From the Reading Eagle (PA) on March 23, 2008.  A well-known financial adviser, best-selling author, columnist, and radio show host describes how low standards and the lack of regulation in the financial-services industry enables unqualified individuals to easily earn certifications, thereby devaluing the credibility of the designations and exposing the public to incompetent and unethical practitioners.  The growth of financial-services certifications, rather than promoting professionalism and expertise in the industry, are often being used instead as marketing and promotional tools for enhancing sales; often at the expense of the customer.  As a result of these unscrupulous practices, the author states that although he has earned six financial-service industry certification designations, he would no longer use them professionally or for his firm’s business cards, stationary or Web site.

Although the article is available from Google Newspapers, it doesn’t appear to be available elsewhere; either from the Reading Eagle’s online archives, the author’s web site, or from any other publication.   We wonder if the same would be true if the author had endorsed these certifications instead.

For the full article, End those confusing and useless professional designations ….