Daniel Moisand Takes Over as CFP Board Chair

The Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards confirmed Tuesday that Daniel Moisand has taken over the role of chair of its board of directors.

Moisand is a principal and financial advisor at Moisand, Fitzgerald, Tamayo, LLC, a financial planning firm with offices in Orlando, Melbourne and Tampa, Florida. His practice focuses on serving the diverse planning needs of retirees and near-retirees.

In taking over as CFP Board Chair, Moisand is tasked with leading the professional body that certifies more than 95,000 financial planning professionals across the United States. In an interview with ThinkAdvisor, Moisand said it is an honor to take the lead at the CFP Board, and especially to serve in the footsteps of the 2022 chairwoman, Kamila Elliott.

"I'm honored to be taking over the role from Kamila, who served in the role with distinction," Moisand said. "Among her accomplishments, Kamila helped to bring great attention to the need to improve the diversity of our profession. I will strive to continue that momentum and to ensure that we continue to elevate the profession of financial planning."

In a statement about the appointment, CFP Board CEO Kevin Keller says Moisand has already made considerable contributions to CFP Board's work. From 1999 to 2001, he served on CFP Board's Board of Practice Standards, helping to draft and promulgate the first financial planning practice standards for CFP professionals. In 2008, he served as chair of CFP Board's Disciplinary and Ethics Commission, reviewing and taking appropriate action with respect to alleged violations of the ethical and practice standards for CFP professionals.

A Big Agenda

Already a few days into the job, Moisand said he feels a significant sense of opportunity and responsibility in the chair role, noting that the financial advice ecosystem widely recognizes CFP certification as "the standard" for financial planners. He said the work of the CFP Board is made more essential by the significant degree of regulatory confusion and consumer misconceptions that exist in the advisory and brokerage industries, with many clients not understanding what best-interest service really means.

"It is a point of pride for me that all CFP professionals are held to a true fiduciary standard in our conduct when we are giving our clients financial advice," Moisand said, noting that he has held his CFP credential since 1994. "When I was starting in this industry, that was a rare thing."

With the theme of best-interest service in mind, Moisand said he is eager to guide the organization as it conducts its first-ever comprehensive review of the CFP Board's competency standards, beginning with the formation in 2023 of a competency standards commission. During his term as chair, he will also preside over the beginning of a new initiative that will focus on increasing the number and diversity of college-bound students choosing financial planning as a degree major and career path.

According to Moisand, this first-ever comprehensive review of CFP Board's competency standards will address topics such as CE credit for pro bono service, current education requirements and the efficacy of the experience requirement. It will also ensure that CFP Board is responsive to both current trends in the financial planning profession and best practices of other certifying bodies.

Moisand emphasized that the Competency Standards Commission will look at not only the appropriateness of each requirement, but also at how the requirements work together to ensure financial planning competency. He declined to put a timeline on the work of the review commission, but he did acknowledge that it would likely require at least a year of effort, if not longer, to get the job done right.

A Note on Enforcement

Moisand said one CFP Board project that has gotten less public attention but which is also a key priority is taking place within the enforcement group, which is working on ways to improve communication about teachable disciplinary cases.

"We have put out guidelines about complying with the ethical code in the past, but we are going to be updating our approach," Moisand said. "For example, we will be sharing better write-ups of disciplinary cases that will help CFPs understand their responsibilities and how to comply with our standards."

Moisand said one goal of this new approach will be to help CFP professionals improve their understanding of the way conflicts of interest can emerge in the normal course of client service — and how to deal with them appropriately. He said CFP professionals can expect to see more useful topical guidance in various areas.

"For example, it is very easy for conflicts of interest to emerge in divorce scenarios, and CFP professionals need to be armed with useful information about that," Moisand said.