FPA leader calls title protection top advocacy priority for years to come

Obtaining legal recognition of financial planning could be a slog, and the organization that represents planners says it’s in for the long haul.

Earlier this year, the Financial Planning Association launched an effort to establish legal protection for the title "financial planner." The initiative could involve legislative and regulatory changes at the federal or state level, or both — a path that could be long and winding.

That didn’t seem to daunt the group at its annual conference in Seattle on Monday.

“FPA is ready to lead this push, and so we’ve made title protection FPA’s primary advocacy objective for now and for the years to come,” FPA President Dennis Moore told the audience at the opening session.

FPA is comprised primarily of financial advisers who hold the certified financial planner credential. They’re concerned that anyone can hold themselves out to be a planner even if they don’t provide planning services or have background to do so.

“We believe the legal recognition of the term ‘financial planner’ through title protection is an acknowledgement that anyone providing financial planning proclaiming to be a financial planner meets thresholds standards that protect consumers and advances the financial planning profession,” said Moore, director of wealth management operations at Mercer Advisors.

The initiative will take a lot of resources, Moore said. He encouraged the approximately 1,000 FPA members attending the conference to contribute to the FPA Political Action Committee, which funds the group’s political outreach. Trade associations use their PACs to make donations to House and Senate candidates.

“The FPA Political Action Committee provides FPA members and [the] financial planning community a voice to open doors, have important discussions, allow for forging relationships with federal lawmakers and telling the financial planning story on a visible and impactful stage,” Moore said.

Moore pointed to a recent political victory at the state level. He said the FPA earlier this year helped stop a Kentucky legislative proposal to impose a state tax on financial planning services.

That kind of state-by-state work may be needed to implement title protection. The FPA will have to conduct that effort on its own because it has broken away from the Financial Planning Coalition. The FPC, which includes the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Inc. and the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors, opposes state regulation of financial planning.

Before the FPA can lobby state legislatures or Congress about title protection, it must first determine the competency and ethical standards that should distinguish financial planning from the other 225 credentials that exist in the financial services industry.

In the first half of next year, the FPA will conduct a series of meetings with planners and others who want a say in the direction of the effort.

“We’re being inclusive and want to hear from everybody before we put together the next steps,” Moore said on the sidelines of the conference.

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