The CLU institute has been relaunched as the Institute for Advanced Financial Education — a name that better reflects “who we are and what we do,” according to Greg Pollock, chief operating officer of the IAFE in Toronto. The relaunch is designed to give the IAFE’s board of trustees more autonomy to oversee the institute’s education and standard-setting initiatives,

As a result of this move, the IAFE is no longer attached directly to Toronto-based Advocis, although the institute has not completely broken ties with the country’s largest voluntary professional membership association of financial advisors and planners.

“The CLU, in the past, was directly attached to Advocis; this is no longer the case,” says Pollock, who was careful to point out that this rebranding is “not a separation from Advocis.”

It is “a matter of perspective,” suggests Pollock. “The board of trustees now has more independence in terms of education and standard-setting.”

The board also will provide strategic leadership to the IAFE in areas that include oversight and management of policies relating to the granting of its chartered life underwriter designation, obligations to maintain the designation, enrolment criteria for designation programs and the operation of the IAFE’s continuing education (or CE) accreditation service.

Prior to the formation of the IAFE, the CLU Institute was the designation-granting business unit of Advocis. What is different now, says Pollock, is that holders of the CLU designation “no longer have to maintain membership in Advocis in order to hold the CLU designation.”

With this change, the CLU designation will be offered to professionals in the broader financial services industry. Pollock claims that the designation, which is held by some 4,000 individuals in Canada, has been largely viewed as an “insurance designation.”

However, this is not necessarily the case, he adds, as “it speaks to broader issues, including risk management, income replacement, estate planning, and wealth transfer” — all of which are more consistent with overall financial planning.

The CLU designation, which has been around for 85 years, has evolved over time, says Pollock. Although its curriculum has been kept up to date to keep abreast of changing industry conditions, he contends that “it is time to put a fresh face to it to bring it to the attention of advisors as a specialized designation.”

Accordingly, Pollock says, “Part of the larger mandate [is to] get more advisors to take the program so that they can get better educated in order to provide better advice to consumers.”

This mandate is aligned with the IAFE’s objective, Pollock adds: “We are focusing on work to benefit the Canadian consumer.”

In the IAFE’s effort to attract more advisors to the CLU designation, the institute has established a new website (www.iafe.ca) and a new logo to complement its name change.

The IAFE also plans to enhance its CE programs, Pollock says: “We have been focusing on updating our CE program over the past few years, but will be allocating more resources on developing new courses.”

For advisors who already hold the CLU designation, nothing will change — except that they no longer have to be members of Advocis. “There will be no impact on current CLU holders,” says Pollock. “They will still have to meet CE requirements to remain in good standing.” (These requirements also apply to new CLU candidates.)

The IAFE will also continue to offer the registered health underwriter designation to financial advisors who specialize in living benefits, including income-replacement and risk-management solutions for individuals, business owners and professionals.

For now, the RHU program will remain unchanged, but changes are on the way. Says Pollock: “We are looking at ongoing requirements, and changes will be announced next spring.”

As well, the IAFE will maintain its responsibility for administering a code of professional conduct for its designation-holders and for members of Advocis. It will also continue to offer CE accreditation services to education providers.

The goal of the IAFE now is to provide financial services practitioners with exceptional, specialized and relevant education; and its vision is to be the most recognized and relevant provider of education, designations and standards for financial advisors.

The institute’s reorientation, Pollock states in the press release: “represents a significant step forward in the development of [its] role as provider, but also as guardian of specialized financial designations.”

Rick McKenster, chairman of the IAFE board, adds: “The institute’s new direction will enhance the state of financial advice in Canada.” IE