The feedback from the first 1000 CFP professionals is that for CFP certification, it does just that.