Alphabet Soup of Advisor Credentials
What are the various credentials for advisors?
Do you know the difference between a CFS® and a ChFC®? Do you want your advisor to be a CIC or CIMA? What does a CMT have to offer as opposed to a CLU®? Here are the nine most common financial professional designations to help you navigate the sea of professional designation acronyms.
Designation | Issuing Organization | Qualifications in Brief | Area of Expertise |
Chartered Market Technician (CMT) | Market Technicians Association (MTA) |
| Technical analysis |
Certified Public Accountant and Personal Financial Specialist (CPA and PFS) | The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) |
| Financial planning including tax, estate, retirement and insurance and some niche areas like employee benefits and elder planning |
Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU®) | The American College |
| Legal aspects of life insurance and the and assisting clients in estate planning, including various wills and trust arrangements |
Certified Investment Management Analyst (CIMA) | Investment Management Consultants Association (IMCA) |
| Wealth management professionals that meet an international standard for personal certification (ISO/IEC 17024:2012) and accreditation by American National Standards Institute (ANSI) |
Chartered Investment Counselor (CIC) | Investment Advisor Association (IAA) |
| Portfolio management |
Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC®) | The American College |
| Financial planning including insurance, income taxation, retirement planning, investments and estate planning |
Certified Fund Specialist (CFS®) | Investor of Business & Finance (IBF) |
| Mutual funds, ETF (Exchange Traded Fund), REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust) |
CFA Institute |
| Investment analysis and portfolio management | |
| Financial planning and competency in over 90 topics including stocks, bonds, taxes, insurance, retirement planning and estate planning |
Lou Melone's Office
Lou Melone, CFP®
Managing Member
248-499-8721
Lou helps clients answer two questions: 1) Do you know exactly how much money it is going to take for you to retire comfortably 2) to remain comfortably retired? As a board CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional, Lou provides...
Branden Carney, CFP®
Wealth Planner
248-499-8721
Branden’s career in the financial industry began with Plante Moran Financial Advisors in 2016, after receiving his degree in Finance from the Eli Broad College of Business at Michigan State University. He then moved on to work...
Cindy Vaccarino
Operations Manager
248-499-8721
Cindy's career in the financial industry began shortly after college when she moved to New York to work at Morgan Stanley. Her current role includes overseeing administrative functions including but not limited to: operations, client...
Vito Curcuru
Marketing Consultant
248-499-8721
Vito works as a marketing consultant for Lou Melone's team. His activities include communicating information about financial planning and behavioral investing. He updates the website, manages social media and reviews the data and...