leadership on April 17, 2024, when the number of CFP® professionals sur- passed 100,000. By the end of 2024, that number swelled to 103,093. “It’s a huge milestone that underlines the demand from both employers as well as consumers for CFP® certification, and financial advisors recognizing the value of having those three letters behind their names,” he said. In 2024, a record 10,437 candidates took the CFP® exam, representing a 6% increase over 2023. The number of ra- cially and ethnically diverse new CFP® professionals grew by more than 10%, and CFP Board welcomed 1,720 new women CFP® professionals, the most ever in a single year. “Those are exciting trends,” he said. “It doesn’t mean that we’ve accom- plished our goal. There’s still work to be done. But it means that some of the ini- tiatives that we’ve created are positive.” Attracting new CFP® professionals is mission-critical to help the public and advance the profession and its values. But Boersen knows that attraction is only half the battle: Without retention, the result is churn. At his own and other firms, he is see- ing progress in retention strategies. New planners aren’t always forced to make 100 cold calls a day. “We know the dropout rate is very high for people who start that way,” he said. “Now we have firms that o ff er ca- reer paths, so there are internships and junior advisor roles and client service associate roles. “At Straight Path, we almost always have an intern who has completed their junior year in college,” he said. “They will intern with us through the summer and continue to intern with us through senior year. And then many times we’ll make them a job o ff er. “Providing a career path is really im- portant — a ramp-up period, which might be a couple of years,” Boersen said. “They’re not having to dial for dollars immediately. Instead, they get the training they need, the experience they need. “Having a little bit of patience and still being willing to invest in that younger generation coming on board is import- ant because it does pay dividends,” he said. “We’ve seen it pay dividends.” Boersen didn’t have a ramp-up pe- riod but was extraordinarily driven.
He earned his Series 7 and 63 licenses while he was a junior in college and im- mediately began working in the field. However, he was dissatisfied with his first job, where he primarily sold in- surance products. “I didn’t feel like I was giving people the best advice, that I was being a fidu- ciary,” he said. “So, I decided I needed to do it di ff erently.” Boersen started Straight Path in a spare bedroom of the home he had just purchased with his wife, Madeline. From the beginning, he wanted to help people from all wealth levels and pro- vide holistic advice that goes beyond assets under management — just as his father’s advisor had advised on the elder Boersen’s 401(k) assets. “One of the premises of originally starting my firm was we wanted to be able to serve a wide array of clients. So, we weren’t going to have a $5 million minimum,” he said. Boersen also founded Straight Path Tax and Accounting Solutions to serve clients more holistically. Together, the two firms employ 13 people, in- cluding Boersen.
MOMENTS WITH MATT
A Great Impact
Boersen started his own firm, Straight Path Wealth Management, just outside of Grand Rapids in 2011 at the age of 22. He became the youngest board chair in CFP Board history in January 2024 at age 35.
Helping those most in need
“Even though we work with a broader array of clientele than many financial planning firms do, there’s still a sec- tion of America that isn’t served by fi- nancial planners,” Boersen said. “And many times, it’s that group of people who need financial advice the most. “It’s a di ff erent type of financial ad- vice,” he said. “It might be budgeting or handling debt. But those people need financial advice more than some of my clients.” Boersen is also on the board of Chris- tian Mission Aid, based in Nairobi, Kenya. In addition to providing human- itarian aid such as food and water filters, CMA runs a rescue center for girls and young women trying to escape forced childhood marriages. The charity em- ploys nearly 400 Kenyans. “It has been an incredible experience,” he said. “I was able to go to Kenya last spring and see the immense need that’s over there. People are in almost un- imaginably dire straits. It’s incredibly sad, and to be able to o ff er our financial expertise and be boots on the ground and help people is really great.”
2024 CFP Board Chair Matt Boersen, CFP ® , CFA ® serves on the Board of Directors of Christian Mission Aid, which provides humanitarian aid and operates a rescue center for girls and young women.
Photo by Mitch Ranger
Matthew Boersen CHAIR SPOTLIGHT For 2024 CFP Board Chair Matt Boersen, attracting and retaining the next generation is mission-critical.
FINANCIAL PLANNING is not just about money for 2024 CFP Board Chair Matt Boersen, CFP®, CFA®. It’s about helping people. That’s his message for potential clients as well as for students and career changers who might consider a career as a financial planner. “For many, their career goal is to help people,” Boersen said. “They want to get into a helping profession where they can feel they’re making a di ff erence in the world.” As a young man growing up in Michi- gan, Boersen was inspired by the help an
advisor gave his father, a “first-genera- tion 401(k) investor,” who didn’t ben- efit from a pension plan as Boersen’s grandfather had. Boersen started his own firm, Straight Path Wealth Man- agement, just outside of Grand Rapids in 2011 at the age of 22. He became the youngest board chair in CFP Board his- tory in January 2024 at age 35.
Topping 100,000 CFP® professionals
Board Directors Malik Lee, CFP ® (right), Rita Cheng, CFP ® (center) and 2024 Board Chair Matt Boersen, CFP ® , CFA ® on Capitol Hill.
It was a particular point of pride for Boersen and the entire organization’s
BY WILLIAM EHART
THE STANDARD
A LOOK AT 2024
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