The Certified Financial Planner (CFP) curriculum has expanded to include a new psychology unit to combat human flaws while the sector is adopting AI despite its imperfections, according to a professional body leader.
Dante De Gori, Financial Planning Standards Board (FPSB) chief, told a NZ advisory industry gathering earlier this month that the new psychology course acknowledged the crucial behavioural aspects of providing advice.
Speaking at the Financial Advice NZ (FANZ) conference in Christchurch, De Gori said the CFP unit, introduced at the start of this year ahead of a phased roll-out, would explore how “psychology integrates within the financial planning process and enhances the role of a financial planner”.
He said the course encompassed both client behavioural quirks as well as how adviser biases can impact clients.
FANZ members studying for the CFP would have access to the ‘Psychology in practice’ materials soon, De Gori said.
The FPSB oversees the CFP marque globally where the financial planning designation currently has almost 230,650 holders across 28 countries.
In NZ, however, the number of CFP-qualified advisers has declined from a high of more than 500 to just 216 in the most recent statistics.
But FANZ is making efforts to rebuild the status of the financial planning educational standard here with a new batch of CFPs certified this month bringing the total to 223.
NZ will also host the APAC region CFP forum next year.
As human psychology gets a formal educational treatment for the sector, De Gori said the FPSB found the sector was rapidly integrating artificial intelligence tools to boost client service capabilities.
He said a FPSB survey of more than 6,000 members (including some from NZ) found more than half were already using AI with a further 10 per cent intending to over the next 12 months: about a third of respondents had no plans to use AI.
Almost 80 per cent of those surveyed said the fast-spreading technology would “enhance their ability to deliver better service to their clients”.
“Respondents saw most AI potential in data collection and analysis, and presenting client recommendations,” De Gori said.
The survey found data privacy and security was the biggest AI-worry (47 per cent) while 42 per cent had concerns about the accuracy of “outputs”.
Only 1 per cent said they had “no significant concerns” about AI.
Full survey results are due out next month.