The “Accredited Professional Financial Planning Firm” scheme was launched by the Institute of Financial Planners of Hong Kong (IFPHK) in 2012. The scheme aims to encourage local financial firms to hire more CFP® professionals and AFP® professionals as part of the commitment to provide professional financial planning services to the public, so as to advance the standards of the financial planning profession in Hong Kong.

Two widely-recognized credentials, the CFP Certification and AFP Certification, are offered by the IFPHK to promote the professionalism of financial planners in Hong Kong. The former is the world’s oldest and most-recognized advanced certification in financial planning while the latter is a professional certification that equips financial planners with a wide range of core competencies tailored for domestic market use. Both CFP professionals and AFP professionals have to satisfy the rigorous “4E" requirements of Education, Examination, Experience and Ethics, and are capable of providing professional and objective financial planning advice.

Consumers may ask for financial planning advisers who are CFP professionals or AFP professionals from firms that have been awarded with the “Accredited Professional Financial Planning Firm”. All CFP professionals and AFP professionals are required to complete the strict certification process that assures their abilities and competencies in applying financial planning knowledge and skills in all or part of the following areas:
Financial Management
Investment Planning and Asset Management
Insurance Planning and Risk Management
Retirement Planning
Tax Planning and Estate Planning

To find out more about the differences between AFP Certification and CFP Certification, please read HERE.
To know more about CFP Certification, please read http://www.ifphk.org/cfpcertification/about.
To know more about AFP Certification, please read http://www.ifphk.org/afpcertification/about.

All awarded firms are categorized into three sectors, namely:
Banking
Insurance
Independent Financial Advisory

Assessment criterion:
A minimum of 50 CFP professionals and/or AFP professionals were being employed in 2024.

Points to note:
The “Accredited Professional Financial Planning Firm” title indicates that the awarded firms have met the requirement of employing a minimum number of CFP professionals and AFP professionals. It does not represent in any way that the IFPHK endorses the products, services or sales techniques of the awarded firms.
Consumers are strongly recommended to always seek qualified financial planning practitioners such as CFP professionals or AFP professionals to provide advice for their personal financial planning needs.