NFP Announces Strategic Relationship with CEFEX

NEW YORK, Dec. 20, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- National Financial Partners Corp. (NYSE: NFP), a leading provider of benefits, insurance and wealth management services, today announced the establishment of an innovative strategic relationship between its broker/dealer and investment advisor and the Centre for Fiduciary Excellence, LLC ("CEFEX"). Through this alliance -- the first of its kind between CEFEX and an independent broker/dealer -- NFP will provide advisors with access to resources and tools to support the process of becoming a CEFEX certified investment fiduciary. 

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20100920/NY67494LOGO )

CEFEX is an independent organization that assesses the trustworthiness of investment fiduciaries. Certification by CEFEX is a demonstration of adherence to all fiduciary practices as defined by an independent accreditation process. A CEFEX certified Investment Advisory firm is an acknowledged fiduciary to its clients, including retirement plans. 

James Poer, President, NFP Advisor Services Group, commented, "We recognize the value proposition for advisors that choose to act as a fiduciary, particularly given the growing industry demand for more holistic financial guidance. Today's announcement is an extension of our commitment to helping our advisors evolve their businesses into multidiscipline practices so they are better able to serve clients.  We are extremely pleased to be able to provide our advisors with the tools and resources needed to facilitate the process of pursuing the CEFEX certification."

Carlos Panksep, General Manager of CEFEX, commented, "CEFEX completed the assessment of NFP's role in supporting the Investment Advisor certification process. Through our independent assessment, the certification provides assurance to clients that participating advisors are demonstrating adherence to the industry's best fiduciary practices."

Edward O'Malley, President, NFP Corporate Client Group, commented, "Establishing trust with clients is paramount, and certification by CEFEX signifies an advisor's commitment to providing sound and objective financial advice held to the highest professional standards. As more advisors become certified as fiduciaries, we believe our corporate clients will benefit from access to the enhanced services that accredited financial advisors on the NFP platform will now be able to provide.  We look forward to working with CEFEX to assist our advisors in pursuing and maintaining this important recognition."

About NFP  
National Financial Partners Corp. (NYSE: NFP), and its benefits, insurance and wealth management businesses provide diversified advisory and brokerage services to companies and high net worth individuals, partnering with them to preserve their assets and prosper over the long term. NFP advisors provide innovative and comprehensive solutions, backed by NFP's national scale and resources. NFP operates in three business segments. The Corporate Client Group provides corporate and executive benefits, retirement plans and property and casualty insurance. The Individual Client Group includes retail and wholesale life insurance brokerage and wealth management advisory services. The Advisor Services Group serves independent financial advisors by offering broker-dealer and asset management products and services through NFP subsidiaries NFP Securities, Inc., member FINRA/SIPC, and NFP IndeSuite, Inc. Most recently, NFP was ranked as the eighth Top Global Insurance Broker by Best's Review; operated the third largest Executive Benefits Provider of nonqualified deferred compensation plans by total clients as ranked by PlanSponsor; operated a top ten Independent Broker Dealer as ranked by Financial Planning and Financial Advisor; had three advisors ranked in Barron's Top 100 Independent Financial Advisors and is a leading independent life insurance distributor according to many top-tier carriers. For more information, visit www.nfp.com.

About CEFEX  
The Centre for Fiduciary Excellence, LLC is an independent certification organization. CEFEX works closely with industry experts to provide comprehensive assessment programs to promote fiduciary best practices. It certifies investment stewards, advisors, fiduciary advisers (PPA), managers, ASPPA recordkeepers and administrators, and investment support services firms. CEFEX has offices in Toronto, Canada, and Pittsburgh, PA.

SOURCE NFP