Kevin Keller knew the CFP Board was getting its message across when he saw the popular New York Times columnist Tom Friedman start off one of his recent columns with a reference to one of its ad campaigns.
Friedman began his piece
Waiving the politics of the column aside, Keller said the amazing thing about the piece is that Friedman felt no need to explain exactly what the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards is and does. Friedman took it for granted that his readers would know.
"I think it's a cultural touchstone, that the CFP has come from a point where very few people knew what it was," Keller said in a recent interview. "It was also a Jeopardy question. Maybe that's a little more obscure but, you know, Tom Friedman is a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer."
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Keller is now in a reflective mood after deciding he will step down at the end of April 2026 from the organization he has run for nearly two decades. Keller said he felt no strong reasons for stepping down at that time besides the fact that he'll be turning 65 next January and his desire to ensure the CFP Board is well-positioned to find a successor.
"One of the great things about working with financial planners is that they're used to making long-term plans and taking actions that will move you toward that plan," Keller said.
He also has quite a few accomplishments to look back on: moving the organization's headquarters from Denver to Washington, D.C., the near doubling of CFP certification holders to roughly 103,000 and the establishment of the Center for Financial Planning, which seeks to
The board has also made extensive inroads at some of the biggest U.S. wealth managers. Last year, six household-name firms could boast that at least 200 of their advisors had added the CFP mark to their credentials, including Edward Jones (which had 1,084), Fidelity Investments (414) and LPL Financial (244).
But it's the public's growing awareness of what CPF certification means and the distinctions it confers on its bearers that Keller looks back on with the most pride. Keller said the board has put $160 million toward advertising since 2011 and plans to spend $16 million this year.
One of its spots ran during the 2016 World Series. The campaign makes use of the catchphrase "It's gotta be a CFP" and has lately taken on a humorous tone — as evidenced by the ad featuring the fake surgeon. Keller said the CFP Board has conducted plenty of surveys finding the ads are resonating with the public.
But it's things like Friedman's column that really show him the campaign is having its intended effect. Keller said he got another confirmation of CFP's wide-ranging recognition on a recent tour of four Florida cities — Orlando, Tampa, Naples and Boca Raton.
Keller said he met with a planner in his 50s on the trip. That's usually an age when people are comfortable in their careers and feel no compulsion to take on new certifications. But this advisor nonetheless had become a CFP.
"I said, 'Why did you do it? Why did you get certified?'" Keller said. "And he said, 'You know, I got tired of prospects asking me, are you a CFP?'"
Keller recently sat down with Financial Planning to look back at his nearly 20 years at the CFP and discuss the biggest industry matters his successor — whoever that turns out to be — will most likely have to take on.
This article has been edited for clarity and brevity.
Financial Planning: Looking back at your nearly 20 years at the CFP, what would you say have been some of the biggest changes you've witnessed? Has it been the move away from commissions toward fee-based planning?
Kevin Keller: I'm not sure it's so much about the compensation model, but more about a couple of things. One, when I arrived, financial planners were kind of this obscure group over to the side. Everybody was focused on investment management. And clearly investment management is an important part of a CFP certificate holder's role.
But there wasn't the focus on holistic financial advice. And that's been the biggest change. We've gone from a time where we had the financial planners over here, almost seen as a subset, if you will, of financial services. And now we're to a point now where every financial services company, every business model, is going to market with a holistic offering.
FP: What else has changed?
KK: The other thing is that (the research firm) Cerulli came out last month with their advisor metrics report. And in the last decade, up to the year ending 2023, the number of retail advisors in the U.S. was basically flat — up 0.2%. They reported the total at about 283,000.
During that same period, the CFP — on Dec. 31, 2013, so a decade plus one year ago — had 69,000 CFPs. Today, we're at 103,000. So while the number of advisors has remained flat, the number of CFP certificates has gone up by 49%.
So when I say that if the business opportunity is in holistic planning, then the solution I think that firms have adopted is CFP.
FP: Is that surge the result of more individual advisors recognizing the value of the credential? Or are firms pushing planners to become CFPs?
KK: In my second year here, I went on the road — just like I was doing recently in Florida — to listen to CFPs. We were telling them what we're up to but it was primarily listening.
And what I heard people express — and this came up organically — was, 'Look, I'm really proud of being a CFP, but I just wish more of my clients and my prospects knew what it was.'
We coupled that with research that we had done on what certificate holders wanted more than anything else. That was the catalyst for the public awareness campaign.
My background is in agriculture. I have two degrees in ag econ from Ohio State University. And all of those commodity groups, those are producer-funded. Pork is 'the other white meat.' Beef is 'what's for dinner.' You know, 'Got milk?' 'Cotton is the fabric of our lives.'
All of those are funded by their producers. So this is in the back of my mind. And as we're out in these town hall meetings, I started saying, 'I'm starting to hear that there would be interest in more advertising.' And heads would shake, 'Yeah.'
At the time, CFPs paid $15 a month to maintain their certification. So I said, 'Would you be willing to pay a little bit more if we committed to put that money only to the direct expense of an ad campaign?'
And CFPs, who are notoriously frugal with their business expenses, would shake their heads without even asking, 'Well, how much are you talking about?' Or occasionally somebody would say, 'How much are you talking about?' I'd say, 'I don't know, $10 or $12 a month.'
FP: One of the big debates that has arisen in the industry has been around the issue of "title protection." This is the idea that only certain credentials or attainments should be legally allowed to call themselves advisors.
The Financial Planning Associations
KK: The FPA has a proposal to protect the title. And look, I'm sympathetic to that. I would love a world where, in order to call yourself a financial planner, you had to be a certified financial planner. That would be my ultimate.
But it's our policy that we're not in favor of title protection. In fact, we'll oppose it if we have to, because the last thing we want to do is anything that devalues the CFP certification — if all of a sudden, anyone with the alphabet soup of designations can also call themselves financial planners.
We're the most rigorous by far and the best known. And I think where we've landed is that there is title protection for financial planning. It's the Certified Financial Planner mark. The public knows it. And to do anything other than that feels like it would impact the value of CFP.
FP: You caught some heat from
Now some groups like the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) are saying you are
KK: The Wall Street Journal article made us stronger. We took the feedback.
And Denny Crawford, the former Texas securities administrator, led a commission with a number of recommendations, most of which we have implemented. And when we survey CFPs and ask them what's most important, there are two things, and they're almost always even. One is awareness and building the brand. The other is upholding the standards.
So we take that seriously. We're sitting down with SIFMA and having conversations. They are an important stakeholder. We've already done a couple of the things that they've asked about doing. They may have some things that we aren't able to do.
On the FINRA website, there are now, I think, 250 designations. If you went and looked at all of those, I bet every one of them has a code of standards or code of conduct.
And yet, the last time we looked, a couple years ago, the only people who have publicly sanctioned any of their certificate or designation holders are CPA (Certified Public Accountant), CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst), CFP and CPWA (Certified Private Wealth Advisor).
Part of why we've grown, I think, is that the public knows that there are consequences to not following CFP Board standards. To the day I'm done and then after, I'll be proud to have worked with an organization that not only set standards but held people to those high standards. I think it's good for the public, but I think it's also good for the advisors and good for the profession.
FP: The CFP Board has set up a search committee and plans to engage an executive search firm to find your successor. What are some of the biggest issues the next person in your role is likely to face?
KK: Here's what I would tell you. We've largely had this space all to ourselves, right? The CFP has been out there. We've been growing more awareness and prominence.
There have always been some competitors. But lately, both the CFA and CPA are getting into planning. They see this as a great opportunity for the people they license.
And the other piece is
Now in level four, there's an option for tax compliance and planning, which essentially is to prepare for financial planning. So these are not small, little startups. These are large, well-run, well-funded organizations.
And I think it's a threat to Certified Financial Planners. And I think whoever takes this over is going to have to deal with new entrants — well-respected, well-run organizations that are getting in the planning space.
