CFP Board hikes annual fee 26%, expands advertising campaign

Over 100,000 financial advisors with the CFP designation are going to start paying more for the mark come this fall.

On Tuesday, the CFP Board announced that it would be increasing its annual certification fee by $120, up to $575. The announcement comes along with an expansion of the organization's advertising campaign.

"Since launching the first Public Awareness Campaign in 2011, CFP Board has made major strides in showing people why trustworthy, skilled financial planning matters," the CFP Board wrote in an announcement on its website. "The campaign strikes a chord. And you've told us loud and clear that promoting the CFP brand should remain a top priority. The campaign has raised awareness in a big way, and now is the time to expand."

The CFP Board has allocated a greater portion of its certification fees toward advertising over recent years, data shows. Currently, about 35% of certification fees are directed toward consumer advertising efforts. Come October, nearly half of the total new fee — $280 — will go toward consumer advertising efforts, according to the announcement.

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The fee increase will cover a quarter of the $12.5 million required for a fall 2025 broadcast window, according to the announcement. The CFP Board's investment reserve will supply the remaining $9.4 million for 2025. Starting in 2026, the expanded campaign will be entirely funded by the certification fee.

Over the last 20 years, the CFP Board has increased its annual certification fees on five different occasions. The biggest increase, during which CFPs saw fees jump over 80%, came with the launch of the organization's public awareness campaign.

The Board's most recent fee increase is roughly comparable to the last price hike that CFPs saw in 2022. That increase — the first since 2017 — came along with the launch of the organization's "It's gotta be a CFP" advertising campaign.

Financial advisors with the CFP designation are generally supportive of the advertising push, but the recent announcement isn't without its critics.

On r/CFP, a popular subreddit for CFPs, one thread asked forum members if they'd consider dropping the designation following news of the increase. Over 100 r/CFP members have commented on the thread over the last day, with advisors debating the need and utility of the fee increase. 

"I probably won't drop [the designation] but that email kinda pissed me off," one user commented. "They keep watering down the marks, using the funds to do some of the poorest marketing I've ever seen, and now they want to charge us more for the privilege?"

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Other forum members said they're happy to see their fees going towards advertising the designation to potential clients, but they question the efficacy of the CFP Board's current campaigns.

"It does annoy me that it feels like I am the only person I know seeing these CFP ads," an r/CFP member wrote. "I don't know how they target their ad campaigns, but if it's mainly advisors and CFP Professionals that are getting served them, then no matter how good the ads are, it isn't going to get anyone clients."

Last year, the Board's "Quite Possibly the Perfect Job" digital advertising campaign drew sharp backlash from advisors. The advertisements, which depicted young people lounging in hammocks, getting massages and sleeping, created unrealistic expectations for aspiring professionals while tarnishing the reputations of those already established in the field, advisors argued.

Following the backlash, CFP Board CEO Kevin Keller published an open letter addressing the wave of criticism that the campaign drew.

"To those who have shared feedback about the campaign ads, thank you," he wrote. "We are listening. Your pride in CFP certification is clear. And your stories about why financial planning is your perfect job are inspiring. Your input is helping us to strengthen the campaign and enhance our approach to reaching college and college-bound students."

Along with Keller's statement, the Board also updated the campaign to address criticism that the initial ads received. In one example, an advertisement of a young man eating a burrito was replaced with a picture of him working on a laptop.

The Board's campaign efforts to attract new talent to the organization have had mixed results. But its consumer advertising — which will receive the whole of the funds raised from the new fee increase — has produced clear gains in public awareness of the mark, CFP Board research shows.

Data from the CFP Board shows that "unaided awareness" of the CFP mark has significantly improved since the public awareness campaign began. In 2011, just 17% of the most relevant prospective clients could identify the CFP certification without prompting. That figure had more than doubled by 2024, up to 44%.

But just because the CFP Board's research shows the effectiveness of its advertising campaign, that doesn't mean CFPs themselves feel the benefit.

"I'm not even sure how these campaigns benefit our clients or bring new clients to us," an r/CFP member wrote. "Because I always have to explain the designation anyway."

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Other CPFs, however, said that the designation still makes a difference to their clients. 

"I've been selected out of a lineup of available advisors solely because I have the marks," one user wrote. "I like to think that I'm capable without them, and I know my colleagues are capable without them, but the clients made the decision on that factor alone."

Still, for many CFPs who remain skeptical of the organization's advertising campaign, the fee increase can feel like a "money grab."

"I think they're taking advantage of the fact that 1) most firms pay for it and 2) it's the only differentiator most fee-only folks have," one r/CFP member wrote. "So this feels predatory."