The Financial Planning Association announced Tuesday that its Board has elected Pamela Sandy as the 2015 FPA president-elect for a one-year term.
As part of FPA's leadership process, Sandy's term as president-elect will begin Jan. 1, 2015, and will succeed incoming 2015 FPA President Edward W. Gjertsen II in 2016.
A 25-year industry veteran, Sandy is the founder and CEO of Cleveland-based Confiance LLC, a boutique advisory firm that offers financial planning and wealth management services to individuals across the country.
Sandy told ThinkAdvisor in a Wednesday interview that while much has been said about the lack of diversity within the profession, the "industry is changing and beginning to reflect the communities" it serves. "The planners of the FPA should look like the communities they serve."
"It is my hope to build on FPA's collaborative and inclusive spirit as we continue to support the next – and much more diverse – generation of planners. This diversity has long been a core strength of FPA and will be in the future," she said.
While the industry now includes more women planners as well as those who are ethnically diverse, Sandy says addressing the "diversity of age groups" is just as important. "We have [planners] at the end of their career looking to mentor and help those who are entering the profession."
Indeed, she says, FPA has "always embraced the next generation," which is aptly exhibited through the 10-year anniversary this year of FPA NexGen, which boasts more than 2,000 members.
