Financial Advice That Requires Financial Planning

Best Response: Response A is the best response. Gina is providing Financial Advice that Requires Financial Planning. This case study involves the Application of the Practice Standards (Standard B.3.) and the Integration Factors (Standard B.4.). A CFP® professional must comply with the Practice Standards for the Financial Planning Process, and therefore, provide Financial Planning, when:

a. The CFP® professional agrees to provide or provides:

• Financial Planning; or
• Financial Advice that requires integration of relevant elements of the Client’s personal and/or financial circumstances in order to act in the Client’s best interests (“Financial Advice that Requires Financial Planning”);

b. The Client has a reasonable basis to believe the CFP® professional will provide or has provided Financial Planning.

In this case, there are insufficient facts to conclude that the written Engagement contains language requiring Gina to provide Financial Planning, or that Bob has a reasonable basis to believe that Gina will provide Financial Planning. Therefore, whether Gina must comply with the Practice Standards for Financial Planning Process depends on whether Gina’s Financial Advice requires integration of relevant elements of Bob’s personal and/or financial circumstances.

CFP Board has established the following Integration Factors that CFP Board will weigh in determining whether a CFP® professional has agreed to provide or provided Financial Advice that Requires Financial Planning:

1. The number of relevant elements of the Client’s personal and financial circumstances that the Financial Advice may affect;
2. The portion and amount of the Client’s Financial Assets that the Financial Advice may affect;
3. The length of time the Client’s personal and financial circumstances may be affected by the Financial Advice;
4. The effect on the Client’s overall exposure to risk if the Client implements the Financial Advice; and
5. The barriers to modifying the actions taken to implement the Financial Advice.

CFP Board would weigh the Integration Factors in this case as follows:

• Gina is addressing Bob’s need for or desire to develop goals, manage assets and liabilities, manage cash flow, achieve financial security, preserve or increase wealth, and prepare for retirement. Therefore, Gina’s Financial Advice may affect several relevant elements of Bob’s personal and financial circumstances.
• Gina will be managing the funds currently invested in Bob’s bank savings account, which has a higher value than any of Bob’s other assets. Therefore, Gina’s advice will affect a significant portion and amount of Bob’s assets.
• Bob has asked Gina to focus on his long-term financial outlook, and to prepare long-term planning scenarios. Therefore, Gina’s Financial Advice likely will affect Bob’s personal and financial circumstances for a long time.
• Gina will recommend that Bob reallocate the assets currently held in the bank savings account, thereby altering the risk return profile of his holdings and exposing Bob to increased risk.
• Based upon the facts provided, it is unclear what barriers to modifying the actions taken to implement the Financial Advice may exist.

Based upon a weighing of the Integration Factors, Gina will be providing Bob with Financial Advice that Requires Financial Planning. Gina’s Financial Advice (a) will affect a significant portion of Bob’s Financial Assets, (b) will affect Bob’s personal and financial circumstances for a long time, and (c) may affect several relevant elements of Bob’s personal and financial circumstances. Because Gina is providing Bob with Financial Advice that Requires Financial Planning, she must follow the Practice Standards for the Financial Planning Process. In addition, since Gina is required to provide Financial Planning to Bob, some of the information that she may have provided to Bob orally when providing Financial Advice now must be delivered to Bob in writing.

The Code and Standards does not require an explicit agreement to provide Financial Planning for Financial Planning to be required. Where, as here, a CFP® professional provides or agrees to provide Financial Advice that requires integration of relevant elements of the Client’s personal and/or financial circumstances to act in the Client’s best interests, the CFP® professional is required to provide Financial Planning.

Response B is not the best response because Gina is providing Financial Advice that requires Financial Planning.

Response A is not the best response.

Best Response: Response B is the best response. If a CFP® professional otherwise must comply with the Practice Standards, but the Client does not agree to engage the CFP® professional to provide Financial Planning, the CFP® Professional must either:

1. Not enter into the Engagement;
2. Limit the Scope of Engagement to services that do not require application of the Practice Standards, and describe to the Client the services the Client requests that the CFP® professional will not be performing;
3. Provide the requested services after informing the Client how Financial Planning would benefit the Client and how the decision not to engage the CFP® professional to provide Financial Planning may limit the CFP® professional’s Financial Advice, in which case the CFP® professional is not required to comply with the Practice Standards; or
4. Terminate the Engagement.

If Bob decides that he does not want to engage Gina for Financial Planning, Gina may provide Bob with the requested Financial Advice after informing Bob how Financial Planning would benefit him and how the decision not to engage her to provide Financial Planning may limit her Financial Advice.