This year I was not able to attend the FPA Annual Conference held in Boston (though I did attend last year’s conference in Seattle, practically in my backyard). Nevertheless, I’ll be able to keep abreast on developments happening at the conference through FPATelevision.
I blogged about the addition of FPATelevision here, and I’m happy to see the channel continue to receive attention from the FPA operations staff.
On Friday October 3, President Bush signed the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act (H.R. 1424) into law. What started out as a three page bill grew quickly into a massive 451 page behemoth.
The bill includes an array of revenue offsets located in the tax extenders portion of the bill. One of the offsets of potential interest to FPPad readers is found in Section 403 (on page 244 in the PDF file linked above). It’s a requirement for brokers to report a customer’s basis in securities transactions.
Today the CFP Board announced plans to increase transparency and communications with certificants and other stakeholders.
Through a series of online Webinars and town-hall style meetings throughout the country, CFP Board aims to improve communications regarding its business operations and strategic decision-making process.
David G. Strege, CFP®, Chair of the Board of Directors, had this to say about the outreach initiative:
The diverse and wide-ranging nature of the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ certificant community makes open and transparent communication paramount. Technology, such as Webinars and other online tools, provides us with the means to build a robust communications structure.
I often come across times when I want some real-time insight on a topic that’s garnering tremendous interest. The recent volatility of the stock market certainly has created widespread concern. Today is no different as the global stock markets are reacting negatively to the proposed bailout legislation (I could link an AP news article here, but I’m afraid the context will be obsolete tomorrow!).
But what specifically are people talking about?
Frequent readers of FPPad.com know that I try my best to keep up with new tools and technologies that can improve the service and efficiency of a financial planning firm. I’ll be attending the upcoming NAPFA Practice Management and Technology Conference in October to do just that.
The conference will be held on October 22-24, 2008 at Bally’s Las Vegas.
A few weeks ago I received an email that NAPFA reduced the conference registration fee to $199. Also, first time NAPFA conference attendees and the second and subsequent employees from the same firm are all invited to come for $99.
The moment of truth has arrived. Did all the studying pay off? Was the Ken Zahn Live Review beneficial?
Click here to view my CFP® Certification Examination results.
I recently ran across a new practice management tool on PRWeb of all places. The tool is called PreciseFP and is available through Spectrum Input, LLC, a software service company based in Alpharetta, Georgia. Spectrum Input, LLC was founded by Don Whalen, CFP® and Sebastian Skwarek, a specialist in Adobe technology solutions.
Click here to read the PreciseFP press release on PRWeb.
What PreciseFP aims to do is simplify the data gathering and entry process advisers face when bringing a new client into the firm. I don’t quite make the connection with the phrase “precise financial planning (FP)” to data gathering, but still, the application has promise in streamlining the potential volumes of data gathered by advisers and their staff. PreciseID is a cooler name, but it’s already taken by Experian.
Update #3: 09/18/2008 2:16PM PDT: Reports are coming in that exam results letters have arrived in the mail. Check the comments below!
Update #2: 09/16/2008 2:42PM PDT: Carol Lee Roberts posted again to the Financial-Planning.com discussion boards. Among other things, she wrote, “There will be an update posted on the Board website today and I will also post the content here.” Click here to read her latest remarks.
The CFP Board website has the following statement:
NOTICE: Results from the July 2008 CFP® Certification Examination were mailed on September 16, 2008 to the preferred mailing address of each exam taker. Results will be posted to the secure online CFP Board accounts of exam takers on or about September 22, 2008. Exam results will NOT be released over the phone, by fax or by e-mail. CFP Board wishes all exam takers the best as they receive their results.
Update #1: 09/15/2008 2:21PM PDT: Carol Lee Roberts, Managing Director of Examinations and Education at the CFP Board, has addressed concerns over the delay of exam results on the Financial-Planning.com discussion boards. Click here to read Carol’s response.
Carol’s comments refer to an email sent to registered candidates on August 15. I didn’t receive the email. The last message I received was the August 14th email about the Exam Candidate Questionnaire notification that was sent in error. Other commenters at FPPad also did not receive the August 15 email. What about you?
Finally, I have some solid new news related to the release of the July 2008 CFP® Exam results!
The odd thing is (perhaps not so odd considering the past) that my exam review provider, Ken Zahn, has been more proactive on the communication front than the CFP Board.
Each week it seems another financial giant with brokerage subsidiaries is going under and experiencing a bailout or a buyout/merger. First there was Bear Stearns, then Lehman Brothers, and now Merrill Lynch (then possibly AIG’s brokerage division!).
So much news is released on a daily basis that it’s becoming difficult to keep up with the developments and consequences of the unprecedented actions.
What is an adviser to do?
In February 2008, I adopted the use of the ByAllAccounts WebPortfolio and Custodial Integrator data aggregation service. I blogged a little bit about it here and here, and am working on a more comprehensive review of the service addressing how I’ve successfully integrated it into our operations process.
But until then, I wanted to point out an invitation from the folks at ByAllAccounts to take a “look under hood” of the service.
