CFP Board Center for Financial Planning Announces Merrill Lynch as Event Sponsor of the 2017 Academic Research Colloquium

WASHINGTON, Feb. 6, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The CFP Board Center for Financial Planning is pleased to announce Merrill Lynch as the event sponsor of this week's Academic Research Colloquium for Financial Planning and Related Disciplines. The event is at the Renaissance Arlington Capital View Hotel in Arlington, Va. on February 7 – 9, 2017. The Colloquium is also made possible through Center sponsors, including Lead Founding Sponsor TD Ameritrade Institutional and Founding Sponsor Northwestern Mutual. 

The first-ever Colloquium will gather the global academic community to showcase rigorous and relevant research within financial planning and related disciplines that directly or indirectly relate to financial planning practice and the body of knowledge.

In addition, the firm will sponsor the Merrill Lynch Student Best Paper Award, which is awarded at the Colloquium. It is the next in a series of awards that will recognize authors from a variety of disciplines and sub-disciplines that relate to financial planning. It will be awarded to the graduate student with the best research paper that directly or indirectly relates to financial planning practice. The award carries a $2,500 cash prize for the author(s) of the winning paper.

"This Colloquium is a pivotal moment for the profession. Academics and students are conducting cutting-edge research on financial planning and related disciplines, and for the first time ever, they will gather to share their findings and insights," said Marilyn Mohrman-Gillis, the Center's Executive Director. "The CFP Board Center for Financial Planning greatly appreciates Merrill Lynch's support in helping to make this event a reality."

The criteria for this award include:

• Relevance and significance of topic and research question(s) that relate to financial planning practice
• Clarity of research question(s)
• Thoroughness of literature review
• Appropriateness of methodology for study
• Contribution to the body of knowledge of financial planning

"We're delighted to sponsor this unique symposium and to further build awareness and support of the CFP® certification as a professional designation. We encourage students to consider planning-based financial services careers in order to serve the next generation of investors," said Cheri Lytle, head of advisor development at Merrill Lynch Wealth Management.      

The CFP Board Center for Financial Planning is hosting the Colloquium in collaboration with the Canadian-based Financial Planning Standards Council and the Financial Planning Standards Board Ltd., owner of the international CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER certification program outside the United States.

For a complete list of Best Paper Awards that will be awarded at the Academic Research Colloquium, or to register to attend the event, visit www.CenterforFinancialPlanning.org/ARC.

ABOUT MERRILL LYNCH
Merrill Lynch Global Wealth Management is a leading provider of comprehensive wealth management and investment services for individuals and businesses globally. With 14,629 financial advisors and $2.1 trillion in client balances as of December 31, 2016, it is among the largest businesses of its kind in the world. Merrill Lynch Global Wealth Management specializes in goals-based wealth management, including planning for retirement, education, legacy, and other life goals through investment, cash and credit management. Within Merrill Lynch Global Wealth Management, the Private Banking and Investment Group focuses on the unique and personalized needs of wealthy individuals, families and their businesses. These clients are served by more than 190 highly specialized private wealth advisor teams, along with experts in areas such as investment management, concentrated stock management and intergenerational wealth transfer strategies. Merrill Lynch Global Wealth Management is part of Bank of America Corporation. 

ABOUT CFP BOARD
The mission of Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. is to benefit the public by granting the CFP® certification and upholding it as the recognized standard of excellence for competent and ethical personal financial planning. The Board of Directors, in furthering CFP Board's mission, acts on behalf of the public, CFP® professionals and other stakeholders. CFP Board owns the certification marks CFP®, Certified Financial Planner™, CFP® (with plaque design) and CFP® (with flame design) in the U.S., which it awards to individuals who successfully complete CFP Board's initial and ongoing certification requirements. CFP Board currently authorizes more than 76,000 individuals to use these marks in the U.S. For more information about CFP Board, visit www.CFP.net. 

ABOUT the CFP BOARD CENTER FOR FINANCIAL PLANNING
The CFP Board Center for Financial Planning seeks to create a more diverse and sustainable financial planning profession so that every American has access to competent and ethical financial planning advice.  The Center brings together CFP® professionals, firms, educators, researchers and experts to address profession-wide challenges in the areas of diversity and workforce development, and to build an academic home that offers opportunities for conducting and publishing new research that adds to the financial planning body of knowledge. More about the Center and its initiatives can be found at www.CenterforFinancialPlanning.org.

SOURCE CFP Board Center for Financial Planning