Breanna Rae Blaney, a former vice president at Dimensional Fund Advisors where she directed the Life, Invested educational program, has launched her own initiative, the Anya Institute for Human Revolution, a learning and training program that will initially focus on helping financial advisors bring a more human-centric approach to the financial planning work they do with clients.
Blaney said she decided to create the program after building a network of financial advisors during her time at DFA, and seeing how their businesses and the needs of their clients had evolved.
At the asset management firm, she worked closely with DFA founder David Booth to expand the Life, Invested platform, a program aimed at making investing more relatable through storytelling and principles. (The title is shared with Booth’s book on life lessons and investing) She will draw on her experience at DFA, as well as her training in yoga and Ayurveda, a holistic system of medicine based on the idea that the body, mind and spirit are all connected.
The program aims to simplify investing and integrate finance into the bigger picture of people’s lives.
“One of the core philosophies of the program is this concept that it's not personal or professional development; it's human development. We're one person, and that money isn't this thing that happens in a silo,” Blaney said. “It is very integrated into every single aspect of our life. When you start to unpack someone's relationship with money, you start to really unpack their relationship with themselves and who they are. And I think that that's the opportunity that financial advisors have in many ways, is to help people understand who they are and align their resources with what really is meaningful to them in their lives.”
The founding cohort of about two dozen advisors will go through an eight-month program with bi-weekly virtual workshops, a three-day retreat and access to tools, frameworks and personalized coaching support. The grouip will come out of the program with an Integrative Wealth Advisor Certification, which equips advisors with the tools to align money with meaning.
The program starts with the retreat in May at the CIVANA Wellness Resort & Spa in Scottsdale, Ariz. The luxury center has roots in Ayurveda, and the outing will consist of workshops, group sessions, wellness practices and community building among the participants.
Tuition for the program is $12,000, and covers the live sessions, retreat, certification, client toolkits, membership access and ongoing resources.
Blaney says that she discovered yoga and Ayurveda after feeling burnt out working in financial services. The more she studied it, the more she realized that money is a portal to understanding ourselves.
“I started to just really see the opportunity that we have as an industry and that financial advisors have to not just help people accumulate wealth, but to truly revolutionize the way that they view themselves and also how we allocate capital,” she said.
To be sure, there are other programs and designations focused on the human-centric approach to financial planning. That includes the Registered Life Planner designation, developed by George Kinder and the Kinder Institute of Life Planning. The Financial Therapy Association, a membership organization for professionals dedicated to the integration of cognitive, emotional, behavioral, relational and financial aspects of well-being, has its Certified Financial Therapists (CFT-I) designation. And the Financial Transitionist Institute, a division of the Sudden Money Institute, administers the Certified Financial Transitionists (CeFT) designation.
In 2021, the CFP Board of Standards added the “Psychology of Financial Planning” to the list of concepts that prospective CFPs would need to know.
But Blaney said her designation goes beyond mindset coaching and behavioral finance to address the full spectrum of human experience, including physical health, mental well-being, purpose and impact.
"By blending human behavior, neuroscience and ancient wisdom, we provide advisors with both practical tools and embodied experience to align wealth with purpose and values, while fostering deep personal evolution," she said. "Designed to complement existing financial planning models, we empower advisors to build meaningful client relationships, elevate their impact, and grow a business rooted in authentic leadership and service."
