Certified Trust and Fiduciary Advisor (CTFA)

What Is a Certified Trust and Fiduciary Advisor (CTFA)?

The Certified Trust and Fiduciary Advisor (CTFA) is a professional assignment offered by the American Bankers Association (ABA), which gives training and information in taxes, investments, financial planning, trusts, and estates. Recently called the Certified Trust and Financial Advisor certification, the ABA replaced "Financial" in the title with "Fiduciary" in 2020.

The CTFA certification is suitable for professionals who have a career in banking, brokering, financial planning, taxation, or trust administration.

Grasping a Certified Trust and Fiduciary Advisor (CTFA)

The CTFA certification exhibits ability in the trust and financial prompting calling. To receive the assignment, competitors must have a base level of wealth management work experience, complete approved training programs, and finish an examination. Continuing education (CE) is likewise expected to keep up with the CTFA assignment.

The ABA characterizes professional wealth management experience as giving client advice, either straightforwardly or by implication, connecting with trusts, estates, individual retirement accounts (IRAs) and other qualified retirement plans, custody, and individual asset management accounts.

Giving specialty services in administration, investment management, tax, legal, finance, and estate planning is likewise viewed as professional wealth management experience by the banking trade association, as is fiduciary regulatory oversight with a state or federal regulatory agency and fiduciary compliance or risk management activities. The ABA adds that these services can be delivered in "an integrated or specialty-centered way."

Experience in employee benefit trust, corporate trust, or protections/trust operations doesn't qualify as wealth management experience, as per the ABA.

Certified Trust and Fiduciary Advisor (CTFA) Requirements

Candidates must have three years of experience in wealth management and have completed an accredited training program in the last seven years, including one of the accompanying:

Hold foundation, intermediate and advanced ABA trust certificates. These can be earned online at an ABA trust school, at an ABA-drove in-bank trust school, or a combination of both. Assuming that candidates complete every one of the three certificates online, the ABA's CTFA exam online prep course is additionally required.
Completed Cannon Financial Institute Trust School's Level I, Level II, and Level III courses.
Completed Campbell University's trust and investment management degree.

Or then again have:

Five years of wealth management experience accumulated inside the past seven years and a four year college education.
At least ten years of wealth management experience, no less than five of which must have been acquired in the past seven years.

As well as fulfilling these requirements, candidates are required to sign the ABA professional certifications' code of ethics statement.

Certified Trust and Fiduciary Advisor (CTFA) Exam

Candidates must pay $750 to take the exam or $450 for retakes.

The exam has a maximum duration of four hours and comprises of 200 various choice inquiries. Areas of information tried incorporate fiduciary and trust activities, financial planning, taxation law and planning, investment management, and ethics. The exam likewise tests candidates' ability to apply their insight to functional examples. Candidates will be given a calculator to the exam.

Certified Trust and Fiduciary Advisor (CTFA) Renewal

To keep up with the CTFA assignment, holders must complete 45 CE credits like clockwork, stick to the ABA professional certifications' code of ethics and pay an annual renewal fee of $275. Individuals who hold at least two ABA certifications receive a renewal discount.

Features

The CTFA assignment is planned to survey and certify a financial professional's information and ability in the field of trusts and financial advice, comprehensively understood.
CTFAs must likewise complete customary continuing education (CE) requirements.
The Certified Trust and Fiduciary Advisor (CTFA) is one of several professional assignments offered by the American Bankers Association (ABA).
Candidates must meet least work experience requirements in the financial industry and finish a thorough examination.