Over the course of time, certain words and phrases gain such popularity in everyday conversation and become so overused, they lose their original weight and meaning. "Awesome" is an excellent example.
When I hear that word, I think of the Grand Canyon at sunset or the magnificent snow-capped Rocky Mountains, but many other people will use "awesome" to praise the latest video game or a fast car.
Has the word "professional" suffered the same fate? Far too many people think that the term has a very broad use and that it simply separates those who get paid for doing something from those who do not. I believe there are true professionals and there are pretenders. What separates the two? It is the desire to do one's very best and to devote the time and energy to make that happen. Any person can hang out a shingle and call himself a financial professional, but only a select few have earned the demanding credentials required of a true professional. Even fewer submit themselves to the ethical standards of an organization such as the Society of Financial Service Professionals (SFSP). The outstanding men and women who are members of the Society are committed to making the core values of education, ethics, and relationships an integral part of their professional lives.
Education is the foundation of professionalism and of the Society. It is the common bond that our members have with the founders of the Society. Each of those founders and each Society member has experienced at least one rigorous educational curriculum, the culmination of which was the conferment of a professional designation or advanced educational degree. Our designations signify not only that we have the benefit of formal education, but also that we care enough about our profession to invest "sweat equity" in an effort to master our craft.
Unfortunately -- and ironically -- because of mandatory continuing education (CE), some of the education available to our profession has become a commodity, just another product to be bought and sold. In far too many cases, education means nothing more than an hour or two of sitting in a classroom to meet the requirements of a regulatory agency, a broker/dealer, or a compliance department. It serves only to maintain one's license to do business and does nothing to better the financial lives of those we serve.
That kind of education is not the Society's version. It never has been, and it never will be. When an association collects dues for membership, there is an inherent promise that the association will deliver true value for those membership dollars. The Society of FSP takes seriously the promise it makes to all 20,000 members each year and delivers on that promise by providing educational products and services that are designed to enhance our members' business. Every DVD, every audio-conference, and every Webcast teaches Society members how to provide value to their clients.
The Society makes its events educational, too. The annual Financial Service Forum and the Arizona Institute are venues for financial professionals to come together and to learn from other practitioners how to enhance the lives of the individuals, families, and businesses that rely on them for financial guidance. The Society will continue to provide advanced, cutting-edge education that is relevant to all its members. That is not only one of our core values; it is part of our mission.
If advanced education is the brain of the Society, then its heart is the commitment to ethical conduct among all members of the financial community. Since the Society's founding in 1928, we have ascribed to a code of ethics. It has been refined periodically to meet the changing environment of our professional world and now is called the Code of Professional Responsibility. It is a dynamic, relevant document to which each member must adhere.
In recent years, we've seen the monumental business failures of Enron, WorldCom, and others -- businesses that imploded not for economic reasons but for lack of values and ethics. Any student of history can tell you that this phenomenon isn't new. Today's stories simply involve more dollars and more widely are communicated. Unfortunately, the bad news is not confined to business. We've seen this kind of behavior in our political and educational institutions and even within some charitable and religious organizations.
There is a bright spot. In October, the Society congratulated three new recipients of our American Business Ethics Award (ABEA). These are companies committed to ethical conduct, and they have thrived, not in spite of that kind of conduct, but because of it. The Society established the ABEA in 1994, and, in a short time, it has become widely known and well respected. It also is growing -- not only at the national level, but also in cities and communities throughout the country, thanks to the efforts of Society chapters that host local Business Ethics Award events. My hope is that someday the Society will bring its ethics course to business organizations across the country so that our brand of ethics will reach all segments of the U.S. business community.
The third core value that defines the Society and enhances professionalism focuses on relationships. Close working relationships among legal, tax, and financial professionals are vital to the estate and financial planning process, and the Society brings all these credentialed financial professionals together into one multi-disciplinary organization. We are planning people, insurance people, investment people, legal and tax people, banking people, and employee benefit people. We are unique because we welcome all these designated professionals into our membership.
We have joined together to promote high ethical conduct and outstanding educational opportunities to share our collective wisdom with one another. None of us learned his craft in secret, so why should we labor in secret or protect our wisdom as though it is ours alone? A true professional knows that he and his profession are enhanced when he shares what he has learned.
This philosophy has created a nationwide network of financial professionals who are committed to the idea that no one professional and no one profession can do it all; that we need one another's skills; and that ethical, competent teamwork among professionals best will serve the public's needs.
Today, our inclusiveness makes the Society unique. Tomorrow, this inclusiveness will be our strength.
As the Society has become more inclusive and welcomed a greater diversity of financial disciplines into membership, we have heard it suggested that the Society has tried to distance itself from the life insurance community. I want to state emphatically and without equivocation that that simply is not true. The people who founded the Society 77 years ago all were insurance people, and most of our members today are involved in the insurance business in some way. We have a long history and a rich culture with the insurance community, and we are proud of this.
We recognize, however, that the financial service profession has changed dramatically in recent years. The National Association of Life Underwriters acknowledged the change, and in 1999 the leadership of NALU changed its name to the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors to reflect more accurately its members' activities. Likewise, the Million Dollar Round Table recognized that its members were engaged not only in the insurance business, but also in the investment business, and it revised its qualification rules accordingly.
At the same time, no one suggested that these two great organizations were distancing themselves from the insurance business. Neither is the Society. We are building on the foundation of our strong traditions to create an organization relevant to our ever-expanding profession.
It's interesting to note that people who started their careers in the insurance business now are moving into the areas of investments and fee-based planning. At the same time, some attorneys and many accountants are transitioning from their traditional fee arrangement to the areas of insurance, investments, and employee benefits. The Society has much to offer today's credentialed financial professionals, and they have much to offer us, and we welcome all of them with open arms.
These core values have both heart and soul, and it's easy to get excited about them. Our message to the public, the media, our sister organizations, and all our members is that the Society of FSP means education, ethics, and relationships. It means true professionals who embrace these values as their own, professionals who know that providing clients with knowledgeable, sound, and ethical financial guidance requires a lifetime of dedication.
The Society of FSP confidently looks to the future as we serve our members by enabling them to be better at what they do. We want to be a true home for credentialed financial service professionals who are dedicated to being the best and to giving their best. We want our members to be surrounded by like-minded men and women -- people who know that the word "professional" means more than making money. It means making the decision to be the best. Now that is awesome!
Ward B. Anderson, CLU, ChFC, is president of the Society of Financial Service Professionals for 2005-2006. Mr. Anderson also is president of Compensation Planning & Administration Systems, Inc., an employee benefit consulting firm, and is a representative with MassMutual Financial Group. He is a past president of the Society's Rocky Mountain Chapter and a past president of the Denver Estate Planning Council.
