Struggling to find an identity: a profession devoid of definition

There are no jokes about financial planners.

This is in part a compliment, albeit a backhanded one. Jokes about virtually every other job title associated with managing people's money are legion - and not one of them is flattering.

Yet therein, according to Eleanor Wan, CEO of the Institute for Financial Planners of Hong Kong (IFPHK), lies her organisation's single greatest challenge: financial planners have an identity crisis. They have no brand identity. Worse, their specialist trade is not formally recognised as a distinct professional discipline.

'Financial planning is an art. It requires a highly refined mix of technical financial and interpersonal skills,' says Wan.

It is also, she says, very distinct from other professions in the financial sector, in that the goal is first and foremost to find a solution for individuals based on a definition of need, as opposed to having a product to sell and looking for people to convince they're right for it. A good financial planner, Wan explains, has to first connect with a customer, assess need, match it with financial capacity - both present and projected - and form a binding relationship.

'Yet despite the distinctive nature of the work, and despite the fact that the IFPHK has grown to over 14,000 members since our foundation in 2000, with more than 4,000 certified by them to the CFP [Certified Financial Planner] international standard ... there is no established definition of what is required to allow you to state that you are a financial planner.'