More Education, More Designations

The new DIA and DHP designation programs from the HIAA/NAHU venture should fill a growing need in the DI industry, says Gregory Dean, executive director-insurance education at HIAA.

"My sense is that, in the past few years, there has been renewed interest in DI insurance," he explains.

For example, DI insurers have new products out that have better pricing structures than DIs did in the 1990s, he says. "Meanwhile, as the population has aged, consumers in mid-life have started realizing that disability does happen. Were hearing that people are growing more concerned about how they will manage if they become disabled."

DI producers are picking up on the two trends, Dean adds, and some want more advanced education to help them respond appropriately.

Up to now, the industry has not had a designation that focuses only on DI insurance. Providing this focus is the purpose of the new not-for-profit program, he says.

Over at LOMA, the new FFSI designation "is a response to the education needs of our members," says Gene Stone, senior associate-education and training.

"Many of our member companies no longer focus only on life and health insurance," he explains. "They have evolved into multifaceted financial services institutions that offer a wide assortment of new products. Now, their employees need to learn about these products."

This is a rigorous self-study program from a not-for-profit association, Stone adds. "Some might complete it in one year, but others might take several years."

The new RFE designation grew out of the educational programs that Nicholas Gregory had been providing to advisors in the affluent market. The president and managing partner of The Financial Engineering Alliance, Gregory says advisors asked him to make it into a formal credentialing program.

The program is a for-profit venture, he points out, but it is not intended to be an alternative to widely recognized programs, such as CLU, CHFC and CFP, from not-for-profit organizations. In fact, Gregory says most who seek the RFE already have earned the other designations. They enter the RFE for "hands-on education in strategic planning," he says.

There are a lot of designations available today, Gregory agrees, adding that "the customer often has no clue" about what they are.

"Its a shame the programs cant all get together," he adds. "But financial planning today is a multidimensional discipline, so the programs are targeting different needs."

Reproduced from National Underwriter Edition, July 14, 2003. Copyright 2003 by The National Underwriter Company in the serial publication. All rights reserved. Copyright in this article as an independent work may be held by the author.