The Center for Board Certified Fiduciaries (CBCF) announced Tuesday that it has affiliated with the School of Professional Studies (SPS) at Wake Forest University to provide the industry’s first executive education certificate in fiduciary studies. Courses will be taught by faculty from both CBCF and Wake Forest.
CBCF claims more than 17.5 million individuals serve others in a lay fiduciary capacity and $26.5 trillion in pension plans, foundations, endowments, health and welfare plans, and personal trusts.
“As critical as their function is to the fiscal health of the country, currently no university offers programs to support the critical leadership and stewardship roles of these key decision-makers,” the announcement read.
In addition, there are hundreds of thousands of professional fiduciaries who serve as investment advisors and investment managers to institutional and individual investors.
Founded in 1834, Wake Forest has campuses in North Carolina in Winston Salem and uptown Charlotte, a major hub of banks and other financial services and insurance firms.
“We are excited to affiliate with such a top university that has such a long history of serving our target industries,” CBCF CEO Don Trone said in a statement.
“As Wake Forest continues to grow its professional program and certificate offerings, we realize the importance of offerings like fiduciary studies and the industries fiduciaries serve,” added Dr. Charles Iacovou, Wake Forest University Vice Provost of Charlotte Programs and Dean of the School of Professional Studies. “We believe this compelling program will address important learning needs for such professionals.”
Professional mark
The Board Certified Fiduciary (BCF) is a professional mark awarded by the CBCF and recognizes an exemplary fiduciary leader’s knowledge, skills, work experience, and special expertise. The CBCF’s purpose is three-fold:
- Affiliate with one or more universities to provide an executive education certificate in fiduciary leadership, stewardship, and governance. Over time, develop the curricula for the first masters with a concentration in fiduciary responsibility.
- Provide the critical infrastructure to conduct and publish research and thought leadership on fiduciary standards and associated best practices.
- Board certify fiduciary professionals in a specific field of specialization. For example, a person may seek to be board certified to work with defined contribution (DC) plans, while another may want to work with foundations and endowments.
With more than 20 years serving financial markets, John Sullivan is the former editor-in-chief of Investment Advisor magazine and retirement editor of ThinkAdvisor.com. Sullivan is also the former editor of Boomer Market Advisor and Bank Advisor magazines, and has a background in the insurance and investment industries in addition to his journalism roots.
