The Certified Financial Planner (CFP) certification program has seen a 100 per cent increase on last year as the debate on financial planner education standards goes on, the Financial Planning Association (FPA) said.
The reported surge comes after the Commonwealth Bank (CBA) announced in October it will require its aligned advisers and licensees to attain planning-related qualifications.
The education standards also applied to Count and Financial Wisdom authorised representatives. They were required to have either an advanced diploma in financial planning or equivalent, a CFP professional designation of the Financial Planning Association; or a Fellow Chartered Financial Practitioner (FChFP) professional designation of the Association of Financial Advisers; or a Master’s in Financial Planning.
In August, AMP Limited announced all existing and new advisers must hold a CFP, a fellow Chartered Financial Practitioner (FChFP) or Masters in Financial Planning (MoFP) qualifications.
CEO of the FPA Mark Rantall said there are around 5,500 CFP professionals in total at the moment.
“We have long been advocating for a rise in education standards across the profession. And while it isn’t a silver bullet, we know that higher education and professional standards lead to better consumer outcomes,” he said.
“We also know that financial services firms that hire CFP professionals reduce corporate risk.”
The CFP certification is recognised worldwide.
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