CFP Board selects Richard Shaw as its 2027 chair-elect

CFP Board' has announced its pick for 2027 chair-elect, continuing the standard-setting body's practice of naming board leadership roughly a year and a half before members take the gavel.

Selected during CFP Board's recently concluded July meeting, the newest member of the succession line for board chair is Richard Shaw, who took a seat at the table as director in 2023.

With the announcement, Shaw is officially set to take the chair role in 2028, whle the current chair-elect Martin Seay steps into the chair position next year.

The announcement continues a succession structure written into CFP Board's bylaws, which require chair-elects to already be sitting Board directors and bar first-term directors from the role in most cases – the chair-elect then automatically succeeds to chair the following year.

More than 109,000 financial professionals now hold the CFP mark, according to the latest tally by CFP Board.

Shaw spent more than 25 years advising individuals and families on investment management, wealth planning and family office services. Most recently he served as principal and senior client advisor at Bessemer Trust, the New York-based multifamily office that has worked with wealthy families for over 115 years. That background in high-touch, multigenerational planning distinguishes him from some past board leaders who came up through academia or broker-dealer channels.

"Richard has devoted his career to the kind of advice families count on for generations, and he brings that same wisdom and commitment to everything he does," said Terri Kallsen, who ascended to the CFP Board chair position in January.

Read more: CFP Board and FPA usher in new leaders as financial planning enters pivotal year

She expressed confidence that Seay's leadership in 2027, followed by Shaw's as chair, will strengthen the organization's mission.

The CFP Board's chair-elect announcement comes roughly four months after it named Kathryn Berkenpas as its new chief operating officer. Earlier this year, it also tapped Ben Roberts as its managing director of program development.

Shaw's board service extends beyond CFP Board. He is treasurer of Teatown Lake Reservation, a nonprofit nature preserve in New York's Lower Hudson Valley, where he chairs the finance committee. He also serves as warden of Grace Episcopal Church in Ossining, New York, overseeing church assets and investments, and previously chaired the Harlem Commonwealth Council, an organization focused on economic development in Harlem, Upper Manhattan and the Bronx.

"It's an honor and privilege to be selected as the 2027 board chair-elect by my colleagues on the board of directors," Shaw said. "I look forward to working with CFP Board's leadership, staff and stakeholders to champion CFP certification, advance the profession and help more people benefit from access to competent and ethical financial planning."

Apart from Kallsen, Seay and Shaw, the rest of the current board includes Louis Barajas, Debra BenAvram, Marguerita "Rita" Cheng, Nicole Iannarone, Aneri Jambusaria, Malik Lee, Linda Y. Leitz, Rose Palazzo, Peter Rohr, Nancy Smith, Richard Sherlock, Chad Soukup and Elisse Walter, alongside chief executive K. Dane Snowden.

Read more: CFP Board names K. Dane Snowden as next CEO

In September, CFP Board laid out the public policy framework its directors and staff will lean on when engaging lawmakers. That consisted of a six-point agenda that included establishing a fiduciary standard as a legal requirement for anyone giving financial advice, expanding access to financial planning services, strengthening retirement security, increasing consumer protections against fraud, advancing recognition of the financial planning profession, and preserving nonprofit tax-exempt status for organizations like CFP Board itself.