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.
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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