In a town hall-style meeting with attendees at the 2012 FPA Retreat in Scottsdale, Ariz. on Sunday, the organization's CEO and executive director, Marv Tuttle, announced his departure from the organization—sort of.
"I've been your CEO now for eight years and I've been speaking with the board about a succession plan," he said. "They agreed to a two-year extension of my contract until June 2014, at which time I will retire from the position."
Tuttle said he would like to continue with the organization, which has an annual budget of $13.2 million and approximately 60 staff members, but from the standpoint of "outside looking in, rather than inside looking out."
In an interview following the announcement, Tuttle (left) said his "dream job" would be to act as an ambassador for the organization and profession with financial programs offered at colleges and universities, noting the high engagement and interaction he recently enjoyed with students on a tour of colleges.
He said the board will go into "search committee mode" in the second half of 2012 to identify potential successors, and will most likely begin the process after the August board retreat.
When asked about his greatest accomplishment during his tenure, Tuttle said there are "so many things. Before the development of the CFP Board, I took the lead in promoting the CFP mark as the industry's designation. I'm also proud of the fact that I had a hand in taking the Journal of Financial Planning from something that was essentially slapped together to a pretty descent practitioner publication that has raised the bar on academic research in this field. Lastly, I'm proud of the work we've done with the Foundation for Financial Planning post 9/11, which is a great pro bono organization."
Tuttle said his successor will need to be someone who is strong in promoting advocacy among the organization's members, as well as someone that will be a spokesman for the profession not only with regulators, but with corporations as well.
"I think corporations will begin to see the benefits of financial planning for their employees, and will hire practitioners to help them with that."
