This business is one of ever-changing rules, trends, and technology. Our entire team is committed to maintaining excellence in the technical aspects of wealth management and client service. In order to do so, we create a budget of both time and money each year for every team member to improve their abilities through educational opportunities.
Below I highlight three different ways we do that each year.
Continuing Education:
- All five of our financial advisors are FINRA registered, which means that each year we are required to complete several hours of continuing education to maintain those licenses. This is usually around 7 hours each year of required coursework.
- Three of us have supervisory licenses through FINRA as well, which requires even more annual coursework.
- Four of the five advisors have professional designations beyond just the FINRA licenses, and Dan is working towards completing another designation. Having a designation requires 15-30 hours of continuing education annually that focuses on all of the areas of wealth management.
- Mike has two designations, so he gets extra coursework each year.
- Six team members have insurance licenses, which comes with their ongoing continuing education and coursework requirements, totaling 15-30 hours every year.
- Because we advise clients on Long Term Care Insurance planning, we are required to complete an additional three hours of coursework to stay current on that product each year
Classes:
- Dan has been attending classes two days each week as a part of working towards completing the education requirements in order to sit for the CFP® exam. Others in the office have taken classes through various organizations and colleges in a wide range of categories from leadership to investment management.
Conferences/Seminars:
- Everyone in the office is required to attend some sort of educational event or conference each year. One thing we very much agree with is that we do not know everything and know that learning from others in our profession is a great opportunity that we never pass up.
- By attending these conferences, not only do we learn some of the latest techniques in financial planning, but also we hear from other high-achieving offices on how they best service their clients.
One thing I’m very consistent with is the fact that we don’t know everything.
The day I think we have it all figured out, is the day we need to close shop! We will always commit time, money, and resources on improving our abilities and knowledge in order to best serve our clients.
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Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Inc. owns the certification marks CFP®, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ and federally registered CFP (with flame logo) in the U.S., which it awards to individuals who successfully complete CFP Board’s initial and ongoing certification requirements.
