The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), the leading body of management accountants globally, has launched Certificate in Business Accounting for SMEs (CERTBA for SMEs) a business skill and financial management programme for entrepreneurs in the Nigerian market.
Designed for small to medium business entrepreneurs, CERTBA for SMEs, addresses the financial management challenge or crisis facing entrepreneurs as they strive to enhance profitability while managing working capital. The global programme, which is now available in Nigeria, helps small to medium size businesses create a sustainable framework for good decision making, effective management of risks and cash flow.
Associate Director for Nigeria, Ijeoma Anadozie, said: “The programme is designed to elevate small to medium enterprise in Nigeria to success by helping them to develop financial management and corporate governance skills required for their firm’s survival and growth. It is a learning programme designed to ensure that entrepreneurs, especially those without a finance background, have a solid grasp of the fundamentals of business and finance, as well as the skill and confidence to run their small business like a big business CEO.
“The CertBA for SMEs programme was based on extensive research and consultation with senior executives and business owners worldwide, ensuring that the learning reflects the emerging issues faced by businesses and responds to their need for competent, confident and skilled entrepreneurs.”
CIMA CERTBA for SMEs will equip entrepreneurs with the knowledge and skills required to survive in today’s highly competitive market. Across, Europe and Asia, the programme ensured that entrepreneurs do not just have better business skills and financial literacy, but also run a better business.
The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), founded in 1919, is the world’s leading and largest professional body of management accountants, with members and students operating in 177 countries, working at the heart of business. CIMA members and students work in industry, commerce, the public sector and not-for-profit organisations.
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Financial certifications, aka financial designations, are credentials that investment and financial industry professionals use. Represented by a trio or duo of letters after a name, they indicate a degree of education/training and specialization on the part of the individual.
If you have trouble telling the difference between a CFA®, CFP®, CIC, ChFC, or any of the other financial certifications, you're not alone. How do you sift through this alphabet soup to find the best financial professional for you? Let's look at the nine most popular designations with a brief explanation of the education and expertise each designation signifies and the kind of work done by the professionals holding them.
Those with the CFP® designation have demonstrated competency in all areas of financial planning. Candidates complete studies on more than 100 topics, including stocks, bonds, taxes, insurance, retirement planning, and estate planning. The program is administered by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Inc.
In addition to passing the CFP certification exam, candidates must also complete qualifying work experience and agree to adhere to the CFP board's code of ethics, and professional responsibility and financial planning standards.
A financial planner works with individuals to help them understand their options and make financial decisions suited to their personal financial situation and goals. Because of the nature of their work, people place a good deal of trust in these individuals. The CFP board posts information on the financial planning process and current licensees, which lets clients of CFPs verify if their financial planners' designations are in good standing. The last thing anyone needs is to choose a CFP whose certification has been revoked.
This designation is offered by the CFA Institute (formerly the Association for Investment Management and Research [AIMR]). To obtain the CFA charter, candidates must successfully complete three difficult exams and gain at least three years of qualifying work experience, among other requirements. In passing these exams, candidates demonstrate their competence, integrity, and extensive knowledge in accounting, ethical and professional standards, economics, portfolio management, and securities analysis.
CFA charter holders tend to be analysts who work in the field of institutional money management and stock analysis, not financial planning. These professionals provide research and ratings on various forms of investments.
As the name implies, an individual with this certification has demonstrated his or her expertise in mutual funds and the mutual fund industry. These individuals often advise clients on which funds to invest in and, depending on whether or not they have their license, they will buy and sell funds for clients. The Institute of Business and Finance (IBF), formerly known as the Institute of Certified Fund Specialists, provides training for the CFS; and the course focuses on a variety of mutual fund topics, including portfolio theory, dollar-cost averaging, and annuities.
The knowledge these CFS designees hold is kept current through their continuing education requirements.
Individuals with the Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC) designation have demonstrated their vast and thorough knowledge of financial planning. The ChFC program is administered by the American College of Financial Services. Candidates must complete an test in financial planning, including income tax, insurance, investment, and estate planning, and are required to have a minimum of three years of experience in a financial industry position.
Like those with the CFP designation, professionals who hold the ChFC charter help individuals analyze their financial situations and goals.
Given by the Investment Adviser Association, CFA charter holders who are currently registered investment advisors can study for this is a designation. The CIC program's focus is on portfolio management. In addition to proving their high-level expertise in portfolio management, CIC candidates must also adhere to a strict code of ethics and provide character references.
Individuals who hold the CIC charter tend to be among the financial world's major players, such as those who manage large accounts and mutual funds.
The Certified Investment Analyst (CIMA) designation focuses on asset allocation, ethics, due diligence, risk measurement, investment policy, and performance measurement. As this certification signifies a high level of consulting expertise, only individuals who are investment consultants with at least three years of professional experience are eligible to try for the CIMA. The Investments & Wealth Institute, formerly the Investment Management Consultants Association, offers CIMA courses.
Individuals who hold CIMA designations are required to prove their expertise through continual recertification, which requires CIMA designees to complete at least 40 hours of continuing education every two years.
CIMA designation holders tend to have careers with financial consulting firms, which involve extensive interaction with clients and managing large accounts.
The CMT® designation is granted by the New York-based CMT Association. The CMT is the highest level of training within the discipline of technical analysis and is the preeminent designation for practitioners worldwide. Technical analysis provides the tools to successfully navigate the gap between intrinsic value and market price across all asset classes through a disciplined, systematic approach to market behavior and the law of supply and demand.
Earning the CMT demonstrates mastery of a core body of knowledge of investment risk in portfolio management, including quantitative approaches to market research and rules-based trading system design and testing. CMTs likely would be employed in the sales and trading departments of sell-side firms, as research analysts in firms that provide technical analysis to their clients, or working as portfolio managers and investment advisors.
A certified public accountant (CPA) is a designation provided to licensed accounting professionals. The CPA license is provided by the Board of Accountancy for each state.
Those holding the CPA designation have passed examinations in accounting and tax preparation, but their title does not indicate training in other areas of finance. So, those CPA holders who are interested in gaining expertise in financial planning in order to supplement their accounting careers need to become certified as personal finance certified (PFS).
The PFS designation is awarded by the American Institute of CPAs to those who have taken additional training and already have a CPA designation.
Public accountants—individuals working for a firm that provides accounting and tax-related services to businesses and publicly traded companies—must hold a CPA designation.
This designation is issued by the American College and those who hold it work mostly as insurance agents. The CLU designation is awarded to persons who complete a 10-course program of study and 20 hours of exams. The course covers the fundamentals of life and health insurance, pension planning, insurance law, income taxation, investments, financial and estate planning, and group benefits.
It's important to realize that not all certifications are created equal. While some, like the CPA, reflect a state-issued or -sanctioned license (allowing the person to legally practice or do certain activities), others are simply industry-awarded designations. They may indicate a certain degree of experience and education but aren't mandatory qualifications to work in the field.
While certifications are not everything, you should supply extra credit to investment professionals who have them. Most of these certifications require candidates to put in many hours of study and meet high ethical and professional standards.
For instance, to get the CFA designation, candidates must put in approximately 250 hours of practicing per exam, and there are three exams to pass. The tests are so intensive that approximately 64% of those who take just the level 1 test will fail. Those who make it through all three levels to become charter holders are also bound by a code of ethics and rules of professional conduct, among other requirements.
Although all of these exams are intense and the hours can be long, these designations should be only one part of your criteria when deciding on a financial professional.
The CFP (certified financial planner) is a particularly prestigious designation. One of the oldest in the profession, it requires years of experience, successful completion of standardized exams in several areas, a demonstration of ethics, and a college degree—as well as ongoing education in the field.
If a planner wants to delve more deeply into investments and advise clients about them, they might also obtain a CIMA (certified investment analyst).
The certified investment analyst designation seems to. According to an Investments & Wealth Institute-commissioned survey, the financial advisors who are members of CIMA practices (defined as having at least one practice member with a CIMA certification) report earning a higher annual income compared to financial advisors who are members of practices with no CIMA certification. Some 12% of advisors at CIMA practices earn more than US$380,000, compared to 3% of advisors at practices with no CIMA designation.
A CPA also seems to offer a good return on investment. While the median salary of an accountant is $73,560 per year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, senior CPAs with over 20 years of experience could command an average of $150,000 annual salary, according to Accounting Today magazine and the American Institute of CPAs.
Financial certifications are usually awarded by a designated industry group, association, or degree-granting institution. Their requirements often include the taking of certain courses and the passing of exams, a certain number of years' experience or apprenticeship in the profession, a college degree, membership in the association, and a commitment to ongoing education in the field.
If you have to deal with a financial professional, it's important that you know the extent of his or her expertise in different areas of finance. Now you have an idea of what some of the designations mean and what they require from those who hold them.
(MENAFN- Caribbean News Global)
GRAND CAYMAN, Cayman Islands – The Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (“CIMA” or the“Authority”) joins the International Organization of Securities Commissions (“IOSCO”) and regulators from over 100 jurisdictions to celebrate World Investor Week 2022.
World Investor Week is a global initiative promoted by IOSCO to raise awareness about the importance of investor education and protection. The global campaign consists of week-long outreach activities carried out by participating IOSCO member jurisdictions.
CIMA will participate in the initiative from 3 – 9 October with an online campaign that is designed to promote financial resilience and help investors make sound decisions.
As a member of IOSCO, CIMA recognises the importance of investor education and considers this campaign a good opportunity to promote smart investment strategies within the Cayman Islands' financial services community as well as the general public. This campaign will serve as an introduction to a larger initiative on investor education the Authority has planned under the theme“I Learned the Hard Way”. More details will follow in the coming weeks.
Key messages for World Investor Week will focus on investor resilience and sustainable finance, highlighting the importance of having an emergency fund and understanding that all investments entail risk as well as considering what sustainable finance entails.
Such messages will be issued online throughout the week via CIMA's website, and on social media platforms and . The industry and public can take part in World Investor Week by sharing messages across online platforms to enhance the effectiveness of these valuable messages.
For more information about World Investor Week, .
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The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) has signed an agreement with Shanti Business School (SBS) for the remote, digital self-paced learning programme namely The CGMA® Finance Leadership Programme. According to the official statement, the partnership aims to enable SBS to offer the CGMA® Finance Leadership Programme to students currently enrolled in its post graduate diploma in management (finance) programme.
The statement said, CGMA® Finance Leadership Programme enables instant on-line access for aspiring business and finance leaders to learn finance skills to the equivalent of a master’s degree. It further provides a new guided learning and assessment route to complete CIMA’s CGMA Professional Qualification and earn the CGMA® designation. With the help of real-life case simulations, the programme aims to teach a mix of finance, accounting, business, people, leadership and digital skills that are needed to build successful careers, the statement added.
“We have partnered with Shanti Business School to promote our CGMA® Finance Leadership Programme, a complete digital learning platform which will enable business students to become Chartered Global Management Accountants and CIMA members. With the impact of digitalisation, it is crucial for students to have strong skillsets and competencies to stay competitive in job market. I believe the CGMA® Finance Leadership Programme is the right tool that students can use to get the relevant skills and mindset to prepare themselves for the future workforce,” Bhaskar Ranjan Das, director, South Asia, AICPA, CIMA, said.
Further, the statement mentioned that students can start their CIMA journey while studying with SLIIT and start the programme at the appropriate entry level, building on their existing educational achievements. On successfully completion of the programme and fulfillment of practical experience requirements, students will become CIMA members and earn the CGMA® designation, the statement noted.
“This collaboration with CIMA will supply opportunity for our SBS students to gain the Chartered Global Management Accountant designation, and will increase their employability and competitiveness on both the national and global labour markets,” Neha Sharma, director, Shanti Business School, Ahmedabad, said.
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Personal finance is... personal. But it can also be approached with a team philosophy, something Delvin Joyce knows well. A former professional football player, Joyce now works as a financial planner for Prudential Advisors in Charlotte, North Carolina, where he specializes in working as a teammate with clients across different life stages as they achieve specific financial goals, from buying a house to preparing for retirement.
His career shift is a good reminder that a financial planner can be the quarterback of your money, suggesting where your money can go to achieve maximum impact. Joyce shows that this can be done with a holistic perspective, where a financial planner takes a broad look at all of your finances, from your checking account to your 401(k) and alternative investments, like crypto, and then connects your money to your life goals.
Here, Joyce explains his process, why he has worked with Prudential for the past two decades and what to consider when applying a holistic perspective to your own finances.
Joyce says one common misconception clients have is they have to work out everything on their own before they see a planner. “If you have a cleaning person coming to your house, what do you do? You probably clean the house first. And it’s the same way with financial planners. But what I want people to know is: No, if you’re going to pay me to clean your house, let me clean your house.”
Cleaning your “financial house” means taking stock of where your money is now, how it’s performing and how to maximize its impact to achieve your goals. For people building wealth, this might mean meeting with a financial planner who is a fiduciary.
Not all financial planners are fiduciaries. But those who are have to put your best interests over their own, which means only advising recommendations that best fit your financial situation. This may mean charging a flat fee for service, rather than a fee that’s based on commissions. Joyce, for example, charges a 1% flat fee of taxable income. “This allows us to work with everyone, from people who are ultra-high net worth to people still building wealth,” he says.
Understand your “why” — and ask about your financial pro’s “why,” too
Another thing Joyce appreciates about his career trajectory is the support he’s had to lean into his passions. During his career, Joyce pivoted from management into financial planning, in part because he wanted to work directly with clients. As he built his business, he also wanted to work with diverse communities. Joyce says that Prudential’s support has allowed him to uncover and work within his “zone of genius” — the areas that light him up, personally and professionally.
“I specially work with markets or communities associated with Prudential’s Black Consumer Initiative,” says Joyce, adding that Prudential’s commitment in bringing value to the underserved Black consumer segment to grow and protect wealth anchors his practice. “There are resources, tools and marketing items from Prudential I can utilize to go out and better serve the communities that are important to me,” Joyce says.
A “zone of genius” is personal. And it can be helpful for clients to understand what drives their financial planner. Similarly, your financial planner will want to know what drives you. Getting real about your hopes and dreams, whether it’s to buy a house or retire early, can help them navigate the best avenue for your money. Because money is emotional and personal, it can be helpful to go beyond the spreadsheets and the numbers and get into the “why” behind where your money is going and where you want it to take you.
The relationship between a financial planner and a client can be long and rewarding — something Joyce loves about the work. It can also be challenging to navigate on your own. “Clients have so many competing priorities. They’re saving for their kid’s college, they’re thinking about their own estate plan, they’re paying down student loan debt. And that’s where the comprehensive financial planning process comes into play,” Joyce says.
Part of Joyce’s process is taking clients through what he calls an education meeting, talking through all of the strategies, ideas and concepts he’s considering before delivering a financial plan. Then, clients may use Prudential’s eMoney app, which aggregates a client’s entire financial picture, so they can see their net worth on one screen. “Having an app keeps financial wellness front and center, rather than it being something that a client tunes into only when we meet,” he says.
But whether you track your finances on an app or through old-fashioned pen and paper, a financial planner can help guide you through financial moves and opportunities to help your money work for you — not the other way around.
________
From Prudential Advisors:
Prudential Advisors supports the growth and success of approximately 3,000 financial professionals, fee-based financial planners and financial advisors across the United States. The business enables financial advisors to deliver holistic financial advice by aligning industry leading resources, tools and experience with an open architecture approach to investment and protection solutions. To learn how Prudential Advisors can help grow your practice, please visit www.prudentialadvisors.com.
This article was paid for by Prudential and created by Yahoo Creative Studios. The Yahoo Finance editorial staff did not participate in the creation of this content.
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Prudential Advisors is a brand name of The Prudential Insurance Company of America an its subsidiaries. Offering financial planning and investment advisory services and programs through Pruco Securities, LLC (Pruco), under the marketing name Prudential Financial Planning Services(PFPS), pursuant to a separate client agreement. Offering insurance and securities products and services as a registered representative of Pruco, and an agent of issuing insurance companies.
Most organizations describe their risk management processes as insufficient and immature, despite perceived high volumes and complexities of risks
NEW YORK, September 27, 2022--(BUSINESS WIRE)--As global organizations face an increasingly complex risk environment, a new report issued today by the AICPA & CIMA and NC State’s Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) Initiative found that the majority have insufficient approaches to risk management and immature ERM processes. The report found that approximately 60 percent of global finance and business leaders agree that the volume and complexity of corporate risk have increased "mostly" or "extensively" over the last five years. However, over two-thirds of respondents do not have complete ERM processes in place.
The 2022 Global State of Risk Oversight: Managing the Rapidly Evolving Risk Landscape includes insights from a survey of 747 global senior finance and business leaders conducted in 2022. The survey measured finance-related executives’ assessments of the level of maturity in their organization’s proactive management of these risks through adoption of enterprise risk management (ERM) processes (a methodology that looks at risk management strategically from the perspective of the entire firm or organization and aims to identify, assess, and prepare for potential losses, dangers, hazards, and other potentials for harm that may interfere with an organization's operations and objectives and/or lead to losses).
Increased uncertainty and rapidly evolving events, including geopolitical shifts, supply chain disruptions, competition for talent, increased volume of available data, climate change concerns, and lingering effects of a global pandemic, are continuing to drive the complexity of risk challenges senior executives across the globe must navigate. Even when faced with these complexities of risks, fewer than half of respondents said they do not believe their risk management oversight model is "mature" or "robust" (Europe & U.K. – 31 percent, Asia & Australasia – 41 percent, Africa & Middle East – 26 percent, U.S. – 29 percent). And, similarly, only between one-third to one-half of respondents claim to have a complete ERM processes in place (Europe & U.K. – 33 percent, Asia & Australasia – 41 percent, Africa & Middle East – 29 percent, U.S. – 32 percent).
"Globally, organizations face the realities of an increasingly complex risk environment while realizing their current approach to risk oversight may be insufficient in a rapidly changing risk environment," according to Mark Beasley, KPMG Professor of Accounting and Director of the ERM Initiative at NC State. "And interestingly, even prior to the massively disruptive Covid-19 pandemic, business leaders have sensed an overwhelming volume and complexity of risks impacting their organizations. As this and our previous studies suggest, risk management does not appear to be getting easier."
Business leaders understand their organizations must take risks to generate returns. But there was a noticeable variation among respondents when asked if their risk management processes provided a competitive advantage. A higher percentage of respondents in Asia & Australasia (40 percent) and Africa & Middle East (34 percent) believe their risk oversight is providing an important competitive advantage, while the percentages are much lower in Europe & U.K. (13 percent) and the U.S. (11 percent). However, the report shows a disconnect among views from around the world when risk exposures are considered by senior executives when evaluating possible new strategic initiatives, with higher percentages reported in Asia & Australasia and Africa & Middle East (both 66 percent) and slightly lower in Europe & U.K. (58 percent) and the U.S. (47 percent).
"Business leaders that embrace the reality that risk and return are related are likely to increase their investment in enterprise risk oversight to strengthen their organization’s resiliency and agility when navigating the complex and uncertain risk landscape," said Ash Noah, CPA, CGMA, Vice President & Managing Director of Management Accounting at the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants. "Organizational value goes beyond the balance sheet. Along with providing protection for businesses, embracing ERM supports the creation of value and long-term viability and sustainability."
Additional key findings from the report include:
Respondents in most regions noted Covid-19 having "mostly" or "extensively" changed the nature of top risks affecting their organization - Europe & U.K. (48 percent), Africa & Middle East (61 percent), Asia & Australasia (71 percent), U.S. (41 percent).
Most executives do not believe their organization’s risk management processes provide competitive advantage - Europe & U.K. (13 percent), Africa & Middle East (34 percent), Asia & Australasia (40 percent), U.S. (11 percent).
About one-half of organizations outside of the U.S. describe their metrics for monitoring risks as "mostly" to "extensively" robust (Europe & U.K. – 47 percent, Asia & Australasia – 47 percent, Africa & Middle East – 50 percent), while only 31 percent in the U.S. describe their metrics at that level.
Most organizations (Europe & U.K. – 64 percent, Asia & Australasia – 64 percent, Africa & Middle East – 76 percent) claim to have a standardized process for identifying risks, where the U.S. is the exception at 51 percent.
Methodology
The 2022 Global State of Risk Oversight: Managing the Rapidly Evolving Risk Landscape includes data collected during 2022 through an online survey of global business leaders across four core regions (Europe & the U.K., Asia & Australasia, Africa & the Middle East, United States). In total, 747 fully completed surveys were submitted. Of those about half serve in senior accounting and finance roles, with the remaining representing a variety of management positions within a range of industries.
About the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants, and AICPA & CIMA
The Association of International Certified Professional Accountants® (the Association), representing AICPA® & CIMA®, advances the global accounting and finance profession through its work on behalf of 689,000 AICPA and CIMA members, students and engaged professionals in 196 countries and territories. Together, we are the worldwide leader on public and management accounting issues through advocacy, support for the CPA license and specialized credentials, professional education and thought leadership. We build trust by empowering our members and engaged professionals with the knowledge and opportunities to be leaders in broadening prosperity for a more inclusive, sustainable, and resilient future.
The American Institute of CPAs® (AICPA), the world’s largest member association representing the CPA profession, sets ethical standards for its members and U.S. auditing standards for private companies, not-for-profit organizations, and federal, state, and local governments. It also develops and grades the Uniform CPA Examination and builds the pipeline of future talent for the public accounting profession.
The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants® (CIMA) is the world’s leading and largest professional body of management accountants. CIMA works closely with employers and sponsors leading-edge research, constantly updating its professional qualification and professional experience requirements to ensure it remains the employer’s choice when recruiting financially trained business leaders.
About North Carolina State University’s Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) Initiative
The Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) Initiative in the Poole College of Management at North Carolina State University provides thought leadership about ERM practices and their integration with strategy and corporate governance. Faculty in the ERM Initiative frequently work with boards of directors and senior management teams helping them link ERM to strategy and governance, host executive workshops and educational training sessions, and issue research and thought papers on practical approaches to implementing more effective risk oversight techniques (www.erm.ncsu.edu).
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220927005281/en/
Contacts
Media:
Maria Potepalova
NC State University
919.513.7238
mpotepa@ncsu.edu
Bill Ferguson
AICPA
919.402.4610
bill.ferguson@aicpa-cima.com
The MarketWatch News Department was not involved in the creation of this content.
Mercer Advisors Acquires Goldstein Munger + Associates, Inc. Expanding Mercer Advisors' California Presence
DENVER, Oct. 4, 2022
DENVER, Oct. 4, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Mercer Global Advisors, Inc. ("Mercer Advisors"), a national Registered Investment Adviser (RIA), today announced the acquisition of Goldstein Munger + Associates, Inc. (hereinafter "Goldstein Munger"). Goldstein Munger, a respected wealth management firm focused on serving ultra-high net worth ("UHNW") clients, is located in San Ramon, California with assets under management (AUM) of approximately $1 billion.
Richard M. Goldstein, Principal, CPA, CIMA(TM) ("Rich") has been a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) for over 40 years. He founded R. M. Goldstein Accountancy Corporation in 1979 from which GoldsteinEnright Financial Advisers, Inc. was created, and which is now known as Goldstein Munger. Robert G. Munger, Principal, CPA, CFP(R), PFS, ("Bob") joined the firm and partnered with Rich to help build the best of breed "family office" they are today.
Rich and Bob believe: "Wealth means different things to different people. To some, wealth means leaving a legacy; to others, it is about caring for their families; to many it relates to giving back through philanthropy; the list goes on. Our approach is to discover what wealth means to our clients and develop and apply custom financial strategies to help make their goals a reality. No matter what wealth means to them, we make it our mission to care about our clients achieving the confidence that comes with protecting what they have and planning for their future."
Commenting on the transaction, Rich stated: "Our clients are accustomed to a high level of care with near constant contact and support. Our support and care of our clients is plenary. As Bob and I contemplated the future of our firm, we concluded that we needed to partner with a firm that had the services and professional staff necessary to provide best-in-class service to UHNW clientele, but also be a fully institutionalized business that survives the lifetimes of our clients, their children, their great grandchildren, and generations to come." Bob added: "Our banker DeVoe and Company recommended we speak to Dave Barton, Vice Chairman at Mercer Advisors, who leads mergers and acquisitions for the firm. We loved what Dave had to say, and we immediately saw the commonality of our business models with family offices, and the same mission, vision and values around serving our clients with excellence, as well as a dedication to the success and development of our staff. Also adding 'in-house' core family office services like estate planning, tax specialization and tax return preparation as well as offering turnkey corporate trustee services UHNW families rely on was important to us. The 'fit' was perfect."
David Barton, Vice Chairman, who led the acquisition of Goldstein Munger on behalf of Mercer Advisors stated: "Rich and Bob have built a 'blue-chip' family office creating deep and long-lasting relationships with their clients. We are delighted Bob, Rich and their staff are joining the Mercer Advisors team."
Dave Welling, Chief Executive Officer of Mercer Advisors, said, "Bob and Rich lead a highly respected wealth management team in northern California and beyond. Their brand is strong and represents the high integrity of their business and staff. Their deep experience in integrating financial planning, tax, estate and philanthropic planning, are a great fit with our family office service model for high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth clients. We are thrilled they are joining the Mercer Advisors team and look forward to working together to deliver meaningful results for our shared clients."
Goldstein Munger was exclusively represented by DeVoe and Company, a leading business advisor and investment banker in the RIA space.
About DeVoe & Company
DeVoe & Company is a goal-based investment bank and consulting firm focused exclusively on guiding wealth management and investment management companies to a higher level of success. The firm provides M&A, consulting, and valuation services to help RIAs accelerate the achievement of their business goals.
About Mercer Advisors
Established in 1985, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ("Mercer Advisors") is a total wealth management firm that provides comprehensive, fee-based investment management, financial planning, family office services, retirement benefits and distribution planning, estate and tax planning, insurance solutions, and corporate trustee and trust administration services. Mercer Advisors Inc. is a parent company of Mercer Global Advisors Inc. (RIA), majority owned by both Oak Hill Capital and Genstar Capital, one of the largest Registered Investment Advisors and financial planning firms in the U.S. with over $38 billion in client assets. Headquartered in Denver, Mercer Advisors is privately held, has over 800 employees, and operates nationally through 80+ offices across the country. For more information, visit www.merceradvisors.com.
Data as of August 31, 2022. AUM includes affiliates and wholly owned subsidiaries.
Mercer Global Advisors Inc. is registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission and delivers all investment-related services. Mercer Advisors Inc. is the parent company of Mercer Global Advisors Inc. and is not involved with investment services.
Mercer Advisors is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice to clients. All estate planning documentation preparation and other legal advice is provided through its affiliation with Advanced Services Law Group, Inc. Tax preparation and tax filing are a separate fee from Mercer Advisors investment management and planning services. Corporate Trustee services are offered through National Advisors Trust Company.
Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. (CFP Board) owns the CFP(R) certification mark, the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER(TM) certification mark, and the CFP(R) certification mark (with plaque design) logo in the United States, which it authorizes use of by individuals who successfully complete CFP Board's initial and ongoing certification requirements. Investments & Wealth Institute(R) (the Institute) is the owner of the certification marks "CIMA," and "Certified Investment Management Analyst." Use of CIMA, and/or Certified Investment Management Analyst signifies that the user has successfully completed the Institute's initial and ongoing credentialing requirements for investment management professionals.
Contact: Chris Tofalli
Chris Tofalli Public Relations, LLC
914-834-4334
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SOURCE Mercer Global Advisors Inc.
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CHARLOTTE, N.C., Oct. 03, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- LPL Financial LLC announced today that Bodnar Financial Advisors has joined LPL Financial’s broker-dealer, RIA and custodial platforms. The team reports serving approximately $300 million in advisory, brokerage and retirement assets*, and joins LPL from Cambridge Investment Research.
Financial advisor John Bodnar, CFP®, CIMA®, founded Bodnar Financial Advisors in 1988 as a full-service financial firm that helps clients navigate their lives with a sense of financial confidence. Based in Florham Park, N.J., the team has grown to include financial advisor Justin Esposito, office manager Lorraine Figarelli, and client services associates Jane Esnes and Danielle Mazzocchi.
The team’s motto is: life’s too short to worry about money. Bodnar and the team have developed a flexible, friendly and professional style that puts clients at ease as they collaborate together to develop financial strategies for major life events including marriage, kids, death, divorce, layoffs, retirement, downsizing and more. “Financial planners often see clients in their most vulnerable moments, and it’s nice to know that while I’m looking out for my clients, LPL Financial is looking out for my team and making sure we have the tools and resources to do the best job possible,” Bodnar says.
At the heart of the team’s approach is a deep commitment to fiduciary principles and a desire to foster authentic personal connections with clients and their loved ones. In fact, several families receiving advice from John today are the children and grandkids of his original clients. Bodnar said, “As we move to LPL Financial, we are taking these timeless values with us: listening, getting to know each individual client, identifying their personal goals, and building custom financial plans and investment strategies that will evolve with changing life circumstances.”
It takes planning, but also client education and behavioral investment counseling. Esposito is a former NCAA Division I championship baseball pitcher and knows firsthand the value of a good coach. He motivates clients to stay on track and to keep working their investment plans despite the panics of the news cycle. He called the move to LPL “the next step in our firm’s growth and making our team stronger.”
Bodnar added, “LPL is independent, which gives us continued flexibility to create portfolios that focus on our clients’ unique financial needs. They have the size and the tools we need to reach the next step in our growth without sacrificing the freedom in the range of services we provide. LPL Financial is a true innovator in the independent broker-dealer space.”
Scott Posner, LPL Executive Vice President, Business Development, added, “We welcome Bodnar Financial Advisors to the LPL community and are honored they turned to us to help them build their ideal practice. LPL is a champion in the marketplace for financial advisors and we are centered on empowering advisors so they can do what’s best for their clients. We do this by delivering the integrated tools, services and differentiated experiences, all designed to help advisors expand their value proposition and build stronger connections with clients.”
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Advisors, find an LPL business development representative near you.
About LPL Financial
LPL Financial (Nasdaq: LPLA) was founded on the principle that the firm should work for the advisor, and not the other way around. Today, LPL is a leader in the markets we serve,** supporting nearly 21,000 financial advisors, and approximately 1,100 institution-based investment programs and 500 independent RIA firms nationwide. We are steadfast in our commitment to the advisor-centered model and the belief that Americans deserve access to personalized guidance from a financial advisor. At LPL, independence means that advisors have the freedom they deserve to choose the business model, services, and technology resources that allow them to run their perfect practice. And they have the freedom to manage their client relationships, because they know their clients best. Simply put, we take care of our advisors, so they can take care of their clients.
*Value approximated based on asset and holding details provided to LPL from year-end 2021.
**Top RIA custodian (Cerulli Associates, 2020 U.S. RIA Marketplace Report); No. 1 Independent Broker-Dealer in the U.S. (Based on total revenues, Financial Planning magazine 1996-2021); No. 1 provider of third-party brokerage services to banks and credit unions (2020-2021 Kehrer Bielan Research & Consulting Annual TPM Report); Fortune 500 Company since June 2021. LPL and its affiliated companies provide financial services only from the United States.
Securities and advisory services offered through LPL Financial, a registered investment advisor. Member FINRA/SIPC. Bodnar Financial Advisors and LPL Financial are separate entities.
Throughout this communication, the terms “financial advisors” and “advisors” are used to refer to registered representatives and/or investment advisor representatives affiliated with LPL Financial LLC.
We routinely disclose information that may be important to shareholders in the “Investor Relations” or “Press Releases” section of our website.
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Rajat Bhargava is an entrepreneur, investor, author and currently CEO and cofounder of JumpCloud.
getty
From the 1980s until the mid-2000s, the monoculture around Microsoft ruled. Users logged into Windows-managed computers and used Office and Windows File Server; businesses relied on Microsoft Active Directory (AD) to manage user identity and access.
Then, IT evolved. On-premises environments and closed systems gave way to the flexibility of the cloud. Organizations adopted Mac- and Linux-based systems. Software as a service (SaaS) environments exploded. Data centers started to be replaced by infrastructure as a service (IaaS) providers. Now, Gartner predicts that over 95% of new digital workloads will be deployed on cloud-native platforms by 2025, a dramatic increase from 30% in 2021.
With cloud servers preferred for data processing and storage, web applications now dominate the market. In part because wired connections gave way to wireless networks and people became more mobile through smartphones, and Google Workspace (aka G Suite, Google Apps) and M365 (aka Office 365) became as popular as machine-based Office applications in the enterprise space.
In this environment, organizations can’t be bound to anachronistic approaches as businesses shift to the cloud and globally distributed workforces. Now’s the time for companies—especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)—to approach IT with an open mind and an open approach.
“Open” in this context doesn’t mean porous or loose; it represents scalability, flexibility and agility in terms of changes in technology and developments in the stack. An open approach improves end user experience, worker productivity and satisfaction. An open approach to IT can be a critical tool in helping organizations establish zero-trust security without sacrificing the agility and flexibility made possible by the cloud.
In this article, I’ll offer some tips to getting started with this approach.
Open Identity
Modernizing IT stacks means making sure that work—remote and hybrid—functions well. Employees care about doing their job; they want easy access to the resources they need. IT teams want a similarly streamlined experience and assurance that company data remains secure without impacting productivity. My company’s survey of 506 SME IT admins found that nearly 75% prefer a single solution to manage employee identities, access and devices than having to manage a number of different solutions. An open directory platform approach incorporates a cloud-hosted “virtual” domain that meets this need, offering the flexibility and security necessary to support modern workplaces.
This means creating an IT environment that consumes identities wherever they live. Not just employee identities but also device identities, allowing your system to be open to receive information from authorized sources anywhere. On the outgoing side, it means creating a single source of user identity that can be propagated out to other devices, other users or to an authorized network.
Identity as a service and cloud directories are vital tools that enable an open approach. Look for those that offer fluidity and the flexibility to change resources any time (for example, from M365 to Google Workspace or vice versa).
Flexible Security Layers
Instead of traditional perimeters, an open approach favors a creation of virtual offices and security perimeters around each employee—and whatever devices they use. Being open doesn’t equate to a cavalier security approach; it’s a way to offer authorized access to resources anywhere that is convenient and tracked for compliance and overall visibility.
Security layers can evolve with each organization’s need and should include:
• Identity layer: A cloud directory houses authentication credentials and establishes centralized access control across user identity, admin access, service accounts and machines. Centering identity within a cloud directory allows SME teams to draw a security perimeter around each employee, enabling updates without disruption and providing access to on-prem and cloud-based resources.
• Device layer: Most IT environments operate within an ever-evolving state of company-issued, personal and mobile devices running some combination of Mac, Windows or Linux systems. In this complicated device ecosystem, organizations should extend user identity to establish device trust, meaning that a device is known and its user is verified. A mobile device management solution (MDM) is one option that can install a remote agent to handle basics—including multifactor authentication (MFA) and permissions—zero-touch onboarding and remote lock, restart or wipe. Determine the control level you need in your device environment, factoring in options like how you honor employee device choice and how you manage your bring your own device (BYOD) policy.
• IT resource layer: In office environments, employees generally use a form of single sign-on (SSO) to log into their desktop at designated workstations and then get instant access to applications and shared files and servers. In remote, hybrid and other modern IT environments, SSO should include everything from SaaS apps to systems, files, infrastructure and shared networks. Some organizations use SSO solely for web-based applications, while some centralize identity and extend it to virtually any IT resource through authentication protocols like LDAP, SAML, OpenID Connect, SSH, RADIUS and REST.
Open Insights
Given security, ongoing monitoring and compliance needs, visibility is critical to an open IT approach. Considering the breadth of access transactions, businesses should look for a holistic solution with broad coverage.
Basic event logging data is table stakes, and IT solutions should include a method for capturing discrete and unique log formats. That includes logs from SSO and from cloud RADIUS for network connection, LDAP and device connections—any log format for resources deployed in your stack.
Because integration requirements make log analysis and management solutions expensive, challenging to implement and difficult for admins managing custom feeds for authentication protocols, consider options that offer a wide range of analysis by enriching raw data. This can be done with a number of other data points, sessionizing the data through post-processing. Such information provides admins with broad insight across their entire IT environment, not just into a particular service or user.
For many organizations, extending closed legacy systems was a necessity. In the age of hybrid and remote work, it’s proving more of a liability than an asset. An open approach allows companies to embrace a diverse, modern IT environment that can keep pace with what users need, keeping them and company data secure at every access point.
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