Fight erupts over designation initials

A somewhat nasty turf war is being waged over the usage of the letters R and F in financial designations, between the Institute of Advanced Financial Planners (IAFP), which administers the Registered Financial Planner (R.F.P.) designation in Canada, and the U.S.-based International Association of Registered Financial Consultants (IARFC), which administers the Registered Financial Consultant (RFC) designation.

The IAFP is claiming the IARFC is infringing on its trademarks. The IAFP says the common usage of the first two letters of each designation to mean “registered financial” is too similar. In addition, it says the acronyms of the designations sound too similar. Thirdly, the IAFP says the American IARFC’s slogan, “Separate yourself from the crowd” is too similar to the IAFP’s trademarked slogan, “Standing out from the crowd.”

The IAFP issued a press release on Tuesday stating it had effectively prevented the IARFC from establishing itself in Canada. It says there is no room for that much similarity in the Canadian marketplace, given that both organizations and designations are focused on maintaining their image and reputation in the same market segment.

“[The RFC] introduced confusion into the marketplace and therefore it would have infringed on our trademark R.F.P. designation,” says Larry Colero, executive director of the IAFP. “They can change the name and we are fine with that. They couldn’t change it to something like ‘Registered Financial Advisor,’ because it’s the Registered Financial part that is of concern to us.”

The Canadian head of the IARFC, Jeff Eshun, says his group has no plans to leave Canada and intends to expand its presence here as a provider of practice management education for fee-based advisors.

“Their organization at one point had about 700 members and they’re down to about 350. [Colero says there are 400 R.F.P.s in Canada, plus associate members of the IAFP.] Our organization has over 10,000 members and we have a strong interest in Canada. The mandate is to grow the organization,” Eshun says. “We are not set up to do local chapters; we are not a political action group — we are committed to fee-based planner establishment. We are practice driven. We offer the tools for that and are committed to continuing education.”

Eshun goes on to say the IAFP campaign to block the RFC is offensive, driven by a fear about the potential success of the designation here. Eshun says the IAFP only started to go after the RFC designation after interest was shown by Canadian advisors at the IARFC’s booth at the recent Million Dollar Roundtable Annual Meeting in Toronto.

“I found the statements the IAFP has made to date, to be honest, quite offensive, because you know we haven’t attacked them at all. They’ve been on this attack because people are interested in this organization,” Eshun says. “To further that, they actually sent correspondence to the members in Canada, unsolicited, telling them they can’t use the designation.”

Colero confirms the IAFP has contacted the IARFC’s 32 Canadian members.

“There are some Canadian advisors and they were granted the designation from the U.S. body. We have notified them that they are infringing on our mark and we’ve asked them to cease using it. We’ve contacted each of them directly,” he says.

Eshun counters that the IAFP has no basis to make that request.

“The truth is, they’ve never sent our office any letter from a law firm accusing us of copyright infringement, because here’s what they are trying to claim is infringed: they use the designation R.F.P. and ours is RFC; we’ve trademarked the RFC,” Eshun says. “They are saying there is an infringement, while I’m saying that as long as I’ve spoken English — which is all my life — I’ve known the difference between a C and a P. I also know the difference between an R.F.P. and how the RFC can be used. If you showed that to a 12-year-old and asked, can you see the difference, they would say yes.”

Colero says there is big difference in what the designation stands for. Less than 10 Canadians earn the R.F.P. each year, and Colero is worried the exclusivity of the designation will be diminished if a similar designation floods the Canadian marketplace.

“One of the most important mandates is to maintain high standards. That’s why it is exclusive, because not that many planners are willing to qualify for that standard. We have more stringent requirements,” Colero says. “To get the designation you have to submit a comprehensive financial plan for peer review. It’s just frankly easier to get most of the other designations than it is to get ours.”

Eshun says the IAFP’s arguments don’t hold water and his group will not be giving up on this fight.

“The semantics they are using are petty at best,” Eshun says. “The organization is launched in Canada. We’ve already met with our legal team and we’re committed to growing the organization.”

Filed by Mark Noble, Advisor.ca, mark.noble@advisor.rogers.com

(07/11/08)

Mark Noble