PFPs now eligible to write CFP exam

(February 3, 2003) In a widely anticipated move, the Institute of Canadian Bankers has announced an agreement with the Financial Planners Standards Council relating to the Certified Financial Planner designation. The FPSC has accredited the ICB’s Personal Financial Planner program as an approved course of study for the CFP exam.

The change, posted on the ICB’s Web site yesterday, allows the ICB to support both the PFP and the CFP, says Gaetano Di Foglio, the ICB’s director of marketing and client relations.

“ICB pursued accreditation in the interest of choice,” Di Foglio says. “Our clients continue to pursue a variety of strategies in deploying their financial planning services to their target markets. Through this accreditation, they can ensure consistency in the skills and knowledge gained by their employees while pursing the designation of their choice.”

ICB calls the change a “win-win” situation for all involved. Students who complete the five PFP courses can either earn the PFP designation, apply to write the CFP exam or pursue both designations.

Those who have already completed the PFP are eligible to write the CFP exam, retroactive to September 2000.

“ICB remains committed to the PFP designation and the clients who support it,” the ICB said on its Web site.

As Advisor.ca reported last week, the move ends a five-year impasse between the ICB and the FPSC. The ICB resigned from the council in April 1998, largely due to the FPSC’s commitment to the CFP as a single standard designation.

Industry insiders say today’s announcement allows the ICB to come onside with the CFP, which has superior brand recognition among the public, without sacrificing its support of the PFP.

The ICB has also been listening to its members, one insider suggested, with many bankers indicating their preference for the CFP program.

The ICB is also introducing an online tool, called the financial planning diagnostic, for students who want to assess their readiness before writing the CFP exam.

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“The ICB financial planning diagnostic is tremendously useful in ascertaining individual preparedness to sit the exam,” says Debbie Bell, acting director, program design and development. “Based on the results of the diagnostic, you can determine if you have gaps in your knowledge and can order topic-specific ICB learning modules to upgrade.”

ICB has granted almost 4,500 PFP designations while more than 14,000 Canadians have earned the CFP mark through the FPSC.

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“I congratulate the ICB (and the banks) for supporting the FPSC,” says one advisor in the “Free for All” forum on Advisor.ca. Do you feel the ICB deserves the congratulations or is this just a natural move for the organization? Have your say in the “Free for All” forum of the Talvest Town Hall on Advisor.ca.

Filed by Doug Watt, Advisor.ca, dwatt@advisor.ca

(02/03/03)

Doug Watt