Fiduciary Institute shapes next-gen advisors with leadership course

The program seeks to build on the vision articulated by industry icon Dick Wagner.

The Institute for the Fiduciary Standard has opened registration for an education program aimed at cultivating next-gen leadership within the financial planning and wealth management space.

The course, Making the Future of Financial Planning, builds on the ideas of industry icon Dick Wagner, promoting his belief that financial planning is crucial in the 21st century.

Wagner, who passed away nearly a decade ago, became a founding father of the financial planning movement when he published his seminal piece, “To Think Like a CFP,” in 1990.

“Dick Wagner believed financial planning can be ‘The most important authentic profession of the 21st century,’” Knut Rostad, president of the Fiduciary Institute, said in a statement.

Rostad is on the faculty for the course, along with veteran planners and subject matter experts such as Elizabeth Jetton, adjunct professor at Golden Gate University.

“Today’s visionary leaders and educators illuminate a pathway and framework to a more vibrant, elevated and impactful profession,” Jetton said, highlighting the program’s transformative potential for “the next generation of thought leaders and master practitioners.”

After launching the course in 2023, the Fiduciary Institute has garnered support for the second year of the program from Envestnet, which is serving as a co-sponsor. Harold Evensky, consultant to Envestnet’s MoneyGuide financial planning software platform, is also joining the faculty leading the program.

“Envestnet and the Institute for the Fiduciary Standard are committed to educate and mentor the next generation of financial planners,” Evensky said. “This course lays the groundwork for future financial planners in America to uphold Dick Wagner’s legacy while proactively meeting the evolving needs of clients.”

The Fiduciary Institute is opening the 14-week course to planners and next-gen advisors, including members of NAPFA, FPA, AICPA, CFPB, and CFA charterholders, with classes scheduled to begin on June 25.