Alphabet Soup: Navigating Financial Professional Designations

Financial professionals’ names are often followed by a dizzying array of designations. In fact, FINRA (the self-regulatory body for member brokerage firms and exchange markets) lists over 200 professional designations and 10 accredited designations used by the financial representatives it oversees.

These can range from the well known (e.g., Certified Financial Planner) to the obscure (Accredited Behavioral Finance Professional) and cover nearly all manner of specializations, from retirement income management and divorce planning to money coach and business exit planning.

Let’s take a look at how some of the more popular designations to compare.

Major Professional Designations
Designation	Certified Financial Planner (CFP^®)	Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC^®)	Certified Investment Management Analyst (CIMA^®)	Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA^®)
Focus	Broad range of financial planning topics	Broad range of financial planning topics	Investment analysis, portfolio construction, consulting process and fundamentals	Security analysis, financial analysis, corporate finance, alternative investments, portfolio management
Prerequisite(s)	1. Bachelor’s degree or higher from an accredited college 2. Three years of full-time personal financial planning experience or equivalent part-time experience	1.Three years of full-time business experience within the five years preceding award of designation 2.High school diploma or equivalent	1. Three years of financial services experience 2. A satisfactory record of ethical conduct, as determined by the Investment & Wealth Institute Admissions Committee	1.A bachelor’s degree from a college or university 2.Have 4,000 hours of qualified work experience in the investment decision-making process 3.Two or three professional reference letters
Training Requirements	Complete a CFP-board registered program or hold one of the following: CPA, ChFC, CLU, CFA, Ph.D in economics or business, or attorney’s license	Eight online, self-study courses	Education offered by one of the approved Registered Education Providers OR In-class program at The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania or online through Yale School of Management	Self-study program
Continuing Education Requirement	30 hours every two years	30 hours every two years	40 hours every two years	None

Major Accredited Designations
Designation	Certification for Long-Term Care (CLTC)	Certified Divorce Financial Analyst (CDFA^®)	Retirement Income Certified Professional (RICP^®)	Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor (CRPC^®)
Focus	Focuses on the discipline of extended care planning and the consequences of longevity on an individual’s family and finances	Specializes in the financial aspects of divorce	Covers all retirement income styles and strategies to build sustainable retirement income plans	Retirement planning concepts from Social Security and income planning to health care and retirement transition issues
Prerequisite(s)	Open to professionals in the fields of insurance, financial services, law and accounting	A bachelor’s degree with three years of experience OR Five years of experience without a bachelor’s degree (Experience is defined as financial planning or family law practice)	High school diploma or equivalent AND Three years of experience in financial planning or related profession	None
Training Requirements	Two-day Master Class or online learning program	Self-study, e-learning and virtual classroom options	Three-course program offered online; must be completed within 12 months	Live online classes or self-study program
Continuing Education Requirement	CLTC renewal course or completion of the state mandated Long-Term Care training	30 hours of divorce-related courses every two years	Annual recertification requirement	16 hours every two years