The CFP Board of Standards is reconsidering the idea of a new Associate Certified Financial Planner designation for entry-level planners.
The idea, panned as "CFP Lite" by many holders of the full CFP designation, provoked about 350 complaints to the CFP board.
An accreditation program for firms, announced at the same time as the original Associate CFP idea, will remain (see August 1999 RR, Page 28).
The Associate CFP designation was designed for brokers currently involved in the planning process and required only a four-hour exam on 25 topics, versus a 10-hour exam on 106 topics for the full CFP.
"Since sending out the announcement about the CFP board's new entry-level designation ... we have received a lot of valuable feedback and suggestions," said CFP Chairman Harold Evensky, Chair-Elect Patti Houlihan and CFP President Robert Goss in a July 15 statement to CFP licensees. "Perhaps the most important concern we heard was frustration over the CFP board's decision-making process and licensee participation in that process."
According to Evensky, a review of the board's operation will be a priority at the next CFP board meeting, scheduled for Sept. 24-25.