301.838.9110 Get Started

Certifications and Designations

At Kendall Capital, we are proud of our team’s hard work and diligent pursuit of respected certifications and designations. We invite our clients and prospective clients to learn more about them here. Additional information about Kendall Capital is also available on the SEC’s website at www.adviserinfo.sec.gov using our firm’s unique identifying number, known as a CRD number: 134740.

*Registration as an investment adviser does not imply a certain level of skill or training.

 

Chartered Financial Analyst® (CFA®)

To enroll in the CFA program, an individual must have a bachelor’s degree or equivalent, or four years of qualified work experience. A CFA designation requires an individual to pass three exams that test the individual’s knowledge of investments and finance. The CFA candidate is also required to understand and sign a professional conduct statement which commits the individual to the CFA Institute’s Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct. More information about the designation is available at https://www.cfainstitute.org.

 

Accredited Estate Planner ® (AEP®)

AEP® designation is available to individual who practice as one of the following: attorney (JD), Certified Public Accountants (CPA), insurance professional and financial planner (Chartered Life Underwriters, Certified Trust and Financial Advisors, Chartered Financial Consultants, and Certified Financial Planner®). The AEP® designation is awarded by the National Association of Estate Planners & Councils to recognize estate planning professionals who meet special requirements of education, experience, knowledge, professional reputations, and character. More information about the designation is available at https://www.naepc.org/designations/estate-planners.

 

The Accredited Investment Fiduciary® (AIF®)

The AIF® designation certifies that the recipient has specialized knowledge of fiduciary standards of care and their application to the investment management process. To receive the AIF® designation, individuals must complete a training program, successfully pass a comprehensive, closed-book final examination under the supervision of a proctor and agree to abide by the AIF® Code of Ethics. In order to maintain the AIF® designation, the individual must annually renew their affirmation of the AIF® Code of Ethics and complete six hours of continuing education credits. The certification is administered by the Center for Fiduciary Studies (a Fiduciary360 (fi360) company). You may find more information about the AIF® designation at https://www.fi360.com/what-we-do/learning-development/.

 

CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ (CFP®)

As noted above, certain Kendall Capital professionals are certified for financial planning services in the United States by Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. (“CFP Board”). Therefore, each may refer to himself/herself as a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional or a CFP® professional and may use these and CFP Board’s other certification marks (the “CFP Board Certification Marks”). The CFP® certification is voluntary. No federal or state law or regulation requires financial planners to hold the CFP® certification. You may find more information about the CFP® certification at www.cfp.net.

CFP® professionals have met CFP Board’s high standards for education, examination, experience, and ethics. To become a CFP® professional, an individual must fulfill the following requirements:

  • Education – Earn a bachelor’s degree or higher from an accredited college or university and complete CFP Board-approved coursework at a college or university through a CFP Board Registered Program. The coursework covers the financial planning subject areas CFP Board has determined are necessary for the competent and professional delivery of financial planning services, as well as a comprehensive financial plan development capstone course. A candidate may satisfy some of the coursework requirement through other qualifying credentials.
  • Examination – Pass the comprehensive CFP® Certification Examination. The examination is designed to assess an individual’s ability to integrate and apply a broad base of financial planning knowledge in the context of real-life financial planning situations.
  • Experience – Complete 6,000 hours of professional experience related to the personal financial planning process, or 4,000 hours of apprenticeship experience that meets additional requirements.
  • Ethics – Satisfy the Fitness Standards for Candidates for CFP® Certification and Former CFP® Professionals Seeking Reinstatement and agree to be bound by CFP Board’s Code of Ethics and Standards of Conduct (“Code and Standards”), which sets forth the ethical and practice standards for CFP® professionals.

Individuals who become certified must complete the following ongoing education and ethics requirements to remain certified and maintain the right to continue to use the CFP Board Certification Marks:

  • Ethics – Commit to complying with CFP Board’s Code and Standards. This includes a commitment to CFP Board, as part of the certification, to act as a fiduciary, and therefore, act in the best interests of the client, at all times when providing financial advice and financial planning. CFP Board may sanction a CFP® professional who does not abide by this commitment, but CFP Board does not guarantee a CFP® professional’s services. A client who seeks a similar commitment should obtain a written engagement that includes a fiduciary obligation to the client.
  • Continuing Education – Complete 30 hours of continuing education every two years to maintain competence, demonstrate specified levels of knowledge, skills, and abilities, and keep up with developments in financial planning. Two of the hours must address the Code and Standards.

 

Certified Alternative Investment Analyst® (CAIA)

To earn the CAIA designation, the candidate must have a Bachelor’s or equivalent degree or more than four years of experience in the financial industry. A CAIA designation requires an individual to pass two exams that test the individual’s knowledge of various alternative asset classes, the tools and techniques used to evaluate the risk-return attributes of each one and assesses how you would apply the knowledge and analytics within a portfolio management context. Both exams include segments on ethics and professional conduct. More information about the designation is available at https://caia.org/.