1. 2014 Eleventh Annual Institute For
Emotional Intelligence
McClellan Community College
Waco, TX
Feb 2014
Dr. Andree C. Swanson, EdD, MHR, MAOM
Forbes College of Business at Ashford University
Randy Braidfoot, MS, CFP®, CDFA™,MPASSM
Director of the Dispute Resolution Center, a department of the
Panhandle Regional Planning Commission

2. 
How we met

Brainstorming ideas

Starting from scratch

3. The Code of Ethics and Professional
Responsibility of the Certified Financial Planner
Board of Standards sets forth three principles
that clearly identify the requirement to possess
or obtain a high level of emotional intelligence.

4. Researchers sought to discern if there was a
need among CERTIFIED FINANCIAL
PLANNER™ practitioners for a better
understanding of emotional intelligence so
they could better fulfill the requirements of the
Code requirements.

5. The outcome of the research demonstrated
that there is a need for emotional intelligence
training.

6. 
The capacity to…
 perceive emotions,
 assimilate emotion-related feelings,
 understand the information of those emotions
 manage them
(Mayer et al., 1999)

8. 
The CERTIFIED
FINANCIAL
PLANNER™
designation is
recognized as the
“Gold Standard” of the
financial planning
industry when it comes
to being a competent
planner.

9. 
Within the Code of Ethics and Professional
Responsibility of the Certified Financial Planner Board
of Standards, high principles are established to
maintain the professionalism and integrity of the
certification marks (CFPBS, 2013).

10. 
Within three of the seven principles of the
Code are indications that suggest
practitioners possess or obtain a high level of
emotional intelligence to meet the Code
requirements (CFPBS, 2013).

12. 

The significance of this study relates directly
back to the Code of Ethics and Professional
Responsibility of the Certified Financial
Planner Board of Standards, Inc.
Competence includes:
 the wisdom to recognize the limitations of that
knowledge
 referring to another professional when necessary.

13. 
Many studies have been published on how
individuals with high emotional intelligence
can enhance and increase the potential for
positive outcomes.

14. 
The completion of this study could benefit the
field of financial planning and in a greater sense
may significantly change the landscape of
communications and relationships in both
business and academia as a whole.

16. SurveyMonkey

17. 
Conducted a pilot
study

Conducted a survey

Used Survey Monkey

Analyzed results

Published data

19. 
Surveyed 36 Certified
Financial Planners
 Feb 2013
 23 males
 12 females
▪ 1 skipped this question

20. Years in the CFP Field
1 - 3 years = 3
4 – 9 years = 12
10 – 14 years = 7
15 – 19 years = 5
20 or over = 8
(Swanson & Braidfoot, 2013, p. 4)

21. Number of CFPs who
have heard of EI
24 of 36 (66.7%) had
heard of emotional
intelligence
12 (33.0%) had a clear
understanding of the
meaning of emotional
intelligence.
(Swanson & Braidfoot, 2013, p. 4)

22. CFPs who have a clear
understanding of EI
14 (38.9%) strongly agreed
or agreed
9 (25.0%) participants
strongly disagreed or
disagreed that they
understood emotional
intelligence.
15 (41.7%) participants
were neutral.
(Swanson & Braidfoot, 2013, p. 5)

23. Believe EI will be
useful
29 (80.6%) strongly
agree or agreed that
EI would be useful in
their work as a
financial planner.
The blue and orange
section depict those
that strongly agree
(orange) and agree
(blue).
(Swanson & Braidfoot, 2013, p. 5)

24. Believe EI will improve
their performance
30 (83.4%) of the 36
participants strongly
agree or agreed that
EI would improve
their performance.
The blue and orange
section depict those
that strongly agree
(orange) and agree
(blue).
(Swanson & Braidfoot, 2013, p. 5)

25. 
Principle 2 – Objectivity
 “Provide professional services objectively”

Principle 3 – Competence
 “Maintain the knowledge and skill necessary to
provide professional services competently”

Principle 4 – Fairness
 “Be fair and reasonable in all professional
relationships. Disclose conflicts of interest”
(Swanson & Braidfoot, 2013, pp. 1 -2)

26. Based on the CFP Board of Ethics statements
on the previous slide
and
 The results of the survey show that…

 CFPs are aware of Emotional Intelligence (EI)
 CFPs understand that learning more about EI will
benefit them
A need exists to implement EI training in the
field of financial planning.

27. http://www.uws.edu.au/bioelectronics_neuroscience/bens/postgraduate

28. 
Investigate the
appropriate level of
emotional intelligence
needed to become a
better Certified Financial
Planner™ practitioner.
(Swanson & Braidfoot, 2013, p. 8)

29. 
Conduct a qualitative
Delphi study to assess,
through the use of expert
CFPs (identified in this
study), the appropriate
levels of training required
in emotional intelligence.
(Swanson & Braidfoot, 2013, p. 8)

30. Seek permission from
the Certified Financial
Board to use their
membership as a
resource
 Apply this to other
countries

(Swanson & Braidfoot, 2013, p. 8)

31. http://www.forskningsradet.no/servlet/Satellite?c=Nyhet&pagename=nanomat%2FHovedsidemal&c
id=1253969771853

32. 97% experienced a
situation with an
emotional distraught
client.
 75% desire Emotional
Intelligence as part of a
continuing education
program.


Over 85% positive
response was received
to the question on
establishing Emotional
Intelligence as part of
the primary curriculum
for financial planners.
(Swanson & Braidfoot, 2013, p. 8)

33. The results of this survey strongly indicate
that further study and training for financial
planners is not only warranted but may be
considered essential in the framework of
being a competent planner.
(Swanson & Braidfoot, 2013, p. 8)

35. Dr. Andree Swanson and Randy Braidfoot

36. 
Andree Swanson is an assistant professor with the Forbes School of
Business at Ashford University (Denver, Colorado) and adjunct associate
professor with the College for Financial Planning (Greenwood Village,
Colorado).

Dr. Swanson holds a Doctorate in educational leadership and a Master
of Arts in organizational management from the University of Phoenix.

She also holds a Master of Human Relations from the University of
Oklahoma where she first learned of emotional intelligence. Her work
experience ranges from office management to corporate training to
higher education.

She has worked for the US government (DoD, USAF, & USA),
corporations, and higher education.

37. 
Randy Braidfoot is a securities principal and CFP® practitioner with over
26 years of experience. He holds a Master of Science in personal financial
planning from the College for Financial Planning and a Bachelor of Arts in
mass communications from West Texas A&M University.

Randy also holds the Certified Divorce Financial Analyst designation.
Braidfoot is considered a “subject matter expert” for the Certified
Financial Planner Board of Standards where he reviews and creates test
questions that are used on the certification test. He is the Director of the
Dispute Resolution Center, a department of the Panhandle Regional
Planning Commission, providing mediation services for the judiciary
courts of the top 16 Texas counties .

In 2011, he was honored as the Mediator of the Year. He has also trained
and worked as a mediator for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice
and as a financial specialist in collaborative law cases.

39. 
Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Inc (CFPBS).
(2013). Code of Ethics and Professional Responsibility.
Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Inc. Retrieve
from http://www.cfp.net/learn/codeofethics.asp

Swanson, A., & Braidfoot, R. (2013). An Assessment of
Emotional Intelligence Understanding in the Field of
Financial Planning. Internet session presented at the 2013
Summer Global Conference on Business and Finance (GCBF),
Costa Rica.

40. 
Braidfoot, R., & Swanson, A. (2013, Jan). Emotional intelligence of
financial planners in mediation. Global Conference on Business and
Finance Proceedings, 8(1), 378-385. Retrieved January 5, 2013 from
http://www.theibfr.com/proceedings.htm

Braidfoot, R. B., & Swanson, A. C. (2013, Jan). Emotional intelligence of
financial planners in mediation. Internet session presented at the 2013
Winter Global Conference on Business and Finance (GCBF), Las Vegas,
NV

Braidfoot, R., & Swanson, A. (2012, Sep). White Paper -- Emotional
Intelligence of Financial Planners. College for Financial Planning,
Greenwood Village, CO. http://www.cffpinfo.com/eBooks/Emot_Int.pdf