The Investment Management Consultants Association plans to formally apply for accreditation in 2010, president Garry Bridgeman confirmed today at the Greenwood Village, Colo.-based organization’s professional development conference in Denver.
The association will seek third-party accreditation for IMCA’s certified investment management analyst designation.
The accreditation could be provided by the American National Standards Institute or the National Commission for Certifying Agencies.
“It will strengthen the mark,” he said. “This helps to validate it.”
The application process takes time, but efforts have been under way since the organization set up a certification committee two years ago, Mr. Bridgeman said.
Actions related to other industry designations underscored the need for accreditation, he said.
Earlier this year, the North American Securities Administrators Association Inc. approved a rule prohibiting the misleading use of senior-specific designations.
Some state administrators began making recommendations about financial designations as a result.
“The [designations] that are going to stand up will have to have a third party accreditation,” Mr. Bridgeman said.
The CIMA designation program, designed for investment consultants, is delivered through The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia and the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley.
Of the 7,200 members in the United States, Canada and Australia, some 6,000 have the CIMA designation.
The association also recently completed a job-analysis survey of its membership and will be making modifications to the test.
The only other accredited professional designation in the financial advice industry is the certified financial planner mark, Mr. Bridgeman said.
Established in 1985, IMCA provides investment consulting and wealth management designations to its membership.
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