The Financial Planning Coalition today launched a new website designed to boost its profile amidst the regulatory wrangling involving lawmakers and the financial planning profession.

The coalition is a tripartite lobbying force comprising the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc., the Financial Planning Association and the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors that seeks to promulgate fiduciary accountability and transparency within financial planning services. The three organizations combined represent roughly 80,000 financial planners in the U.S.

The Financial Planning Coalition says its new website aims to educate lawmakers, regulators and consumers on various investor protection issues it feels are vital to guaranteeing that financial planning is delivered in the public’s best interests.

The site spotlights key issues for the coalition including Dodd-Frank Act mandates regarding the fiduciary standard of care and investment advisor oversight, along with the regulation of financial planners. It also provides updates on policy issues of importance to financial planners.

The website and accompanying new logo are rebranding efforts by the coalition, which was formed in 2009. “This is an opportunity to make it easier for the coalition to actively engage its stakeholders and to better communicate with everyone about our policy positions,” says Napfa CEO Geof Brown, who adds the coalition’s prior website was a one-way communication street that didn’t enable interaction with the public.

“There wasn’t a way for stakeholders to engage with us and to get on a list to receive further information about our policy positions,” Brown says. “The manner in which our stakeholders want to receive information digitally is different than it was five years ago.”

The coalition’s three member organizations share in the management and content development for the new website. Brown says the cost for the site was “in line” with typical websites of similar size and complexity.

“It’s not a huge undertaking, but it was a necessary one so we can meet our policy objectives,” Brown says.

The Financial Planning Coalition has been an active voice in the regulatory debates during the Dodd-Frank era, though some of the issues directly effecting the financial advisor community seem to be languishing.

“We’re doing what we can to advocate for the policy positions that are important to our stakeholders,” Brown says. “We’ve had some successes and some challenges, but I think we’ve done some good work on behalf of those who are supportive of our efforts.”