The third annual PlanPlus Global Financial Planning Awards are set to open on April 1. The competition brings global recognition to three financial planners from around the word, rewarding them for excellence in financial planning.

Advisors from the Americas, Europe, and Asia are encouraged to submit their top comprehensive financial plan. The plan must represent an actual case and have been presented to the client.

The judging panel for each region will be made up of five different international judges who will adjudicate the entries. Judging is based on criterion that focuses on the advisors recommendations and the resulting benefits to the client.

This year’s winners will each receive an expense paid trip to the Financial Planning Association’s annual conference (FPA BE 2015) in Boston from Sept. 26-28. Winners will receive their awards at a special ceremony.

“We are really excited about this year’s awards”, said John Page, Awards chairman. “2015 brings a new element to the awards in the form of an Affiliate. The Financial Planning Awards of Malaysia (FPAM) is holding it’s own regional Financial Planner of the Year Award. The top three winners from Malaysia will automatically advance to the Global Financial Planning Awards for the Asia region, competing against top planners from other Asian countries. This is just a sneak peak of what’s to come for 2016. Plans are already underway to bring additional associations on board to hold regional awards for a variety of countries,” said Page.

“Financial planning at its best is a professional engagement with an uncompromising commitment to the client’s best interest,” said Shawn Brayman, president of Lindsay, Ont.-based financial planning software firm PlanPlus Inc. “We created the Global Financial Planning Awards to recognize three outstanding planners that show the world how invaluable true financial planning can be. Each year we have seen better submissions, from more planners in more countries,” said Brayman. “We are thrilled with the response.”

Competition details can be found at gfpa.planplus.com.