As has always been their purpose, the Practice Standards will clarify the respective roles and responsibilities of CFP professionals and their clients in a financial planning engagement. Through modifications to the articulation of the standards, the final version better reflects their intent, scope and applicability in a profession that is diverse in its application of financial planning.
FPSC recognizes that for some individuals and firms, the Practice Standards may bring to light the need to make practical adjustments to their practices. And we appreciate that full incorporation of these changes may take time. FPSC's expectation is that all CFP professionals will become familiar with this final version and begin to phase-in any necessary modifications to their practices in the months ahead so they are fully implemented by April 2006.
In January and February 2005, FPSC message-trained CFP Brand Ambassadors across Canada put the CFP designation on the radar of thousands more Canadians by participating in FPSC-facilitated media interviews with representatives from all the mass mediums: newspapers, magazines, radio, television and the web. They spoke on a variety of topics — all within the context of financial planning.
Bravo to all of you who illustrate the collective brand strength of the CFP community by showing your smarts, integrity and wisdom on so many financial topics, and by delivering important information about the value of financial planning as offered by CFP professionals.
If your name is not on the list below, and you've been participating in media interviews or writing columns for papers or participating on local TV or radio, please let us know so we can acknowledge you as well.
AT A GLANCE — AMBASSADORS IN THE NEWS
- Duane Francis and Bill Morrow were interviewed on Advisor.ca (client interest in mutual funds this RRSP season).
- Vera Adamovitch and Duane Francis were interviewed in the April issue of Today's Parent (10 steps to get your money matters in control).
- Peter Andreana was interviewed in the Toronto Sun (financial planning as a career).
- Rick Wood was on Global TV's MoneyWise show (advice for those 'buy now, pay later' offers).
- Nora Dunn was on Investment Television (paying off debt).
- Brad Roulston was interviewed for a Canadian Press article that ran in many community regional papers (Christmas debt).
- Tina Tehranchian was interviewed in the National Post (RRSP procrastinators).
- David Phipps was interviewed in the National Post for several opportunities - the reporter keeps calling him back for more! (Home Buyers Plan; RRSP strategies; others).
- Diane Koven was interviewed for upcoming article in Canadian Living (Mother's day financial planning advice).
The Feature Article for April is Effective Tax Strategies for Small Business Owners by Alan Atkins, CFP. "It covers a number of vehicles available to small business owners."
For May, the Feature Article topic is Living Wills and Powers of Attorney. This is a hot topic, especially with the recent coverage of the Terri Schiavo case. For June, we are looking for something on The Family Cottage — maybe on tax and estate planning implications of passing it on to the next generation. The due date for the April Feature Article submissions is April 15 and the due date for the June Feature is May 15. Submit articles to Blake Glendenning at bglendenning@cfp-ca.org. The author of the article chosen for the Feature will be awarded $500.
Read the basic guidelines on the FPSC website first to better your chances. Please note — you may submit articles previously written but they all must be articles written by you.
Learning Centre is an online resource for consumers. Organized by topic, it contains articles, a digest of books and links.
March 31 was the last day to renew your CFP licence at the regular renewal fee ($240.00 + applicable taxes). If you renew between April 1 and June 30, you are subject to the late fee ($290.00 + applicable taxes). After June 30, you will have to reinstate.
Please note: when completing your renewal online, ensure you enter your licence number as your Registrant ID and your date of birth in the following format: mmddyy. For example, if your birthday is June 1, 1970, you would enter 060170.
To help you promote yourself as a CFP professional, we have developed a congratulatory page to announce your CFP certification. Go to www.cfp-ca.org/congratulations.asp and enter the e-mail addresses of friends, family, clients, whomever. This will prompt FPSC to send this e-mail on your behalf:
Find out about the many steps (Your Name), CFP® Professional, has taken and will continue to take to serve you and your community with the highest standards of competence and ethics in financial planning.
Visit: http://www.cfp-ca.org/staging/congrats_splash/licensees_newcfp.htm.
When the recipient of this announcement visits the above page, they will view a message from FPSC President Don Johnston congratulating all of you who succeeded in taking the next step.
Have you seen our new website splash page? Visit www.cfp-ca.org.
The FPSC website reached new heights in popularity during February and March. We registered over 79,000 visits in February — an all-time monthly high. And for the month of March, we easily exceeded the February number and recorded 88,331 visits. Some of the more popular public pages include Find a Planner (2,170 visits), FAQ: CFP designation (1,186 visits) and CFP Professionals in Good Standing (1,120 visits). The Public section of our website provides information and tools for the general public and is updated on a regular basis. You'll find it a useful tool in telling your clients about the importance of financial planning as guided by a CFP professional.
We're increasing the French content on our website. Many more pages will be posted in April.
Have a comment or a question? The CFP Professional Discussion Forum, open to CFP professionals only, is password-protected and a great place to share ideas with colleagues.
We list third party events on the FPSC website that may satisfy some of your Continuing Education requirements. The following links take you to the April and May calendars. The Event and Seminar Calendar is updated regularly so check back often. And if you know of events not listed that may be of interest to your colleagues, e-mail us at communications@cfp-ca.org.
April 2005
May 2005
