MoU signing.

Financial Planning Association of Singapore (FPAS), part of the global assembly of the Financial Planning Standards Board (FPSB) in the US, and DBS Bank today announced a partnership to develop training and assessment programs for more than 1,000 wealth planning managers within the bank. This is the first time FPAS is collaborating with a bank for a large-scale training programme.

Established on 1st December 1998, the Financial Planning Association of Singapore (FPAS) is a non-profit professional association dedicated to developing and promoting the financial planning industry in providing unbiased financial advice to the Singaporean public.

FPAS is part of a global assembly of financial planning bodies of the Financial Planning Standards Board Ltd, US (FPSB). FPSB and Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards (CFP Board) set the standards for the CFP® certification program. FPSB currently has 26 members and the number of CFP professionals reached a global high of 175,573 at year-end 2017.

DBS is a leading financial services group in Asia, with over 280 branches across 18 markets. Headquartered and listed in Singapore, DBS has a growing presence in the three key Asian axes of growth: Greater China, Southeast Asia and South Asia. The bank’s “AA-” and “Aa1” credit ratings are among the highest in the world.

DBS and FPAS will collaborate to place the wealth planning managers through training programmes for courses provided by FPAS – namely the Associate Financial Planner (AFPCM) course, the Associate Wealth Planner (AWPCM) course and the Certified Financial Planner (CFP®) course.

DBS and FPAS will kick off the partnership by training the first cohort of 50 wealth planning managers in November 2018. The bank aims to complete training for all 1,000 planners in the AFPCM course by end-2019.

“DBS embraces the highest standards in financial planning in Singapore and across the organisation. Our partnership with FPAS supports our aim to create a financial planning culture focused on serving clients who are looking for holistic, intelligent advice from highly-qualified wealth planning managers,” said Mr Brandon Lam, Singapore Head of Financial Planning Group at DBS Bank.

“With this collaboration, DBS’ wealth planning managers will have fully-subsidised access to FPAS’s education courses, where they will be able to train for the relevant financial planning qualifications and work towards the globally-recognised CFP® certification. Through this programme, we wish to develop wealth planning managers who can serve the needs and interests of our customers, with the highest ethical and professional standards,” said Mr Jeremy Soo, Head of DBS Consumer Banking Group (Singapore).

The CFP® mark is obtained after passing all six modules of the CFP® certification examination. The CFP® mark is internationally recognized and is a highly sought after professional designation by financial planners and wealth managers globally. CFP® practitioners are qualified to provide professional advice regarding all aspects of financial/wealth planning and to write comprehensive financial plans that meet strict international standards.

“Our strategic partnership with DBS will strengthen the recognition of CFP® certification in Singapore and globally, increase the public’s access to competent and ethical advisers, and will help to promote the financial planning profession,” said Edy Hartono, FPAS President.

FPAS’s collaboration with DBS is also in line with FPSB’s vision to grow the number of CFP® professionals to 250,000 professionals in 40 territories by 2025.

“FPAS also supports the Monetary Authority of Singapore’ (MAS) aims for Singapore to become a leading international wealth management hub in Asia and strives to work with the industry to develop Singapore into a centre of excellence for wealth management services and deepen the talent pool in Singapore to provide comprehensive, high-quality wealth advisory solutions,” said Edy.

FPAS CFP® certification supports MAS’ Industry Transformation Map (ITM) for financial services, which outlined growth strategies by programmes for upgrading skills and for continuous innovation in the business lines.

“Today is a special day as we celebrate the World Financial Planning Day organized by FPSB where 26 nations come together to resonates the message on the importance of financial planning. It is an initiative to support IOSCO World Investor Week. We are pleased to partner with DBS to promote financial planning as a profession in Singapore,” said Samantha Wong, FPAS CEO.

“FPAS’ mission is to ensure that all Singaporeans have access to responsible and appropriate financial planning advice, by raising the professional standards of the industry through education and a shared code of ethics. We are committed to raise awareness of the importance of financial literacy for the benefit of all Singaporeans and encourage consumers to take positive planning action,” said Samantha.

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