How Clients Benefit From Designations

The value professional designations offer to financial professionals is critically important. After all, statistics like a 13% higher growth in earnings among College designees over the last three years compared to those with no designations¹ are likely encouraging for anyone considering the pursuit of a designation from The College.

However, after a financial professional has earned their designation, it is equally important that they be able to speak to the benefits a designation offers to their clients. Fortunately, the 2024 Designation Outcomes Study, conducted in partnership with FUSE Research Network, provides some insight and direction on how to demonstrate your increased value.

How Designations Benefit Clients

According to the data gathered in the 2024 Designation Outcomes Study, business practices and relationships between financial professionals and their clients improved significantly¹:

• 74% of College designees reported improved client conversations
• 70% of College designees reported an improved ability to assist their clients in meeting goals
• 65% of College designees reported higher client satisfaction

Financial professionals with designations from The College not only demonstrate increased knowledge to assist clients, but also better skills to foster strong relationships with their clients. These improved relationships may originate, in part, from a financial professional’s ability to speak to a specialized field in which a client requires assistance.

This claim is supported by data found in a Cerulli study. The study posits that enhanced engagement with clients’ financial situations, such as offering specialized services, leads to stronger client relationships, improved client retention, and generally correlates to an increase in a practice’s assets under management and average client size.²

Designations Helping Clients Plan for Retirement

Being able to speak knowledgeably about important topics such as retirement while helping clients achieve improved outcomes in a planning area that can be challenging, even for skilled financial planners. For this reason, many clients find better results when working with a specialist, such as a Retirement Income Certified Professional® (RICP®). A RICP® possesses expert-level retirement knowledge that can help clients achieve improved retirement outcomes. This knowledge likely contributes to RICP® holders outpacing their peers when it comes to improved client relations¹:

• 83% reported improved client conversations
• 81% reported an improved ability to assist their clients in meeting goals
• 69% reported higher client satisfaction

These numbers suggest a very strong correlation between the RICP® designation and improved client relationships.

Designations Leveraged to Plan for Underserved Communities

One other such specialization, special needs planning, requires financial professionals to have a strong understanding of their clients’ individual situations. Offering services to this traditionally underserved community results in a strong bond between financial professionals and their clients. As such, the Chartered Special Needs Consultant® (ChSNC®) also boasts impressive numbers relating to client relations¹:

• 75% reported improved client conversations
• 72% reported an improved ability to assist their clients in meeting goals
• 63% reported higher client satisfaction

Similarly to the RICP®, the ChSNC® designation serves as an indicator of expert-level knowledge to clients looking for financial planning relations to their specialized field.

Designations Allow Clients to Build a Lasting Impact

Another designation we see this trend with is the Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy® (CAP®). Holders of the CAP® designation offer extensive knowledge of philanthropic planning and are qualified to help clients with goals they may be especially passionate about such as charitable giving, legacy planning, and nonprofit planning. As such, numbers indicate that the work of CAP® designees is greatly appreciated by clients¹:

• 81% reported improved client conversations
• 76% reported an improved ability to assist their clients in meeting goals
• 68% reported higher client satisfaction

Like other designations, earning the CAP® correlates with significant improvements in a financial professional’s relationships with their client, as the financial professional works with their clients to help them realize their legacy.

How Designations Power Success

All these statistics point to a major trend among all College designations that grows more pronounced among more specialized designations. Improved conversations, higher client satisfaction, and more suggest that clients appreciate the care they receive when working with designation holders and act accordingly, offering their financial professionals greater trust and staying with them longer — benefitting both their wellbeing and your bottom line.

Learn more about the benefits financial professionals and their clients can receive in our 2024 Designation Outcomes Study results.

More From The College

• Explore the RICP® Program
• Explore the ChSNC® Program
• Explore the CAP® Program