CFP Board Center for Financial Planning Announces Keynote Speakers for Inaugural Academic Research Colloquium

The CFP Board Center for Financial Planning is bringing together some of the best and brightest researchers, educators, and thought leaders as keynote speakers for its inaugural 2017 Academic Research Colloquium for Financial Planning and Related Disciplines.

The event – a forum to gather, share and showcase relevant research within financial planning and related disciplines – will be held February 7-9, 2017, at the Renaissance Arlington Capital View Hotel in Arlington, VA.

The keynote speakers include: 

• Dr. Julie Agnew, Class of 2018 Associate Professor of Finance and Economics at the College of William and Mary’s Mason School of Business, will discuss behavioral biases that are relevant to the financial planning profession in her presentation, “How Psychology Can Affect Investors’ Financial Decisions.” She will highlight the importance of communication techniques, trust, and financial literacy to the client/planner relationship.

   

• Dr. J. Michael Collins, Associate Professor of Public Affairs and Human Ecology, and Faculty Director of the Center for Financial Security at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, will present “Using Field Experiments to Evaluate the Impact of Financial Planning Interventions.” He will discuss interdisciplinary insights that may have potential to influence research, policy and practice, and suggest opportunities for future studies based on his work.
  
  
• Dr. Chris Geczy, Finance faculty member at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, and Academic Director of the Jacobs Levy Equity Management Center for Quantitative Research, will focus on investor risk tolerance in relation to life experiences and investment performance. He will explain how investment professionals can use these insights to better serve institutional and retail clients.
  
  
• Dr. John Grable, CFP®, Professor of Family and Consumer Sciences at the University of Georgia, will focus on the frontiers of financial planning research and their expansion beyond the core areas of financial planning: cash flow management, taxation, insurance, investing, retirement, and estate and special needs planning. His presentation will focus on some of the most important ideas that are helping shape the way financial planning practitioners interact with their clients, with special emphasis on ways researchers can add to the existing body of knowledge for financial planning through the integration of concepts from other fields.
  
  
• Dr. Hal Hershfield, Assistant Professor of Marketing at UCLA Anderson School of Business, will discuss one important reason why many investors fail to act in ways that are optimal for the long run: the tenuous connection that people feel between their present and future selves. Hershfield will focus on the origins of this relationship, how it can affect financial decision-making, and the ways that advisors can help investors bridge the gap between the self of today and the distant self of tomorrow.

“This first-ever Colloquium is an important step on the path to solidifying financial planning as an academic discipline and building the body of knowledge within this relatively young profession,” said Charles R. Chaffin, Ed.D., Director, Academic Home, Center for Financial Planning. “The speaker lineup consists of distinguished scholars whose insightful presentations will undoubtedly benefit researchers, graduate students and financial planning practice leaders in attendance, as well as the profession as a whole.”

The CFP Board Center for Financial Planning is hosting the Colloquium in collaboration with the Canadian-based Financial Planning Standards Council and the Financial Planning Standards Board Ltd., owner of the international CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER certification program outside the United States. The Colloquium will feature a series of Best Paper Awards that will be presented at the event with a $2,500 cash prize for the author(s) of the winning paper.

To learn more about the Colloquium or register, visit www.CenterforFinancialPlanning.org/ARC.

Immediately after the Colloquium, the Center is hosting the Firms and Academia Day in conjunction with CFP Board’s annual 2017 Registered Program Conference.  Firms and Academia Day provides a unique opportunity for financial services firms and heads of CFP Board-Registered Programs to connect and build partnerships that will provide job opportunities to new graduates.“The Center is serving as a convener between firms and our Registered Programs, in line with the Center’s workforce development goals, to facilitate pathways for students into financial planning careers,” said Marilyn Mohrman-Gillis, Executive Director of the Center for Financial Planning.

CFP Board’s Registered Program Conference will be held February 9-10, 2017, and is the largest gathering of financial planning programs in the country, featuring program heads and representatives from over 80 colleges and universities. This year’s conference will be a platform for furthering the financial planning discipline relative to specific subject matter areas, engaging students both within the classroom and in online learning platforms, as well as facilitating certificate and degree-seeking students’ journeys toward CFP® certification. To learn more or register, visit: www.CFP.net/RPC.