According to the CFB, Americans face increasingly complex financial choices, and they can rely on these standards to help them select the right financial professional.
Set to take effect in July 2008, the recent updates to CFP Board's ethical standards markedly strengthen the ethical requirements for the more than 55,000 CFP® professionals who offer financial services to the American consumer. The updated standards are designed to be presented in a way easy for consumers to understand. They outline the topics a financial planner should discuss with a client prior to entering into business engagement, they define the type of disclosures a client should receive while receiving financial services, and they require that CFP® professionals providing financial planning services to clients do so "in the best interest of the client."
The demand for financial planning is increasing, underscored by the results of a recent survey by AIG on the retirement needs of Baby Boomers.
"Each day million of Americans must make important financial decisions, from Baby Boomers on the verge of retirement to the younger generations looking for ways to build their nest eggs," said Karen P. Schaeffer, CFP®, Chair of CFP Board's Board of Directors. "As company-sponsored pensions are being replaced by self-administered 401(k)s and IRAs, and as more responsibility for medical coverage shifts to individuals, Americans today are often required to make a broader range of financial decisions than the decisions their parents made, and more people are finding professional financial planning assistance a necessity."
Finding an appropriate adviser can seem challenging for many consumers, as the growing complexity of their financial situations is matched by the abundance and variety of financial services. It's important for consumers to consider what factors will make them feel comfortable entrusting their financial future to a particular financial professional. In a survey commissioned by CFP Board, 97 percent of the more than 1,100 participants identified trustworthiness as the most important factor they considered when looking for a professional financial adviser.