Global Financial Planning Standards Board CEO Noel Maye has revealed the organisation is planning a global consumer campaign to promote the benefits of Financial Planning as a way to help spur ambitious plans to increase the number of CFP professionals worldwide from 161,000 now to 250,000 by 2025.
He told hundreds of attendees at the CISI-IFP Forum Financial Planning Conference at the Celtic Manor today that he wants to increase the number of territories where CFP professional work from 26 to 40 around the world in a major expansion of Financial Planning globally.
To help drive awareness of the benefits of Financial Planning and encourage more consumers to use Financial Planners the FPSB is planning a global campaign - using social media extensively - under the banner "Life's better with a Financial Planner."
Mr Maye said: "There is no reason why we couldn't have 250,000 CFP professionals in 40 countries around the world in 10 years time. Over last 12 years we've doubled the number ofaround the world."
He added that millions of people around the world were "better off" because of Financial Planning and with more growth in CFP Professional numbers millions more could benefit.
Mr Maye said the FPSB's key focuses in future would be global growth and promoting the benefits of Financial Planning to consumers. He said he wants consumers around the world to see CFP certification as "sign of excellence."
Around the world numbers of CFP Professionals are growing both in more established markets such as the USA but also in Asia where 40% of CFP professionals now work. But he said that more growth was needed to extend the reach of Financial Planning to more people as numbers of CFP professionals needed to grow.
In the UK there are 1,015 CFP Professionals, well below the numbers in France, Germany, South Africa, Australia and even Hong Kong where there are 4,702.
One barrier to global growth is trust, he said. Recently the FPSB surveyed 19,000 consumers in 19 territories around the world and a key issue for consumers was trusting financial intermediaries, mostly due to "misbehaviour" in financial services over many years denting consumer confidence, he said.
He added: "Overwhelmingly it's an issue of trust, there has been a lot of misbehaviouir in financial services so it's understandable there are issues around trust."
The new consumer-focused campaign promoting "Life's better with a Financial Planner" will aim to convince consumers that working with a CFP Professional and a qualified and trusted Financial Planner can improve the quality of their lives and help them deal with issues such as retirement planning, debt and managing investments.
• Speaking about one year on from the IFP-CISI merger he said that the FPSB, which is based in Denver, USA, and sets global standards for CFP Professionals around the world, saw the merger as a "win-win" with the organisational strength of the CISI and the experience and knowledge of the IFP being brought together to create a more powerful proposition.