More than eight out of 10 aspiring young CFP professionals will consider whether a firm emphasizes pro bono planning when deciding where to work, according to a new survey from the Foundation for Financial Planning and Amplified Planning.
The survey focused on individuals under 35 planning to attain the CFP certification and found that 43% of respondents said they’d be “very likely” to work at a firm with encouraging pro bono policies, while 40% said they’d be “likely” to do so.
In an interview with WealthManagement.com, FFP CEO Jon Dauphiné posited that more firms will consider boosting pro bono policies when realizing their appeal to the next wave of young planners.
“We think that the more firms realize that in the war for talent that they can get a competitive edge by offering supportive policies, we think more and more firms will step up,” Dauphiné said
This new survey stems from an extensive analysis by the FFP released in September 2023, which asked more than 1,600 CFP professionals about pro bono work in the industry. According to the results, 53% of CFP planners reported they’d do more planning work if their firm encouraged it, but among CFP professionals under 35, that figure jumped to 71%.
These diverging percentages made Dauphiné and the FFP curious about what younger soon-to-be planners thought about the necessity of pro bono work. With the help of Amplified Planning, FFP asked 314 individuals, 91% of whom intend to attain a CFP designation. The respondents ranged from students to recent graduates and career changers.
The survey respondents were more diverse than the broader group of all CFP professionals, with a 50%- 47% split between women and men (compared to 24%-76% in all CFP professionals) and only 57% responding that they were white (compared to 81.9% of all CFP professionals). Dauphiné said research indicates younger generations want to connect their work (even in a for-profit) company to a greater purpose across industries.
“When they think about being able to deliver financial advice and planning, they sort of want to be able to do it across a diverse economic spectrum,” he said. “And so pro bono work is a way for them to help underserved communities that have very little margin for error.”
Respondents also called for more pro bono opportunities during their education; only 9% said they had provided pro bono guidance as a part of their program at their educational institution, while 88% of respondents wanted their academic programs to offer more content and support for students interested in financial planning. In all, 76% said they planned to do pro bono service once getting their CFP certification, with 23% remaining undecided.
Survey respondents also compared the legal and financial services fields, with 84% agreeing that advisory firms should emulate law firms, which makes providing pro bono services a central part of their sales pitch.
According to Dauphiné, any big law firm needs to be in the “pro bono game” because new associates want to assess a firm’s bona fides on the subject. While acknowledging the legal profession as a head start of centuries in the financial planning field, he’s hoping the latter can close the gap in how it promotes pro bono and makes information on it accessible to aspiring employees.
Dauphiné also pointed out that law students have a resource that lists all law firms in the country with all the available data on that firm’s pro bono work, helping incoming associates determine which firms are walking the walk.
While the FFP established RIA Impact Partners, in which firms like Edelman Financial Engines and Buckingham Strategic Wealth pledge to boost volunteer opportunities for advisors, Dauphiné said the foundation hopes to create a database for planners akin to what new attorneys enjoy.
“This is going to be something we do over time,” he said. “But I think that’s going to be really useful because otherwise it’s just up to the individual applicant to ask the employer in a piecemeal way."
