Financial Planning Association Names Carol Anderson Annual Award Winner

Carol Anderson

The Financial Planning Association, the membership organization and trade association for certified financial planner professionals, announced Wednesday that Chicago-based financial planner Carol Anderson as the recipient of its annual individual award.

Anderson was named as the winner of the 2024 P. Kemp Fain, Jr., Award, one of the financial planning profession’s highest individual awards.

“The P. Kemp Fain, Jr., Award provides a special time each year to recognize someone who has had a deep impact on the financial planning profession, and few people have had as much of an impact as Carol Anderson,” said 2024 FPA President Claudia Kane, in a statement.

“I’m overwhelmed with gratitude for this recognition of my life’s work,” Anderson said in a statement. “I have been driven to identify the factors that inspire and equip individuals to maximize their resources and pursue lives of meaning and purpose. I am indebted to my family, teachers, and colleagues for encouraging and supporting me along this endlessly fascinating journey.”

Anderson is the founder and vice president of Money Quotient, established in 2001, with the goal of helping individuals understand their financial strengths and weaknesses, and to guide them towards better financial decision-making and planning.

“The work Carol has done over the years has enabled financial planners to better understand the emotional and behavioral aspects of money while providing an important foundation for establishing stronger relationships with clients,” Kane continued.

Anderson is also founder of MQ Research & Education, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization focused on research, education, and the development of tools to help individuals and financial professionals improve their relationship with money. Anderson applied her research findings to developing client discovery tools and the “MQ True Wealth Planning” model, a delivery model for financial planning.

In 2007, Anderson co-authored the white paper “Communication Issues in Life Planning: Defining Key Factors in Developing Successful Planner-Client Relationships,” which significantly influenced the evolution of financial services, according to FPA. Numerous publications, including the current CFP curriculum, have cited this research.

Anderson also oversaw research and co-authored another crucial whitepaper in 2021 titled “Developing & Maintaining Client Relationships in a Rapidly Changing Environment,” which revealed the impact of local, national and international events on planner-client relationships.

Anderson will be recognized at FPA Annual Conference 2024, which is scheduled in Columbus, Ohio, from September 18 to 20. The award is named after P. Kemp Fain, Jr., a pioneer in the field of financial planning.