Accredited Behavioral Finance ProfessionalSM - ABFP®
The Accredited Behavioral Finance Professional℠ or ABFP® designation program explores the field of behavioral finance – the study of psychological explanations for economic behavior exhibited by individuals, institutions, and nations. The program is devoted to understanding the nature and role of psychological biases, heuristics, and emotions in influencing financial decision-making under uncertainty. Designed for advanced career financial planners, students will learn to recognize and mitigate client financial behaviors through a blend of classic foundational theory with academic experiments and real-life situations.
Begin your program at any time and complete complete your ABFP® designation program.
Students have access to OnDemand classes which provide 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.
The ABFP® 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 program, 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 hours for CFP® certification renewal as follows:
- ADPA® program: 28 hours (live online program); 22.5 hours (ondemand program)
- SE-AWMA® program: 28 hours (live online program); 24 hours (ondemand program)
- All other designation programs (except the FPQP® and WMSSM programs): 28 hours (either live online or ondemand program)
- 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 ABFP® 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 ABFP® designation package includes*:
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
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.
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.
*Enrollment includes the course's textbook. Students will receive a voucher to apply to their Amazon account for use toward their choice of a print or eletronic textbook.
Course Sessions
For OnDemand classes, you can enroll and begin pre-recorded class lectures at any time.
Have Questions? Make an Appointment
Our enrollment team is here to help you choose the program that's right for you. We'll explain your options and support you through the enrollment process.
Frequently Asked Questions about the ABFP® Designation
- 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
- 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.
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.
For LUTCF® designation holders, please visit the National Association of Insurance & Financial Advisors (NAIFA) website for renewal requirements and to renew your LUTCF® designation.
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