The CFP® Certification Requirements
PATHWAY TO CFP®
AN INDIVIDUAL DEMONSTRATES RELEVANT WORK
EXPERIENCE WORKING WITH CLIENTS WHILE
THIS EXPERIENCE MAY BE GAINED IN THE FOLLOWING AREAS:
Account
Banking/Trust
Estate Planning
Financial Planning
Law
Insurance Planning
Portfolio Management
Retirement/Pension Planning
Securities/Managed Funds
Taxation
FPAS RESERVE THE RIGHT TO CONDUCT INTERVIEW(S) TO DETERMINE THE SUITABILITY OF EXPERIENCE DISCLOSED. DECISION MADE THEREAFTER BY FPAS IS FINAL.
- All levels of supervision are acceptable if the chain of supervision eventually leads back to the planner.
- Must be directly responsible for information that is provided to the planner/client and have reasonable liability for the client.
- Credit for teaching is limited to the instruction of the CFP® educational curriculum in a FPAS Registered Program. Teaching finance-related classes (for college credit) full-time at any non-FPAS Registered Program university is given two years worth of experience credit, but the third year of experience must be personal-financial planning experience or teaching the CFP® educational curriculum courses full-time at a FPAS Registered Program.
- “Client” denotes a person who engages a practitioner and for whom professional services are rendered. Pro-bono experience is accepted as long as (1) there is a client and (2) you are acting as a financial planning professional who is capable and qualified to offer objective, integrated, and comprehensive financial advice to or for the benefit of individuals to help them achieve their financial objectives using the financial planning process.
TIMELINESS OF EXPERIENCE
Qualifying work experience can be earned prior to, concurrent with, or subsequent to your education and examination requirements. Experience earned more than 5 years prior to the certification examination, however, will not be accepted. When the experience is earned subsequent to the examination, you must complete the requirement within five years of the date of the successful completion of the examination.
(Note: candidates who qualify through the challenge status must have three years experience earned prior to writing the Certification Examination ie Module 6 of the CFP® Programme).
ETHICS AND IMAGES
Once the education, examination, and work experience requirements are satisfied, the CFP® candidate may download the Initial CFP® Application Form from FPAS website, which includes an ethics statement form and his/her license application with a bill for the initial license fee. Prior to certification, the CFP® candidate will be required to disclose past or pending litigation or agency proceedings and to acknowledge the right of FPAS to enforce its Professional Standards and Code of Ethics through due process described.
Once certified, CFP® certificants must fulfil a biennial continuing education requirement of 30 hours to stay up-to-date on planning strategies and financial trends affecting their clients. In addition, the FPAS monitors compliance with its Professional Standards and Code of Ethics by requiring an annual disclosure statement and by investigating consumer complaints and certificants’ periodic disclosures of investigations or legal proceedings.
FPAS Code of Ethics is compulsory and must be completed by a licensed AFPCM, AWPCM and CFP® certificant. Code of Ethics Workshop – Financial Advisers Act and Securities Act (FAA and SA) – 3 hours session and 3 in-house CPD credited within same calendar year from the AFPCM certification approval date.