Planners previously had to be dues-paying members of the IAQFP to use the designation. The association decided to open the designation to both members and non-members "to bring about the realization of the one designation, one profession ideal," says IAQFP Chairman Paul League.
The association was founded in January 2003 and thus far has 200 members using the QFP designation, he adds. The effort by the IAQFP places it at odds with the CFP Board of Standards and the Financial Planning Association, both of which have embarked on a campaign to make the board‚s CFP certification the unifying designation for financial planning practitioners.
League says his association feels there are other designations just as worthy as the CFP mark. The emphasis on the CFP certificate, he says, "ignores the nation‚s other 60% of financial planners, who in many cases have met equivalent or more rigorous educational and other requirements."
The CFP Board had no comment. "As a rule, we don‚t comment on other credentials," says CFP Board spokesman Lance Ritchlin.
Others question whether the QFP is a real designation since it has no unique qualifications but simply requires one to earn another designation.
Securities America Tests New Transition Options
Securities America has developed an "incubator" program aimed at giving its reps an easier transition from a retail to an independent platform.
The independent broker-dealer is touting the program in conjunction with its recent acquisition of GWR Investments Inc., a broker-dealer and advisory firm that, like Securities America, is based in Omaha, Neb. It comes hard on the heels of a similar move announced by Raymond James Financial Services last month.
"One of the difficulties advisors have is to successfully move from a retail to a purely independent platform without suffering some client attrition," says Chris Flint, Securities America vice president for branch development. "We‚ve created a platform that allows them to graduate to an independent platform over a couple of stages."
The program is currently being tried in Omaha as a test before making it available to the rest of Securities America‚s branch offices. The three-tiered program starts with the "independent employee" model, in which a representative receives a payout of 45% to 60%. The ground-level programs provides benefits including medical, life insurance and 401(k) eligibility, office space, E&O insurance coverage, technology and infrastructure costs such as phone lines picked up by Securities America, Flint says. He describes it as the "ground floor" option that‚s designed to alleviate the headaches that normally take place during a rep‚s transition.
The second tier is called the "semi-independent" model, which requires reps to be doing a minimum of $250,000 in business. It consists of a $1,200 monthly service fee that covers the same administrative and technology services as the lower tier, but without the medical, insurance and 401(k) benefits, and a higher payout of 65% to 70%.