The CFP Board is putting more than a younger, diverse face on the greying financial planning profession: It’s adding three of them.
The CFP Board has launched an advertising and eductional campaign called “I am a CFP Pro,” which is aimed at inspiring young people, particularly women and people of color, to enter the financial planning professions.
As part of the campaign, the board selected three young faces to represent the profession: Brittany Castro, founder of Los Angeles-based Financially Wise Women; Rianka Dorsainvil, president and founder of Washington, D.C.-based Your Greatest Contribution; and Justin Sullivan, an Atlanta-based advisor at PNC Wealth Management.
“This campaign is designed to spread the message that the future of financial planning depends on the participation of these communities to grow, thrive and to remain responsive and relevant to the public it serves,” said Nancy Kistner, chair of the CFP Board’s Women’s Initiative.
A little more than one in four CFP professionals are under the age of 40. Furthermore, the CFP Board cites its own research finding that just 23 percent of its current certification holders are women, and even fewer are persons of color. Just 6 percent of CFP professionals are African American, according to CFP Board data from last year.
About 17 percent of the U.S. population is Hispanic and another 13 percent is African American, according to the most recent census data.
“We expect the U.S. will be a majority-minority nation by 2043, but our profession is not on track to meet the population it must serve to be relevant going forward,” said CFP Board Chairman Blaine Aiken, who noted that the profession was aging and shrinking at a time when demand for financial advice was growing.
The campaign is intended to inject some youth into the financial planning profession. The board notes that there are more CFP-certified advisors over the age of 70 than there are under the age of 30, with about one in five planners approaching retirement.
While the campaign attempts to put a new, young, diverse face on the profession, it also attempts to dispel the widespread belief that financial planning solely focuses on math and investments by emphasizing the social and behavioral elements of planning and the lifestyles permitted by the profession.
“I love having a virtual firm because I can literally work from anywhere on the planet,” beamed Dorsainvil. “Being a financial planner allows you to build the work-life balance that you want.”