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Alexandra Macqueen is passionate about making financial planning available to all Canadians – not just those with money.
The new vice-president of learning, development and professional practice at FP Canada Institute hopes a streamlined approach to the credentialling process for the certified financial planner (CFP) and qualified associate financial planner (QAFP) designations will attract a more diverse group of people who will then advise people from all walks of life.
Globe Advisor spoke recently with Ms. Macqueen about her plans for developing the future of financial planning.
What is your mandate for FP Canada Institute?
We need to distinguish more clearly what is financial planning, what is a financial planner and what is a financial plan. Our focus is not on investment advice; that’s one component of a financial planner’s wheelhouse. Financial planning has a variety of meanings, depending on who you’re talking to.
So, what is your meaning of financial planning?
Financial planning is about people living life confidently irrespective of the level of financial resources they might have. It’s not dependent on becoming wealthy. It’s about having an appreciation for whatever your financial planning reality is and being able to make the right decisions for you.
If you say the CFP is the gold standard financial planning designation, what’s the rationale behind having more designations, such as the QAFP?
People can benefit from advice that’s geared toward common situations in their everyday lives, but it doesn’t necessarily require the expertise of a CFP. We wanted to develop a designation that would work hand in hand with the CFP, where can you go for that everyday financial advice but still refer out to a CFP where necessary.
For example, everybody deserves financial planning support around bread-and-butter issues such as setting up a registered education savings plan.
There are other countries like Japan that have used this approach in which there are two side-by-side designations. They have a CFP designation and then a separate designation that addresses a slightly different population.
You’re bringing all the technical education of these courses in-house instead of outsourcing to external providers. Some practising CFPs will be working directly on the technical content of these courses. Will they be rotating or will it be the same group of people?
I don’t know that yet. We’re working hard to bring together this initial launch of technical education. One of the things on my agenda is figuring out how frequently we will update information and what changes we need to implement.
We just updated FP Canada’s financial planning body of knowledge to include a reference to the First Home Savings Account and the permanent increase to Old Age Security for those over the age of 75 as those studying for our designations need to know how to apply technical knowledge to financial planning scenarios.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
- Deanne Gage, Globe Advisor reporter
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– Globe Advisor Staff