The research findings suggest that attracting more blacks and Latinos to the financial planning profession, and making the CFP certification more appealing among these groups, will require exposing more people to the profession, in part through financial literacy initiatives, increased awareness of the career as a professional path, more formal mentoring programs for prospective CFP professionals, and more diversity hiring programs at firms, the center said.
The center will hold a summit Oct. 23 in New York City to bring together stakeholders to map out specific plans for action to increase diversity in the profession, Morhman-Gillis said.