A methodically formulated and detailed strategy or group of strategies used to manage one’s financial affairs to meet life goals.

The process of developing strategies to assist clients in managing their financial affairs to meet life goals.  “financial planning” shall include analysis of clients’ current financial situation, identification of their financial goals, and developing and recommending financial strategies to realize such goals.

Financial Planning for each individual / family head is must to know the current financial strengths and to do the plan of actions to achieve the intended objectives and goals of the individual / family head in a well-planned way with confidence.

Financial Planning is must for any individual irrespective of financial position, age, sex, designation, profession, social status etc.  There is a misconception that financial planning is required only for the poor or middle-class people.  Financial planning is required for rich people too because the current financial position may not sustain for a long or to meet the family goals at required time and quantum.  You may be a Proprietor/Partner/Managing Director of any business organization and you may think that you need not worry about how to meet your family financial goals in years to come; you do not know that your current financial position is not permanent, secondly you do not know whether your current financial position and your current income is properly invested to provide you and your family the optimum rate of returns and liquidity.  We can term a person who achieves the financial goals without a proper financial plan is just like an accidental achievement.

As explained here above financial planning is a necessity in the current uncertain world, if you want to know your current financial health check and risk appetite; if you have not fixed your family financial goals viz. short term or long term such as emergency fund goals, children education goals, buy a car or property goal, vacation goals, children marriage goals, retirement goals and even for to have estate planning for your dependents; if you have no clarity on how to realize all these goals from the available assets and income avenues. If you are concerned with any one or as a whole of the requirements; then you need a financial planning.

FPSB India has categorized the Financial Planner Abilities into six Financial Planning Components:

  1. Financial Management
  2. Asset Management
  3. Risk Management
  4. Tax Planning
  5. Retirement Planning
  6. Estate Planning

FPSB has categorized the Financial Planner Abilities into three Financial Planning Functions:

Collection

During Collection, the financial planning professional collects the information required to develop a financial plan. Collection goes beyond simply gathering information to also include identifying related facts by making required calculations and arranging client information for analysis.

Analysis

During Analysis, the financial planning professional identifies and considers issues, performs financial analysis and assesses the resulting information to be able to develop strategies for the client.

Synthesis

During Synthesis, the financial planning professional synthesizes the information to develop and evaluate strategies to create a financial plan.

 

FPSB India’s Financial Planning Body of Knowledge identifies the knowledge a financial planning professional must be able to draw on to deliver financial planning to clients, or when interacting with colleagues or others in a professional capacity.

FPSB India categorized the Financial Planning Body of Knowledge into 11 areas:

  1. Taxation
  2. Insurance
  3. Investment
  4. Retirement, Savings and Income Programs
  5. Law
  6. Financial Analysis
  7. Debt
  8. Economic and Regulatory Environment
  9. Government Benefits Plans
  10. Behavioral Finance
  11. Ethics and Standards

Financial Planning in India is taking its momentum as the country is a second largest populated country in the globe.  Each individual needs financial planning and in India, the financial planning is rapidly evolving as the country is striving to compete with the financially developed countries.

CFPCM Certification Program is administered and monitored within India by Financial Planning Standards Board India (FPSB India) through a license agreement with FPSB Ltd. CFP Marks stand for a globally accepted competency level, ethics and professional practice standards in order to protect the public and other stakeholders in Financial Planning. It is important that the CFP Marks do not fall into common use. If the marks fall into common use, the public may not be able to differentiate a personal financial planner who has completed FPSB Ltd.’s rigorous certification requirements from the one who has not.  CFPCM Certification is the Global excellence in financial planning.

FPSB India adopted the Code of Ethics to establish the highest principles and standards.

Code of Ethic 1 – Client First

Code of Ethic 2 – Integrity

Code of Ethic 3 – Objectivity

Code of Ethic 4 – Fairness

Code of Ethic 5 – Professionalism

Code of Ethic 6 – Competence

Code of Ethic 7 – Confidentiality

Code of Ethic 8 – Diligence

A professional who met the requisite qualification and certification along with experience requirement under Securities and Exchange Board of India (Investment Advisers) Regulations, 2013 and having the registration certificate from SEBI as “Investment Adviser”.

Honesty and fairness

Diligence

Capabilities

Information about clients

Information to its clients

Fair and reasonable charges

Conflicts of interest

Compliance

Responsibility of senior management

Investment adviser shall ensure that:-

  • it obtains from the client, such information as is necessary for the purpose of giving investment advice, including the following:-
  • age;
  • investment objectives including time for which they wish to stay invested, the purposes of the investment;
  • income details;
  • existing investments / assets;
  • risk appetite/ tolerance;
  • liability / borrowing details.
  • it has a process for assessing the risk a client is willing and able to take, including:
  • assessing a client’s capacity for absorbing loss;
  • identifying whether client is unwilling or unable to accept the risk of loss of capital;
  • appropriately interpreting client responses to questions and not attributing inappropriate weight to certain answers.
  • where tools are used for risk profiling, it should be ensured that the tools are fit for the purpose and any limitations are identified and mitigated;
  • any questions or description in any questionnaires used to establish the risk a client is willing and able to take are fair, clear and not misleading, and should ensure that:
  • questionnaire is not vague or use double negatives or in a complex language that the client may not understand;
  • questionnaire is not structured in a way that it contains leading questions.

You are hereby advised to approach a right financial planning and investment professional to have your holistic comprehensive financial planning and to have unbiased investment advice based on your risk profile and suitability to realize your financial goals. The right professional is none other than a CFPCM professional cum SEBI Registered Investment Adviser.  You are hereby advised not to approach any Accountant, Auditing Professional, Stock Broker, Mutual Fund distributor etc. because they may not be competent enough and regulated under the relevant regulatory authorities to provide financial planning and unbiased investment advice based on your risk profile and suitability.

 

As per SEBI(IA)Regulations, 2013; An investment adviser shall act in a fiduciary capacity towards its clients and shall disclose all conflicts of interests as and when they arise. Also, An investment adviser shall not receive any consideration by way of remuneration or compensation or in any other form from any person other than the client being advised, in respect of the underlying products or securities for which advice is provided.

Financial Planning Standards Board Ltd. (FPSB Ltd.), the US-based organization owns the CFPCM,
CERTIFIED 
FINANCIAL PLANNERCM and  outside the United States, and permits qualified individuals to use these marks to indicate that such individuals have met FPSB Ltd.’s initial and ongoing certification requirements. Financial Planning Standards Board India (FPSB India) is the CFPCM Marks licensing authority through an agreement with FPSB Ltd.

CFP Marks Usage Guide

Code of Ethics

Financial Planner Competency

FPSB India Financial Planning Practice Standards

FPSB India Rules of Conduct

Lessons on Financial Planning SEBI