CFP Board CEO Kevin Keller will retire next year after nearly 20 years at the organization’s helm.
Keller plans to step down on April 30, 2026. The CFP Board of Directors has already established a search committee and will begin looking for Keller’s successor later this year, both internally and outside the organization.
Keller, who, according to tax filings, earned $1.6 million in salary in 2023, said it had been the privilege of his career to lead the CFP Board and work to “expand access to competent, ethical financial planning.”
“CFP Board is stronger than ever, with robust leadership, clear strategic direction and momentum that will carry the organization forward,” he said. “I am confident that the Board of Directors will select a successor who will lead CFP Board to even greater heights.”
Before joining the CFP Board as CEO in May 2007, Keller was the chief operating officer for the Association for Financial Professionals, the organization for treasury, financial planning and analysis and corporate finance professionals, for 17 years, according to his LinkedIn profile.
In a LinkedIn post, Keller noted that there were just over 50,000 CFP certificants when he started, compared to more than 100,000 now. He wrote he was “particularly proud” of the Board’s work to expand diversity in the profession and highlighted the Board’s scholarship programs, which have awarded more than $2 million to aspiring certificants.
“I strongly believe that leading well means leaving well,” Keller said.
During Keller’s tenure, the CFP Board moved its headquarters from Denver to Washington, D.C., strengthening its position as an advocate for its members with legislators. He also spearheaded a public relations campaign that the Board claimed reached “millions” of customers through digital, television and print media.
Under Keller, the Board reviewed and revised its sanctions and procedural guidelines. In 2007, the Board adopted updated standards, establishing a fiduciary standard for CFP professionals. In 2020, the revised standards clarified that a CFP professional must act in the best interest of their clients at all times when providing financial advice, not just during the financial planning process.
Some of the Board’s changes followed a 2019 Wall Street investigation found that it had failed to vet thousands of CFP professionals’ regulatory, disciplinary and criminal histories and didn’t include that information on its online search site.
In 2023, the Board split its services into two entities; the CFP Board Center for Financial Planning concentrated on pro bono and research, while the CFP Board of Standards maintained its focus on certifying advisors.
Summit Place Financial Advisors Founder Liz Miller is the Board’s current Chair, while Terri Kallsen, a senior partner with Rise Growth Partners, is the Board’s Chair-Elect for 2025 (she’ll succeed Miller at the start of 2026).
