CFP Board publishes 'Merck manual' of planning

A publication designed to be an authoritative guide to financial planning hit bookstore shelves Monday. The 735-page “Financial Planning Competency Handbook” is the first book published by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Inc. Written for college students and professors, as well as financial planners, the book is the CFP Board's attempt to build an academic foundation for financial planning and define the field's body of knowledge. Kevin Keller, CFP Board president and chief executive, drew a parallel between the book and medical volumes that describe diseases and treatments for doctors and consumers. “We think it is a seminal work for the financial planning profession,” Mr. Keller said. “I like to think of this as the Merck Manual of financial planning.” The book has 21 contributors and is published by John Wiley & Sons Inc., a company that specializes in academic publishing. It is not required course material for the CFP exam. But CFP mark holders can earn 28 hours of continuing education credit through the publisher for reading the book and passing a related test. The first 78 chapters lay out what a financial planner needs to know. Each delves into a different topic — such as asset allocation and portfolio diversification, investment strategies and retirement needs analysis — and provides learning objectives, illustrative stories and an outline of professional practice capabilities from the entry to expert levels. The second part of the book focuses on financial planning practice — from establishing client relationships to developing investment-management recommendations. The book provides “a fairly comprehensive overview of theory and practice in an academic way,” said Charles Chaffin, the CFP Board's director of academic programs and initiatives and editor of the handbook. “We're excited about the dialogue this is going to start. That's helpful for a growing profession.” The CFP Board grants the CFP designation, developing educational requirements and enforcing the ethical standards related to the mark. There are about 67,000 CFPs in the United States.