Geoffrey Brown, who will soon be departing as CEO of the Chicago-based National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA), said he feels he's leaving the organization in a position to further advance the field of fee-only planning.

“I’m very proud of our work to grow NAPFA and the fee-only community,” he said in an email. “Over the last nine years, the association has doubled in size. This type of growth validates our work to curate a valuable and relevant member experience. It also helped increase our influence from a public policy perspective and our consumer voice.”

The National Association of Personal Advisors is a financial planning trade association established in 1983 to expand the use of fee-only financial advisors by individual consumers.

Brown, who leaves his position Nov. 15 after serving nine years, said he was proud of the relationships NAPFA has built for the benefit of the fee-only advisors community.

“NAPFA is nearing its 40th year," he said. "I think it is well-positioned to continue being the leading professional community for fee-only financial planning professionals."

Brown said that NAPFA’s next CEO is going to arrive at a great time for the association.

Brown said that his successor will also need to continue focusing on critical issues such as succession planning for member firms, as well as industry consolidation.

“We’ve made progress, and it will be up to the next leader to bring it home,” he said.

Financial Advisor asked Brown what advice he would give his successor as the departing NAPFA CEO.

“The next CEO should always be mindful of NAPFA’s roots, which are the foundation of the fee-only financial planning community,” he said in the email. “The energy and passion that facilitated NAPFA’s founding in 1983 still thrives today. What connects this community now is the same spirit that connected financial planning professionals back then, and it must be stewarded appropriately.”

No interim or permanent successor has yet been named to succeed Brown as CEO of NAPFA.

Prior to his appointment as CEO of NAPFA, Brown was an account executive with Sentergroup, and before that, an association manager at SmithBucklin Corporation.

On December 5, 2022, Brown will begin a new position as the president and CEO of the Illinois CPA Society, succeeding Todd Shapiro, who will be retiring in early 2023 after a 24-year career with the society. Founded in 1903, the Illinois CPA Society is one of the largest state CPA societies in the nation with more than 22,600 members.