FPA faces tough year in US
America’s recently formed Financial Planning Association has had a turbulent year in membership numbers, with those leaving almost matching those joining.
According to Financial Planning magazine's US-based web site, the FPA signed up 6700 new members last year. However, 6500 also decided to leave the group formed last year after the merger of the Institute of Certified Financial Planners and the International Association for Financial Planning. Membership of the FPA now stands at 29,020.
While the FPA was kept busy signing members in and out, the relative newcomer representing fee-only financial planners, the National Association of Personal Financial Planners (NAPFA) recruited 117 new members last year to bring its total membership to 714.
At America's answer to the Association of CPAs, the AICPA, the number of members who hold its Personal Financial Specialist credential rose about 1,000 to 9,000. The number of US advisers holding the CFP licence last year increased 5 per cent to 36,307.
Recommended for you
Digital advice tools are on the rise, but licensees will need to ensure they still meet adviser obligations or potentially risk a class action if clients lose money from a rogue algorithm.
Shaw and Partners has merged with Sydney wealth manager Kennedy Partners Wealth, while Ord Minnett has hired a private wealth adviser from Morgan Stanley.
Australian investors are more confident than their APAC peers in reaching their financial goals and are targeting annual gains of more than 10 per cent, according to Fidelity International.
Zenith Investment Partners has lost its head of portfolio solutions Steven Tang after 17 years with the firm, the latest in a series of senior exits from the research house.
