Professional designations offered by the College for Financial Planning are designed to provide additional levels of knowledge and expertise and add credibility to the financial advisors who successfully earn them. While designations may be pursued either before or after an individual earns the CFP certification, can the professional designation education programs serve as a gateway to the CFP education program? This study found that only the Foundations in Financial Planning (FFPN) course has a higher percentage of female and African-American students than the CFP education program, with all other designations having a higher percentage of white male students attempting them prior to attempting the CFP education program. This study also found relevance between designation programs and CFP education. Actively promoting designations to women and minorities may provide a greater understanding of the topics and concepts required to be successful and increase confidence when attempting the CFP education program.
Author(s): Aman Sunder, David Mannaioni, Rebecca Henderson, Jim Pasztor
