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Yes. In addition to the designations listed on this site, The American College of Financial Services offers other designation, degree, and certificate programs for financial professionals.To view the full list, visit The College’s main website for financial professionals.

There are other training organizations and academic institutions that offer designation programs and other credentials for financial professionals, and may have their own search tools.

To update your profile, log in to The College’s My Learning Hub portal https://hub.theamericancollege.edu/ . Please note: Your profile must reflect your legal name on record with The College. If your firm prohibits participation in this site, your profile will not appear.

Couplr.AI is a leading provider of AI-powered matchmaking solutions for financial services, which allows you to supply more information about yourself and what you’re looking for in a financial professional, so you have the potential to find deeper matches.

Couplr.AI has a partnership with The American College of Financial Services that enables financial professionals who participate in the Professional Recertification Program to maintain profiles in their system if they wish to opt-in and supply additional information about themselves, their services, and their business practices. Couplr.AI is not owned by or part of The College.

Designation programs at The American College of Financial Services generally require financial professionals to meet or exceed minimum educational qualifications and years of experience to enroll and/or hold the designation. Generally, The College’s designation programs have multiple courses with an exam requirement at the end of each course. Timing varies, but College designation programs can take a year or more to complete.

To maintain the designations listed on this site, a financial professional must participate in The College’s Professional Recertification Program. To recertify, a financial professional must:

• Recertify their knowledge with 30 hours of continuing education (CE) credit every two years
• Recommit to The College’s Code of Ethics
• Reconfirm client-facing status and update contact information annually
• Pay an annual recertification fee to support ongoing educational efforts

The American College of Financial Services offers a CFP® certification education program, which is described on its main website for financial professionals. However, the CFP® certification is not administered by The American College of Financial Services. In other words, a financial professional may have completed the educational program at The College and go on to earn the certification, but the certification would not come from The College and would not appear in the search tool for this site.

The College is the nation’s largest provider of applied knowledge in financial planning through its CFP® certification education program and ChFC® designation program combined. Through this site, you’ll find financial professionals, including those who have earned the CFP® certification and/or the ChFC®, who specialize in one or more subject areas as indicated by additional designations from The College. Your Advisor Guide will help you determine whether a professional could be the right person to deliver all the services you may need, based on their verified qualifications.

Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Inc. owns the certification marks CFP®,CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™, CFP® (with plaque design) and CFP® (with flame design) in the U.S., which it awards to individuals who successfully complete CFP Board’s initial and ongoing certification requirements.

Yes. In addition to the designations listed on this site, The American College of Financial Services offers other designation, degree, and certificate programs for financial professionals. To view the full list, visit The College’s main website for financial professionals.

A CAP® is a philanthropic advisor (such as a financial advisor, insurance professional, attorney, consultant, gift planner, or accountant) who offers professional advice to donors (including individuals or family foundations) and/or nonprofits. A CAP® applies deep, specialized knowledge and tools to help you articulate and advance your legacy for yourself, your family, and society.

A CAP® can:

• Apply the best tax strategies, tools, and techniques for your various philanthropic goals
• Advise wealthy families and family offices on important financial matters, including 
  business exit planning, estate planning, and legacy planning
• Handle gift planning for you or your nonprofit or foundation
   

A ChFC® is a financial professional who applies fundamental knowledge to create your financial plan and who understands behavioral finance to help you stay on track. A ChFC® will get to know you to ensure your plan suits your needs and circumstances.

A ChFC® can:

• Develop financial plans to achieve your goals and manage risks
• Design income tax strategies for individuals, businesses, and other entities
• Create retirement, investment, and estate planning strategies
• Address special needs planning, gift planning, and inheritance
• Support the unique financial needs of nontraditional family structures 

A CASL® is a financial professional with specialized knowledge to lead you from middle age through retirement and assist you with the management, preservation, and transfer of wealth.  The CASL® designation is no longer offered to new students; however, The College supports CASL® advisors and requires them to participate in the Professional Recertification Program, including continuing education requirements, to maintain their credential.

A CASL® can:

• Help you structure distributions (withdraw income) from pensions, 401(k)s, 403(b)s, IRAs, and Social Security
• Offer solutions to help you mitigate longevity risk (that is, the risk of outliving your savings)
• Put a plan in place to help you prepare for health- and long-term care needs
• Develop effective estate planning strategies

A ChSNC® is a financial professional or an attorney who applies deep, specialized skills and expertise in financial planning for special needs individuals as well as their families and caregivers.

A ChSNC® can:

• Help you navigate tax planning, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), special needs trusts, and other federal benefits
• Ensure a comfortable future for your loved ones with life insurance options and estate planning
• Help you prepare for costs of long-term care through management of healthcare planning and Medicaid complexities

A CLU® is an insurance professional who applies specialized, in-depth knowledge of the practical, legal, and ethical aspects of life insurance and its techniques and tools.

A CLU® can:

• Protect your future and that of your family through life insurance
• Help you protect yourself and your business with key person insurance and related employee benefits
• Address your estate planning needs

An FSCP® is a financial professional who applies fundamental financial services knowledge and proven skills to help meet your financial needs and achieve your goals with a fitting strategy for your situation.

An FSCP® can:

• Listen to your goals and identify related short- and long-term needs
• Create your financial plan based on your personal circumstances
• Guide you in the evaluation and selection of appropriate investment products
• Build your investment portfolio and adjust it as circumstances change

An RICP® is a financial professional who specializes in retirement income planning, applying specialized knowledge to build a sustainable and holistic retirement income strategy, tailored to your situation and income sources.

An RICP® can:

• Help you select investments, annuities, and other products to achieve your goals
• Evaluate strategies for Social Security claiming, containing healthcare and long-term care costs, and managing taxation
• Incorporate tools for estate and legacy planning
• Convert your investable assets, including employee retirement plan savings, into sustainable income that will support your lifestyle after you retire
   

A TPCP^TM is a financial professional who applies specialized knowledge to create a financial strategy that minimizes your tax burden and maximizes tax benefits, while ensuring compliance with current legislation. Working with a TPCPTM, you can:

• Minimize state and federal taxes as an individual, family, and/or business owner
• Use tailored tax-informed strategies for estate planning, retirement planning and savings distribution, and investment management
• Optimize tax advantages in situations such as: divorce, planning for individuals with special needs, and incorporating philanthropic intentions into estate planning
• Consider key tax implications of selecting various investment vehicles, such as Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) and 529 college savings plans

A WMCP® is a financial professional who applies fundamental knowledge to build a broadly diversified, tax-efficient portfolio aligned with your goals. Some of the things a WMCP® can do for you are:

• Use a goal-based process for planning and managing wealth
• Create an efficient investment portfolio
• Evaluate financial instruments
• Formulate a wealth management strategy
• Provide solutions for complex client needs

A fiduciary is a person or organization authorized to make decisions, manage assets, and provide advice on behalf of another person. Not all financial professionals are fiduciaries.

Financial advisors who are fiduciaries have a legal obligation to act solely in their clients’ best interests and avoid conflicts of interest. Many fiduciaries are paid on a fee-only basis, meaning they do not receive commissions from specific investment products and their clients pay fees directly to them.

A financial professional who is not a fiduciary provides advice about the solutions they find suitable for their clients’ needs and goals and must adhere to all laws and regulations that apply to the services they offer, but they do not have to avoid conflicts of interest. For example, financial advisors who are not fiduciaries may earn commissions from selling certain investment or insurance products, meaning in addition to their clients’ interests, the advisors may benefit financially. As mentioned above, those financial arrangements may align with client needs but should be disclosed before an engagement begins.

Financial advisors can be paid the following ways:

• Commissions — from institutions for the products they sell to clients
• Fee-only — directly from clients for the services they provide and/or their time spent (on a flat or hourly basis or as a percentage of the assets they manage)
• Fee-based — primarily from their clients for their services, but may also receive commissions from product companies
• Salaried — from a firm or other institution (their employer), usually with no fees or commissions 

The term “financial professional” is the broadest way to refer to an individual who provides financial services.

A financial advisor is generally a professional who offers services such as investment advice, portfolio management, asset allocation, and/or risk management.

A financial planner typically builds an overall financial plan for each client and offers a broader array of services, including specialized services for certain financial circumstances and goals.

You’ll find both financial advisors, and financial planners on this site, because The American College of Financial Services offers designation programs to support an array of foundational and specialized services. What a professional calls themselves may also vary by company.

There are many indicators that a financial professional is qualified to deliver the services you want, including:

• Education and professional designations
• Years of experience
• Licenses and registrations granted by FINRA and/or state regulators
• Professional track record and client references

This site is designed to help you find financial professionals who have earned and maintained designations from The American College of Financial Services that correspond to the services you’re looking for, so you can have the best experience and outcomes.

A designation from The College indicates a financial professional has the required years of experience, has achieved each program’s learning objectives (including education both during the designation program and in the years that follow), and commits to uphold The College’s ethical standards.

To find out about other qualifications, you may consult sources such as Broker Check by FINRA, state regulatory agencies, and other organizations that offer credentials.

Keep in mind, being legally able to offer services, holding various degrees or designations, and having experience are all indicators of whether a financial professional is qualified, but there’s no single source that can tell you whether a certain individual is the right match for you. That’s why this site helps you see who might be a fit, verify designations, and find out which questions you may want to ask — so you can evaluate for yourself.