The National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (Napfa) has tapped Ron Rhoades to succeed Susan John as chairman of the fee-only planners group.

Rhoades, a certified financial planner who also serves as assistant professor and program chair for the Personal Financial Planning Program at Alfred State College in Alfred, N.Y., will assume his role as Napfa chairman on Sept 1. Prior to Alfred State College, Rhoades was chief compliance officer at Joseph Capital Management. The announcement was made earlier this week at Napfa's annual conference held in Chicago.

Rhoades' mandate will include advocating for a new industry fiduciary standard. As one of the association members of the Financial Planning Coalition (FPC), NAPFA participated in an April 25 coalition statement that opposed legislation to create a self-regulating organization (SRO) for investment advisors.

In response to the introduction of the Investment Adviser Act of 2012, sponsored by House Financial Services Committee chairman Spencer Bachus and Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, the FPC argued that enhancing existing oversight is a better and more cost-effective option than creating an added layer of regulation.

"Creating an SRO for investment advisors would unnecessarily burden small business owners with additional costs," the coalition said in a statement. "While we agree with Chairman Bachus that better oversight of investment advisors is needed, we oppose the legislation introduced in the House of Representatives."

NAPFA also used this week's conference to roll out two Web sites: FeeOnlyNetwork.com and FiGuide.com, which are designed to aid financial planners and their clients.

FeeOnlyNetwork.com is designed to make Napfa's fee-only advisors more visible throughout the Web, according to Napfa. The site features profiles of more than 1,500 advisors, with information about their businesses, their areas of specialty, and their certifications and affiliations.

The second Web site is a redesign of FiGuide.com, which Napfa bought in 2011 after partnering with FiGuide.com to create NAPFA's Personal Finance Blog. The purpose of the redesign is to provide fee-only planners with a broader national profile.

"Helping people learn about and address their finances is one of the many ways Napfa is a champion for the public," said Ellen Turf, chief executive of Napfa. "FiGuide.com is a powerful resource for consumers and its acquisition supports one of our priorities: educating the public."

With more than 2,400 members across the country, Napfa provides fee-only financial planners with guidelines for professional competency and comprehensive financial planning.

-Jim McConville