With the increasing demand for financial planners, several academic institutions in India have started offering the course called CFP or Certified Financial Planner. CFP is a certification course that is currently being offered by some private institutions. The course focuses on the study of financial planning, as well as financial advisory services and wealth management. While the course is not widely available, it has become one of the most sought-after certification courses among students.
The CFP course is not a very expensive course due to its short duration. Students may have to pay an average fee of less than INR 1 lakh to pursue this certification programme at chosen institutions. However, the fee may vary per the institution and the quality and demand for the course. Further, students may pursue this certification course on a full-time or part-time basis, as well as via distance education or correspondence mode.
The certification course of CFP is available at selected colleges and institutions. All these institutes are privately governed. Following are the places from where you can pursue the CFP course if you are interested in becoming a Certified Financial Planner:
· International College of Financial Planning, Mumbai
· ICICIdirect Centre for Financial Learning, New Delhi / Mumbai / Hyderabad / Bengaluru / Kolkata / Pune
· International College of Financial Planning, New Delhi
· iVentures Academy of Business & Finance, New Delhi
· Indian School of Business Management & Administration, Guwahati / Raipur / Coimbatore / Lucknow / Patna
Different institutions offering full-time, part-time, or correspondence CFP course may have varied eligibility criteria for admission in this course. Following are the eligibility requirements of ICFP and ICICI Centre:
· International College of Financial Planning: The candidate must have an experience of 3 years after completing graduation or 5 years after completing 10+2.
· ICICIdirect Centre for Financial Learning: The candidate must have passed the 10+2 exam or an equivalent exam from a recognised board.Candidates having a professional certification or a post-graduation degree are also eligible to apply.
· International College of Financial Planning: The candidate must have an experience of 3 years after completing graduation or 5 years after completing 10+2.
Duration of CFP Programme
The duration of the certification course varies from one institution to another. While the International College of Financial Planning offers a full-time course of 100 hours, ICICIdirect Centre for Financial Learning and iVentures Academy of Business & Finance provide a part-time, classroom programme of 6 months.
The International College of Financial Planning has a distance learning or correspondence CFP course of the duration of 5 months. The distance-learning course is also available at the Indian School of Business Management & Administration, but this course is of the duration of 2 years and is called Chartered Finance Manager course.
The course in CFP helps students in gaining a certification that is rated by the U.S. News and World Report, 2012 as "One of the best Jobs". The CFP certification is the most recognised financial planning certification at a global level. It is in high demand among various types of organisations. The CFP course makes students competent to offer strategic consulting services in the areas of taxation, insurance, retirement planning, investments, and even real estate requirements.
All students who have done graduation in the field of Commerce, Finance, Management Studies, Business Administration, Insurance, and Finance Management can greatly benefit in their professional career by gaining the CFP certification. In fact, those who are Chartered Accountants or MBAs also prefer to do this certification course. The certification programme can help any student who is seeking to make a strong career in the field of Finance and Wealth Management.
Those professionals who have been working in the finance and banking industry can be highly benefitted if they have completed the CFP course and gained a certification in financial planning. They can raise the chances of their promotion and even shift to a more promising job position after becoming a Certified Financial Planner. The certification is highly recognised and is rated by Wall Street Journal as Gold Standard.
The CFP course comes with only one specialisation, which is financial planning and analysis. The specialisation offers an understanding of various aspects of financial planning and analysis, such as savings, taxation, financial advisory, risk analysis, investments, insurance, wealth and estate planning, etc. After completing the course of CFP, students turn into professionals who can help their clients in wise financial planning.
Job Prospects: The financial planning and analysis specialisation in the CFP course makes certified students capable of working with reputed banking and financial institutions. Most leading banks nationally and internationally hire CFPs. Students can also work in the areas of private banking, tax planning, fund management, portfolio management, and mutual funds advisory. CFPs can also start their own businesses or work with brokering companies, life insurance companies, and even education providers as instructors.
Further, those who have done the CFP course can join a financial, tax or wealth advisory consultancy.While CFP professionals, who are fresh graduates, can expect to join financial organisations at the entry level as trainees or executives, those who also have one to two years’ work experience can join at the middle level as relationship managers, financial planners, insurance advisors or wealth managers. Those CFPs who have more than three years of experience can expect to join at a senior position like business head, senior advisor or team leader, as well as gain an excellent pay package that may go above INR 8-10 lakhs.
Thus, students with a CFP certification have no dearth of jobs in their domain.A wide range of positions comes with flexible work hours at consulting firms or financial advisory firms. Prior work experience and higher qualification in a related area can raise the job prospects even further.