NAPFA to accept CFP designation only

The debate over professional designations comes to a head, as NAPFA announces it will only accept the CFP designation.

The National Association of Personal Financial Advisors on Tuesday announced it will only accept the Certified Financial Planner designation for those applying to be NAPFA-registered financial advisers.

According to a statement, the NAPFA National Board recognized the need to support the emerging profession of financial planning by supporting a singular professional designation.

NAPFA said its decision could be seen as an important consumer issue. The board indicated in its statement that the public is being bombarded by an alphabet soup of designations that only professionals can be expected to understand.

NAPFA Chair Lauren Locker, noted: “NAPFA’s decision to support the broader recognition of a single, defining designation for the financial planning community just makes sense. Less confusion means more consumer confidence, and the CFP designation hits the mark as a strong, baseline standard.”