The US Chapter of the International Association of Registered Financial Consultants (IARFC®), has completed the 2023 National Financial Plan Competition showcasing the three Finalists in their bid to gain the top honors. Congratulations to Ethan Farar & Austin Kunzler from Utah Valley University who have emerged as the First Place Team.
The Complete Judging Results:
First Place: Ethan Farar & Austin Kunzler – Utah Valley University
Second Place: Logan Larochelle & Anthony Cassio – University of North Florida
Third Place: Josh Bell – Utah Valley University
Utah Valley University Financial Planning Program, Professor Luke Dean, Ph.D., RFC® weighs in on how the competition complements his in-place curriculum: “I feel the competition adds a challenging component to our Financial Planning Program by providing students an opportunity to address real-world client case scenarios. The competition is a huge value added to our curriculum as well as our students’ knowledge and experience base. Many thanks to the Competition Sponsors and the Association for facilitating this annual event.”
For over a decade, the IARFC has continued to invest in this nationwide event – thus supporting the future of the Financial Services industry. The Plan Competition prepares undergraduate students in a financial services curriculum for the real world of financial consulting by asking them to transform fictional family data into a reality based financial plan. The competition follows three stages:
- Initial Elimination – by professional consultants to reduce down the plan entries to 6 Semi-Finalists
- Semi-Finals – that identifies the top three Finalists
- Finals – where this year the top teams presented virtually to the IARFC US Chapter Board of Directors during their Annual Meeting.
Brad Maples Sr., MRFC®, the President of the US Chapter offered his thoughts. “Once again, we had a really excellent Competition. Perennial favorite Utah Valley came out on top but it was a close race with the team from North Florida. Over the years we have seen improvements in the quality of submissions and presentations in the Competition and this year was no exception. I was very impressed in some of the ideas that were brought forth – in truth, some seemed like they came from seasoned professionals. We appreciate the efforts by the competing teams, and their professors who have taught and mentored these future consultants.”
The US Chapter is appreciative of their Corporate Sponsors and the Individual Donors who invested in this year’s Competition. Their investment continues to support the philosophy of Loren Dunton, the “Father of Financial Planning”, that the role of a financial professional is indeed a very noble calling.
Complete information on the IARFC 2023 US Chapter National Financial Plan Competition can be found at https://www.iarfc.org/events/nfpc. The 2024 event is in the planning stages with the Chapter reaching out to educators and sponsors in the near future.
Corporate Sponsors
Individual Donors
| Diamond Barry Dayley, MRFC® Mary Moose, RFC® Fraj Lazreg, MRFC® Roey Diefendorf, MRFC® Michelle Blair, RFC® Mutha Mudaliar, RFC® | Platinum Jon Rogers, MRFC® | Gold Aaron Klein Duane Roth, RFC® Jeffery Reitzel, RFC® | Silver Daniel Yee, RFC® Terry Ciotti, RFC® Neil Lambert, RFC® Loretta Hill, RFC® Glenn Ankenbrand, RFC® |
