Financial Planning Standards Board Names Experts From Brazil, South Africa and the U.S. to Global Standards Committee
DENVER — 18 FEBRUARY 2021 — Financial Planning Standards Board Ltd. (FPSB), the standards-setting body for the global financial planning profession and owner of the international CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER certification program outside the United States, has named Ana Claudia Silva Leoni of Brazil; Esther Venter, CFP, of South Africa; and U.S. professionals Blaine Aikin, CFP, and Amy Richardson, CFP, to its Professional Standards Committee. These new members join current committee members from Australia, Germany and the Netherlands.
FPSB’s Professional Standards Committee oversees the development and maintenance of competency, ethics and practice standards and the body of knowledge for the global financial planning profession. In 2021, the group will lead FPSB’s global research into the current, and likely future, practices of financial planning to ensure the continued relevance of CFP certification requirements globally, and future proof the profession. Anticipated outcomes of this research include an updated global Financial Planner Competency Profile and adjustments to the educational content and requirements for CFP certification.
“We are thrilled to welcome such an accomplished group of experts to FPSB’s Professional Standards Committee,” said Andrea Middel, CFP, committee chairperson. “Each of these leaders offers exceptional knowledge and expertise that will add significant value to the committee as we continue to uphold and promote rigorous standards for the global financial planning profession.”
Leoni is the superintendent of financial education at ANBIMA, the Brazilian Financial and Capital Markets Association, where she is responsible for the investor education and professional certification division. In addition, Leoni serves as secretary-treasurer of the International Forum for Investor Education. She was previously a member of the board of directors of Planejar, the FPSB Affiliate in Brazil.
Venter is the institutional registrar at STADIO Education in Cape Town, South Africa, and a former board member of the Financial Planning Institute of Southern Africa, the FPSB Affiliate in South Africa. Before joining STADIO Education, Venter served as both executive dean and dean of the faculty of financial planning at Milpark Education. In 2015-16, she was a member of FPSB’s CFP Certification Examination Working Group.
Aikin is the former executive chairman of Fi360, which helps financial intermediaries use prudent fiduciary practices to profitably gather, grow and protect investor assets. Fi360 also offers the Accredited Investment Fiduciary®, or AIF®, and the Accredited Investment Fiduciary Analyst®, or AIFA®, designations in the United States. In 2017, Aikin served as chairperson of CFP Board, FPSB’s member organization in the U.S.; and as chairperson of CFP Board’s Standards Resources Commission from 2018-20.
Richardson works as a senior team manager in Charles Schwab’s Centralized Planning Group. Located in Lone Tree, Colorado, Richardson leads a team of financial planners working with clients in the areas of holistic wealth management, investing, portfolio analysis and goal based planning. Her responsibilities include overseeing the Schwab Intelligent Portfolios PremiumTM, which offers comprehensive financial planning with guidance from a CFP professional. Her previous roles include being a financial planning practitioner for 10 years. In 2018-19, Richardson was a member of the FPSB Fintech Working Group.
The Professional Standards Committee works in conjunction with FPSB, FPSB Affiliate organizations, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER professionals and subject-matter experts from around the world to create standards and certification requirements that benefit the consumers of financial planning advice globally. FPSB’s competency, ethics and professional practice standards describe what clients should expect when receiving advice from competent and ethical financial planning professionals.
For more information about global financial planning standards and CFP certification requirements, visit fpsb.org.
About FPSB
FPSB manages, develops and operates certification, education and related programs to benefit the global community by establishing, upholding and promoting worldwide professional standards in financial planning. FPSB demonstrates its commitment to excellence with the marks of professional distinction – CFP, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER and CFP Logo Mark – which it owns outside the United States. FPSB and the FPSB global network administer CFP and other certification programs in the following 27 territories: Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Chinese Taipei, Colombia, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, People’s Republic of China, Peru, Republic of Korea, Singapore, South Africa, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States. At the end of 2019, there were 188,104 CFP professionals worldwide. For more, visit fpsb.org.
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CFP Certification: Global Excellence in Financial Planning