The International CFP Council’s push to have an army of 130,000 licensees worldwide by 2005 could be achieved earlier than expected, according to US CFP Council chair Patricia Houlihan.
The total number of CFP licensees jumped 5.3 per cent in the first three months of this year to 62,063 from 58,936. Most of the new licence designations were added from outside America where CFP licensee numbers increased by 10 per cent, as compared with the 2 per cent rise within the US.
Australia added 392 CFPs to its ranks in this time, or a jump of 13 per cent. However, more impressive increases were to be seen in France which swelled its rank and file by 72 per cent (or 202) and Japan which experienced a jump in membership of 22 per cent (or 878 licensees).
Houlihan says the CFP “word is out there” and will be soon spreading to new countries such as Brazil, Bermuda, Austria, Italy, Greece and the Netherlands. The CFP brand was most recently established in Hong Kong and India who both joined the worldwide organisation last year and this year respectively.
According to the US web-basedFinancial Planning interactive,Australia currently has the fourth largest group of CFP holders with more than 3400. Ahead of Australia are the United States with 37,200, Canada with 12,800 and Japan which has almost 5000.
