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ABFPSM Professional Designation
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Accredited Behavioral Finance ProfessionalSM - ABFPSM

ABFPSM Professional Designation Program
$1,350.00
    

As the first advisor-focused behavioral finance designation from an accredited college or university, the Accredited Behavioral Finance ProfessionalSM  or ABFPSM program, is a unique program that enhances advisors’ emotional competencies, client interactions, and financial planning advice through a thorough understanding of psychological explanations for economic behavior and hands-on practice of knowledge.

Designed for mid-career and advanced career financial professionals, the ABFPSM program brings together comprehensive research and trends from leaders and experts in the area of behavioral finance with engaging, in-class activities that enable you to start using your new skills with existing clients from day one.  

Choose your learning modality and complete your ABFPSM designation program.

  • Live Online Classes
    Our Live Online classes are best for individuals who prefer a structured schedule of instructor-led classes to stay on track with completing the program and the advantages of active learning features only possible in a live learning community. Features such as the following help you participate in the learning process, enabling you to apply new skills more quickly into your client interactions:
    • Interactive infographics
    • Activities using whiteboards
    • In-class polls as part of knowledge checks
    • Additional handouts to reinforce learning
    • Real-time access to instructors to ask questions or get clarifications on challenging concepts

Because this option is structured-pace, classes begin at certain times of the year.

  • OnDemand Classes
    Our OnDemand classes are best for individuals who need the flexibility to complete a professional designation program at their own pace based on their busy schedule. Your online learning platform will guide you through all your course-related activities, from reading assignments, recorded video lectures and module quizzes to your final exam.

Because this option is self-paced, you can begin the program at any time.  

The ABFPSM designation streamlines the cost and time toward your next credential.

As you advance your career, the College recognizes the time and investment it takes to earn industry-recognized credentials.  Upon completion of the ABFPSM, graduates earn direct credit for one elective course in the College’s Master of Science Degree in Personal Financial Planning.

 

Plus, completion of professional designations programs can also help you fulfill continuing education (CE) requirements:
  • If you are a CFP® professional, successful completion of the College’s professional designation programs can qualify for CE credit for CFP® certification renewal as follows:
    • ADPA® designation program fulfills 22.5 hours
    • All other designation programs (except the FPQP®, WMSSM and LUTCF® programs) fulfill 28 hours
  • If you currently hold a professional designation from the College, completion of a new professional designation fulfills CE hours as part of the renewal of your current designation.

 

Learn More About the ABFPSM Program

Dr. Sara Stolberg Berkowicz, Associate Professor at the College for Financial Planning®—a Kaplan Company, explains how behavioral finance is shaping the financial services industry. Watch the video to learn more about the knowledge and tools financial professionals gain through the College's Accredited Behavioral Finance ProfessionalSM Program and how they can help improve client retention, acquisition and production. 

The ABFPSM designation package includes*: 

Choose between Live Online or OnDemand classes to complete your program.

 

Live Online Classes

Our Live Online classes are best for individuals who prefer a structured schedule of instructor-led classes to stay on track with completing the program and the advantages of active learning features only possible in a live learning community. Features such as the following help you participate in the learning process, enabling you to apply new skills more quickly into your client interactions:
  • Interactive infographics
  • Activities using whiteboards
  • In-class polls as part of knowledge checks
  • Additional handouts to reinforce learning
  • Real-time access to instructors to ask questions or get clarifications on challenging concepts

Because this option is structured-pace, classes begin at certain times of the year.

OnDemand Classes

Our OnDemand classes are best for individuals who need the flexibility to complete a professional designation program at their own pace based on their busy schedule. Your online learning platform will guide you through all your course-related activities, from reading assignments, recorded video lectures and module quizzes to your final exam.

 

Because this option is self-paced, you can begin the program at any time.  







  • Behavioral Finance Theory and Implications
  • Emotions in the Financial Markets
  • Emotions in Investors
  • Risk Detection and Debiasing
  • Behavioral Investing
  • Investor Bias Mitigation and Neurofinance
  • Puzzles and Frontiers in Behavioral Finance

 

 


Module Quizzes, located at the end of each unit in your program, are designed to gauge your comprehension of the material. Students must complete the 30-question quiz for each module (or 20-question quiz if you are pursuing the ADPA® program) before moving to the next module. For questions answered incorrectly, correct answers with detailed rationale are provided to help improve your comprehension.

The Practice Exam is designed to closely replicate the Final Exam experience in terms of the degree of difficulty, timing, format, and topical coverage. This exam can be taken twice and provides unique practice questions that you haven’t seen at this point in your studies. The Practice Exam is a sound indicator of how you will perform on your Final Exam. It allows you to see areas of strength and weakness on your Performance Tracker. 

 

For the AAMS®, APMA®, AWMA® ,CRPC® , CSRIC® ,FPQP®  and SE-AWMASM designations:
To pass the designation program, you must achieve a score of 70% or higher on the Final Exam. Students have an allotted time of 3 hours to take the Final Exam and a maximum of two attempts to pass the Final Exam. 

If you are pursuing the Sports & Entertainment (SE) Supplemental Education for AWMA® Program to earn your SE-AWMA℠ designation, you must achieve a score of 70% or higher on the Final Exam. These students have an allotted time of 1 hour to take the Final Exam and a maximum of two attempts to pass the Final Exam. 

The grade earned on the Final Exam reflects your overall grade for the designation program.


For the ABFPSM, ADPA®, LUTCF®  and WMSSM  designations:
To pass the designation program, you must achieve a score of 70% or higher on the Final Exam. Students have an allotted time of 2 hours to take the Final Exam and a maximum of two attempts to pass the Final Exam. 

The grade earned on the Final Exam reflects your overall grade for the designation program.

 




 


*Your textbook is not included in the package price. Once you enroll you will be able to find the required materials to purchase from Amazon or direct from the publisher.

    Course Sessions

    For OnDemand classes, you can enroll and begin pre-recorded class lectures at any time.

     

    Frequently Asked Questions about the ABFPSM Designation

    The ABFPSM designation program is designed for advanced advisors who wish to master behavioral finance soft skills that enhance financial planning advice and deepen client relationships. 

    • Experienced advisors who desire financial planning credentials to advance their career
    • Advisors who wish to pursue a master of science degree at a later date


      For all designation programs except the Sports & Entertainment (SE) Supplemental Education for the AWMA® program
      Students in all professional designation programs except the Sports & Entertainment (SE) Supplemental Education for the AWMA® Program have 120 days from the date they are provided online access to complete a designation program (including testing and passing the Final Exam). 
      • Students who enroll in Live Online classes will receive online access 20 days prior to the first class date.
      • Students who enroll in OnDemand classes will receive online access immediately after they enroll.

      If you need to extend your program, extensions of up to 60 days are available at a fee.  Extensions requests must be received on or before the fourteenth day following the course end date. Fees are non-refundable.

      Sports & Entertainment (SE) Supplemental Education for the AWMA® program

      Students have 30 days from the date they are provided online access to complete the program (including testing and passing the Final Exam). 

      If you need to extend your program, extensions of up to 60 days are available at a fee.  Extensions requests must be received on or before the fourteenth day following the course end date. Fees are non-refundable.

       

       

       

      The Final Exam for the ABFPSM  program contains 50 questions. 

      Students have an allotted time of 2 hours to take the Final Exam and a maximum of two attempts to pass the Final Exam. 

      A passing score on the Final Exam is a score of 70% or higher. The grade earned on the Final Exam reflects your overall grade for the designation program.

      A score of 70% or better is required to pass all professional designation final exams. Students who do not earn a minimum of 70% after the allotted number of final exam attempts will be required to re-enroll in the professional designation course, pursuant to the Professional Designation Re-Enrollment Policy.


      After a student successfully completes the academic requirements of the professional designation program, students are notified via email (typically within 48 hours of course completion) to apply for authorization to use the applicable certification marks in accordance with the designation requirements. You can also apply for authorization through home.kaplanlearn.com. Continued use of certification marks is subject to compliance with ongoing renewal requirements.










      For all professional designation holders except LUTCF®
      All professional designation holders (except LUTCF®) are responsible for completing 16 hours of continuing education (CE) credits every two years. A $95 renewal fee is also required every two years.

      For LUTCF® designation holders 
      All LUTCF® designation holders are responsible for completing 3 hours of Ethics continuing education every two years.

      A $50 renewal fee is also required every two years. 

      Learn more about your renewal options at this link: Renew Your Professional Designation

      This is one of the findings of a quantitative survey conducted by the College for Financial Planning®—a Kaplan Company between August 31 and November 18, 2021. For this survey, a sample of 798 2021 graduates of the College for Financial Planning was interviewed online in English. The sample includes 82 graduates whose most recent professional designation earned was a specialized financial designation (ABFP®, ADPA®, APMA®, AWMA®, CMFC®, CRPS®, CSRIC®, FPQP®, LUTCF®, WMS®) and who answered this question.

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