FPA launches program to attract members from Ameriprise

investmentnews.com:

A trade association mostly made up of certified financial planners launched an initiative Thursday to add members from Ameriprise Financial, an outreach effort that has a fiduciary advocate questioning how the credential’s advice standard squares with a dually registered firm.

The Financial Planning Association introduced a national membership program to more than 8,000 independent advisors affiliated with Ameriprise. The initiative includes a group discount on FPA dues and a dues payroll deduction program to make it easier for Ameriprise advisors to join FPA and renew their membership, the FPA said.

“Ameriprise Financial is one of the largest and most trusted names in financial services, with thousands of financial advisors who believe in and are committed to the financial planning process,” FPA CEO Patrick D. Mahoney said in a statement. “Together with Ameriprise, we can further support the development of Ameriprise advisors with financial planning education, business support and important networking through our national network of local FPA chapters.”

This is the first membership program FPA has established with a major financial firm, FPA spokesperson Ben Lewis said.

Ameriprise is dually registered as an investment advisory firm and a brokerage. Its advisors can serve clients as both investment advisors and brokers. The advice standard for advisors is fiduciary duty, while brokers are governed by Regulation Best Interest, the broker standard that the Securities and Exchange Commission put into force in 2020.

In 2020, the CFP Board of Standards Inc. expanded the fiduciary duty attached to the CFP mark by making it apply to all aspects of providing financial advice, not just when a CFP is doing financial planning.

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