“What attracts women to the indus- try is informing women earlier about what the profession really does,” said Simone Lee, CFP®, the 100,000th CFP® professional, and a panelist at the wom- en’s leadership session at the 2024 Con- nections Conference. “We sit with our clients and uncover what their goals and objectives are and find the resources to help them.” Currently, women comprise 23.8% of CFP® professionals. Nationally, the Bu- reau of Labor Statistics reported in 2024 that women comprised 33.8% of personal financial advisors, and that the category is forecast to grow 17% annually — data that frames the potential for drawing more women into the profession. Panelists noted several important developments that are neutralizing longstanding barriers to the retention and advancement of women. Most no- table, the 2023 adoption by FINRA of the “stop the clock” provision, which enables women to pause their careers and recredentialing timeline for any reason, but most o f ten for caregiving, mitigating the direct conflict between maintaining qualifications and per- sonal responsibilities. “I represent the possibilities of the industry,” said Lee’s mother, Judith Lee, CFP®, who runs a Merrill practice that now includes Simone. “I’ve had prospective clients reach out to me and say, ‘What attracted me to your team is diversity.’ Staff who repre- sent different ages, races and gen- ders enable each individual to access a broader range of experiences that … enable you to connect with clients in unique ways,” said Judith Lee, CFP®. “The more women who enter the pro- fession, the more opportunities will open up for other women.”
Speakers and panelists at the 2024 CFP Board Connections Conference agreed that investing in talent and tech- nology is an emerging leadership skill. Firms that master that magic mix will be the ones to prevail as consumers’ ex- pectations are reshaped by the power of AI and as next-gen talent integrates career growth with technical prowess. The profession has successfully mastered this transition numerous times in the past, keynote speaker Michael Kitces, CFP® told attendees, reminding them that integrating tech- nology is woven into advisors’ growth trajectory. In the late 1970s, technol- ogy companies sprang up with the “sole purpose” of disrupting human advisors, Kitces said. And why not? “Technology was systematically oblit- erating the business model of stock trading,” he said. But the very nature of the advisory profession proved to be its firewall. “Technology didn’t kill financial advisors. It just changed the financial advisor value proposition,” he said. Mirror of the future self Cra f ting scenarios and projections might be one of the best ways to har- ness AI to clients’ advantage, proposed keynote Frederik Pferdt, a futurist and author. Ongoing research at ma- jor universities reveals that one of the most compelling avenues for personal change is to help individuals envision their “future selves” and then retool current habits with the aim of fulfilling their ambitions for that “future self.” That insight meets hard pavement when advisors try to figure out how to di ff erentiate themselves from each other and, increasingly, from AI-pow- ered platforms, Kitces said. For hundreds of mass affluent households, whose financial needs are easily quantified by algorithms and the resulting guidance easily pro- duced, human advisors might only of- fer incremental — though o f ten, in- valuable — advice, he said. Advisors face the multi-faceted chal- lenge of using AI to help them find cli- ents whose needs justify customized plans, and whose income and assets are likely to increase su ffi ciently to support the relationship. The secret sauce, Kit- ces said, was to di ff erentiate in ways that are so meaningful to potential clients
that they seek out advisors with those narrowly drawn specialties. AI as housekeeper AI also has the potential to streamline backroom operations and compliance to the degree that advisors can a ff ord to work with younger and “mass af- fluent” clients, Andrew Altfest, CFP®, CEO of FP Alpha, told attendees in a breakout session. Technology scaled to individual practices will enable CFP® professionals to “apply it to our own workflows and client needs,” he said, clearing the way for “spending more time with our clients and doing what’s meaningful for them.” That could in- clude, he added, new business mod- els, such as subscription models that provide a cost-e ff ective entry point for smaller clients. “You can scale services to a less a ffl uent population who can grow with you,” he suggested. AI is already streamlining compliance, security, and fraud detection and preven- tion, other panelists said. The profession will have to carefully monitor and mea- sure the incremental return on its invest- ment in AI, though, to ensure that it de- livers net gains in e ffi ciency, time, human e ff ort and client service. Thecommonelementisbenchmarking AI and all technical advancements against the client experience, speakers agreed. “Openness is not being locked into the consequences or immediate future, but being ready to pivot,” Pferdt said. Advisors and clients alike can energize growth by concentrating on the growth factors within their control, he said, and by applying those factors less to con- crete results than to admired character- istics., such as the ability to love, open- ness and resourcefulness. “Don’t ask yourself who you want to be in the fu- ture, “ he said, “but how you want to be.” Connections Conference 2025 Connections Conference Chicago October 6–8 Marriott Chicago Downtown Magnificent Mile
New Avenues Open for Women
The Connections Conference featured sessions on practice management, brand building, enhancing the client experience and artificial intelligence. Chair-Elect Liz Miller, CFP ® , CFA ® , Simone Lee, CFP ® and Judith Lee, CFP ® during a session focused on women’s leadership. Attendees above listened to 2024
Attendees celebrated at the CFP Board Connections Conference “Journey to
Refreshed research set to amplify profession’s understanding of women as colleagues and clients.
100,000 Dinner.”
Connections Speakers Put AI, Succession Planning in Growth Context
BY JOANNE CLEAVER
BY JOANNE CLEAVER
The next chapter in CFP Board’s insights into the goals and motivations of women considering or already in the profession will get underway this year. 2025 Chair Liz Miller, CFP®, CFA® is building on the foundation set a decade ago when CFP Board introduced its seminal report on women in the profession, which set the stage for a first round of initiatives.
Human relationships and insights will never be displaced by artificial intelli- gence. But the financial planning pro- fession will need a tight grip on the reins of technology to ensure that AI serves clients and advisors, instead of the other way around.
Registration Opens Soon Visit CFP.net/connections25 for more info.
THE STANDARD
A LOOK AT 2024
46
47
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker