The Financial Planning Association (FPA) announced Friday that Paul H. Auslander, CFP, is the 2011 FPA president-elect. Auslander will succeed Martin Kurtz and begin serving his presidency on Jan. 1.
Auslander is chairman and CEO of American Financial Advisors in Orlando, Fla., as well as a registered representative with Foothills Securities. Auslander has been an FPA member since 1996 and has held numerous leadership roles with FPA including serving as president of FPA of Central Florida, and board member and symposium chair of FPA of Florida.
"One major initative I plan to focus on is contiuing to advance the fiduciary standard, something we as an organization have focused on already for some time," Auslander says. "Florida, where I'm from, is one of the few states that has an FPA organization. We were successful in getting the fiduciary standard there, and that is something we 're looking to replicate."
Auslander says he is motivated to streamilne the process for getting this done by ensuring the message is consistent and the organization has "one voice in state capitals."
Financial literacy outreach and education is another initiative Auslander plans to continue championing.
As far as recent declines in FPA membership numbers, Auslander attributes it to the tough economy, but notes the numbers have rebounded of late and look as if they will continue to do so.
"A number of former [FPA] leaders took principled stands on hot-button issues that obviously everyone will not agree with," He adds. "But those issues are behind us and we're moving forward."
