Financial Planner should be made into a protected title as part of moves to bolster the perception and reputation of the profession, a Financial Planner has suggested.

Dan Woodruff CFP^CM, founder and owner of Woodruff Financial Planning, believes it is too easy for people to use the title and imitate genuine Financial Planners.

A number of Financial Planners recently blamed banks and associated scandals for damaging the general public's view of the profession. Some said people get the wrong view from dealing with sales people at banks with titles similar to Financial Planner.
Mr Woodruff told Financial Planner Magazine: "I get fed up of standing up at events and saying I am a Financial Planner, only to get someone else say that they do the same even though they don't.
"Make the use of the title Financial Planner protected like in other professions.
"Build the perceived value of the CFP qualification in conjunction with the chartered status.
"I spend my time making the distinction between Financial Planning and financial advice through networking and PR activities. This is a slow process."
A debate about the perception of Financial Planners was sparked earlier this year after an article by Sam Rees-Adams,
professional standards director at the IFP. She said the 'dry, dusty' perception of Financial Planning needed to be changed as part of moves to make it as attractive a career as accountancy and law.
Ms Rees-Adams said she had sympathy with Mr Woodruff's opinion and liked his suggestion but admitted that 'annoyingly' there were great difficulties in practice.

{desktop}{/desktop}{mobile}{/mobile}

She said: "Dan's point is a really good one, and unfortunately one I don't think we can do anything about.
"Whilst Financial Adviser has been defined by the FCA, Financial Planner hasn't; furthermore it isn't a protected term.
"It's the same as accountant - and the accountancy profession has been exercised by that for years - in that anyone can call themselves an accountant.
"You can only be a Chartered Accountant if you're a member of the relevant professional body - same as for our CFPCM professional.
"But beyond that there's not much that can be done."