Katie Melua famously sang that there are nine million bicycles in Bejiing.
It is hard to know how accurate this figure might be, although official Chinese statistics in 2009 suggested 13 million might be the right answer.
We do however know that there are now 1,000 Certfied Financial PlannerCM (CFP) professionals in the UK.
This comes with the news that our Twitter friend Joanna Hague, a Paraplanner based in Doncaster, has become the 1,000th Certfied Financial PlannerCM Professional to be practicing in the UK.
Congrats to Joanna Hague CFP of Investment for Life on becoming UK’s 1,000th CFP Professional http://t.co/98zXREe5QN via @FPM_Online
— Kevin O’Donnell (@FPM_Kevin) January 21, 2014
Congratulations, Jo!
Our congratulations also go to the Institute of Financial Planning (IFP), who have been responsible for representing Financial Planning as a profession in the UK since 1995.
CFPCM certification is the only globally recognised mark of excellence in Financial Planning, with 153,000 Financial Planning professionals worldwide.
The assessment is set at the same level as the final year of a university degree, making the Level 6 CFPCM certification a demanding test of technical knowledge and practical application.
It requires between 400 and 800 hours of study to complete.
Here at Informed Choice, we are proud to have three CFPCM professionals in the team.
As investors becoming increasingly discerning in their choice of Financial Planner, the CFPCM certification and Chartered Financial Planner status is likely to be the minimum qualification level for all leading advisers.
