Photos by Alistair Gurley
The future is now, even for a select group of GCU students with a long working career ahead of them.
A major development took place more than a year ago when Grand Canyon University's Colangelo College of Business began to offer a bachelor’s degree with an emphasis on financial planning.
Instead of taking financial-related courses during their senior year, students could enroll in financial planning-related classes, such as retirement planning, estate planning, and life and health insurance.
All of the financial planning classes were certified by the Certified Financial Planner (CFP) Board, which allowed students to take the CFP test as soon as they graduate.
Last year, Dr. Joy Clady, the college's finance chair, noticed that Matthew Kerin switched his major from finance to finance with an emphasis on financial planning and asked him to become a student leader in this area.
Thanks to the efforts of Nate St. John, Madalyn Nelson, Ashley Villa and Kerin, the GCU Financial Planning Association was formed. The association, a chapter of the Finance and Economics Club, started with 40 people and has swelled to more than 100 members.
Its quick growth has caught the attention of renowned firms, such as Charles Schwab, which hosted a Registered Investment Advisor event that included three top panelists from the Colony Group, TCI Wealth Advisors and Husch Blackwell who spoke to more than 70 students.
Like Nelson, Villa was part of the first small group of finance graduates with a concentration in financial planning and works for the Phoenix branch of Blue Trust, which uses biblical wisdom to help clients.
“It was truly a blessing to be part of this (GCU) program,” Villa said.
The financial planning component to the finance degree and the instant growth of the association couldn’t come at a better time for students interested in pursuing a career in financial planning.
Kerin said there are more people in the financial planning industry who are older than 70 than those who are younger than 30, creating a massive age gap and the potential for more financial advisors.
“You have a lot of old advisors who are not looking to sell but hand off, for free, their book of business to a young, aspiring planner who they trust with their clients,” said Kerin, who is on track to graduate in December.
“You don’t get that right away, but once you get into your 30s, and have been with that adviser for a while, gradually they give you their book of business because they must have a succession plan, and they just can’t leave clients high and dry once they retire.
“They want to give that away to someone they care about because they’ve been clients for 20 to 30 years.”
The financial planning classes required during a student’s senior year save them the hassle of taking a class and passing a test on each one of those sections if they weren’t pursuing that concentration. That pursuit, along with the hours required to earn the chance for certification, could take up to three years, Kerin said.
“There’s never been this much technology that can be implemented to make the process easier to onboard and get clients,” Kerin said. “It’s moving more just toward the advising part, which is the good part. So there’s a lot of opportunity.
“I think GCU has done a great job of being a mecca, building that as fast as possible and as effectively as possible.”
The university also has partnered with several companies that are fee-only, giving advisors the freedom to do what’s best for their clients because they are not incentivized in any way.
Kerin said financial planners can make six-figure salaries in their first year as a CFP, but he was pleased to meet a large majority of students who are pursuing a career in financial planning to primarily help people’s financial futures.
And, in some cases, to a great calling.
“I’ve met students who want to go into high networks to help people give away more money and give it to kingdom-related causes,” Kerin said. “It’s an awesome cause.
“Where do those dollars come from? They come from people who can afford to give away a lot of money. To be a financial planner, especially a Christian financial planner, is a wonderful calling."
Kerin praised Blue Trust for its relationship with GCU and its commitment to helping clients donate as much money as they can to kingdom-related causes.
It took persistence for Kerin to get connected. He found out through professor Alan Klibanoff that four students were invited to a Schwab conference at a Scottsdale resort.
Kerin went to Clady and told her that he would like to be considered for the event if someone dropped out.
Fortunately for Kerin, that happened. He filled in and gained more than associations.
“What captivated it for me was the sincerity of everybody who works in the field, how much they care for their clients, how they impacted their clients’ lives tremendously and how they were all very purpose-driven for what they do for the people and make a good living out of it,” Kerin said.
Kerin said financial planning has given him fulfillment.
“I don’t just want to sit behind a Bloomberg machine all day,” he said. “But I also don’t want to give up a livable wage for my family to be able to support them one day. I want the best of both worlds. And financial planning, in my mind, really does that.”
GCU News Senior Writer Mark Gonzales can be reached at [email protected]
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