The American Council of Life Insurers is asking the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards to keep the language in a proposed revision to its code of conduct as narrow as possible.
Use of the term "client" and the rules for determining when a planner must meet a strict "fiduciary standard" may be too broad, Carl Wilkerson, a vice president at the ACLI, Washington, writes in the ACLI's comment letter.
The ACLI is weighing in because many CFP designation holders also hold life insurance agent or broker licenses.
Under the terms of the code of conduct draft released by the CFP Board, Denver, "the proposed definition of 'client' would include every professional engagement rendered by a certificant, even when it did not involve the delivery of the investment advisory services or financial planning," Wilkerson writes.
