Journal of Financial Planning: November 2019
Evelyn M. Zohlen, CFP®, is the 2019 president of the Financial Planning Association.
In December 1969, Loren Dunton and James Johnston gathered with 11 colleagues at Chicago’s O’Hare Inn to lay the foundation for the financial planning profession. Fifty years later, we find ourselves on the cusp of a vibrant future for our profession. The visionary leadership of Loren, James, and the countless other men and women of the past 50 years who imagined a profession that is nurturing, impactful, and recognized is becoming a reality. But there is more that must be done for financial planning to thrive for the next 50 years.
That meeting in Chicago was the catalyst for the creation of the International Association for Financial Planning (IAFP). A few years later, 36 of the 42 members of the first CFP® class from the College for Financial Planning met to form the Institute of Certified Financial Planners (ICFP). These two organizations played a key role in the formative years of the profession by providing practitioners with the professional support and community they needed. Years later in 2000, these two resolute organizations merged to form the Financial Planning Association which, since that time, has taken up the mantle of being the membership organization for the financial planning community.
As with any new, emerging profession, we have seen our fair share of challenges, but we have always confronted them head on. From rallying around a common set of standards that are emblematic of how financial planning professionals should conduct themselves, to the global financial crisis of 2008, to the most recent evolution of regulations that will transform how financial advice is provided—the profession has rallied to protect financial planning and the people we serve.
To build on all that has been achieved, FPA must ensure everything we do now—and will do in the future—is done with a purpose. It will be done in line with a core ideology that crystalizes why we exist, what matters to us and who we serve. All great organizations have embraced a core ideology as their north star. For our association, our core ideology provides clarity on what endures at FPA despite changes in the landscape. It begins with our Primary Aim: To elevate the profession that transforms lives through the power of financial planning. There is inherent power to what we do as financial planners and the leadership of our association will ensure that our members are well-prepared to deliver on the promise of that power in the years ahead.
While “elevating the profession” is our ultimate goal as an association, we need to be hyper-focused on supporting our members so they can immerse themselves in the practice of financial planning and be the spark that makes the profession roar. We can do this by focusing FPA’s energy on advancing financial planning practitioners through every phase of their careers, from novice to master to leader of the profession, and we will do this in four ways.
We Need To Be Bold
The landscape for voluntary membership associations has changed dramatically over the years. The advent of new technologies, increased competition from both the non-profit and for-profit sectors, heightened demand on the time and attention of volunteer leaders, and rapidly changing member demographics have put pressure on membership associations to find new paths forward. FPA is like the many other voluntary membership associations in the U.S. and must adapt to increase the value of membership. That is why we have been on a journey over the past few years to craft a more aligned association through the OneFPA Network vision.
The goal is simple. To ensure FPA’s viability, strength, impact, and relevance for current and future members and volunteers, the association embarked on a transformative reorganization that unites FPA and its communities through greater alignment and integration. To achieve this vision for FPA’s future, we have engaged stakeholders over the past several years to draft an approach that will bring FPA and our chapters together for the benefit of our members while ensuring chapters are free to continue their terrific work locally.
As we prepare for a two-year beta test of the core components of the OneFPA Network with a group of volunteer chapters beginning Jan. 1, 2020, we do so knowing an association that is aligned in message, direction, and purpose is a stronger organization and will be positioned to address the challenges and opportunities afforded in the future.
We Need To Be Welcoming
The composition of the practitioner community, much like the composition of today’s American consumer, is changing rapidly. Coupling this reality with the aging of the practitioner community, we need to be thoughtful and deliberate in how we make the profession more inviting for those who want to make financial planning their vocation. Students, career changers, women, practitioners of color, and others need to be welcomed to our profession and receive the support they need to flourish in financial planning.
FPA has been hard at work over the years to support young professionals and career changers and has engaged in various programs designed to give them a leg up as they enter the profession. As a career changer entering the profession in 2002, FPA was my “tribe” as I was learning how to be a financial planner, and I attribute much of my success today to the lessons learned, coaching received, and support provided through FPA. Our NexGen community is 2,500 members strong and growing; the FPA Activate community on Facebook is connecting new professionals quicker than ever; the new FPA Next Generation Planner publication and the “You’re a Financial Planner…Now What?” podcast are delivering timely insight, and more. However, there’s so much more we can do.
For example, just this past June, FPA’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee proposed—and the FPA Board of Directors approved—a new diversity and inclusion statement to etch in stone FPA’s commitment to growing a more inclusive culture. The statement reads: Diversity is an integral part of our culture and identity. Inclusion is the way we treat and perceive all individuals and differences. We strive to create an inclusive culture where diversity is seen as a value for the association to elevate the profession that transforms lives through the power of financial planning.
Our goal moving forward is to not let these just be words on paper, but to put them into action to make the association and profession more welcoming to practitioners of all backgrounds. We can do this by building on our current efforts, including our diversity scholarship program, our FPA Latino and PridePlanners Knowledge Circles, and continuing to build thought leadership on these issues in the Journal. Through these efforts and by working with allied organizations, we will build a welcoming profession for all who desire a home in financial planning.
We Need To Be Resourceful
To support our members on their journeys from novice to master to leader, we need to be imaginative, yet responsible, in how we deploy our resources. While FPA has historically been the membership association for CFP® professionals, we need to further refine our focus on serving the needs of CFP® professionals who are financial planning practitioners and believe in our values. That means we need to be inventive in developing programs that support practitioners in the practice and business of financial planning while elevating their voice in the profession.
For many years, FPA has focused on supporting practitioners with an array of programs in education, business support, community, and advocacy. Those programs today are providing value to those members who have taken advantage of them, but to continue building on that value, we need to work collaboratively with our volunteer leaders, communities, chapters, and outstanding partners to further enhance and drive the value of membership.
Over the past year, and in the year ahead, we will work on improving our technology to connect members with the programs that will support them as financial planners—when and where they want them. We will explore how the terrific programs offered by our chapters can be further enhanced with greater support and collaboration with the association nationally. And, we will complete a long-term business plan for the association that ensures the responsible use of our financial and staff resources while further positioning FPA as the professional home for financial planning practitioners who are CFP® professionals.
We Need To Be United
If we are going to make financial planning a recognized profession, we need to cease debating the merits and downfalls of the different compensation and business models and focus instead on the merits of financial planning itself. The accounting, medical, and legal professions have existed for much longer than financial planning and were founded on high ethical and competency standards; not on how the professionals within those professions were compensated.
For financial planning to grow, we need to be united as a profession around what it means to be a “financial planner” and the standards required to deliver financial planning services to consumers. This has been rooted in the association since the merger in 2000 when we rallied around P. Kemp Fain Jr.’s vision of “one designation, one profession” that recognized the need to build a profession around a common set of qualifications—the CFP® marks—and the high standards they represent.
There are those who don’t want to see financial planning recognized and regulated as a distinct profession. For far too long, the term has been used as a marketing ploy by some to only acquire new business—not to actually engage in the financial planning process. Uniting practitioners, organizations, institutions, and others in the profession around messaging that draws a bright white line between financial planning and everything else is mandatory to justly elevate this honorable profession.
The profession is on solid footing thanks to all who contributed to the first 50 years. As Loretta Lynn famously sang, “We’ve come a long way, baby,” but for financial planning, we’ve got a long way to go. FPA stands ready to do its part, so please join us by engaging your peers in your local FPA chapter, supporting your community through pro bono financial planning programs, elevating your voice with policymakers who seek to influence our profession, or in any other way that excites you.
So, raise a glass with me. Happy 50th anniversary to us all and thank you for making FPA your professional home.