Ninety per cent of Certified Financial Planners (CFPs) would like to see financial planning regulated as a profession in law, according to a recent survey by the Financial Planning Standards Council (FPSC).
The survey results, released May 4, also found that CFP professionals feel that “all financial services providers should act in their clients’ best interests, with 97% of respondents agreeing that all advisors who provide financial advice to retail investors should owe a professional duty of care and loyalty to their clients.”
The FPSC conducted the opinion survey in February 2017. Close to 3,000 of Canada’s 17,000 CFPs took part.
Qualified, ethical and accountable
In an announcement, the FPSC underlined that it has “long advocated for statutory standards to ensure all those who use the title or hold themselves out as ‘financial planners’ are qualified, ethical, overseen by and accountable to an appropriate professional body for their professional conduct. This survey bears out that CFP professionals agree.”
In its recent budget, the Ontario government expressed its intentions to work with regulators and other stakeholders to restrict the use of titles related to financial planning.
