Ross Levin, founder of Accredited Investors Wealth Management, a fee-only financial planning firm based in Minneapolis, accepted the P. Kemp Fain, Jr. Award on Sept. 28 at the Financial Planning Association annual conference.
“While I am an individual recipient of this award, this is actually something that honors all of us in our profession,” Levin said in accepting the award. “We’re out there trying to improve the lives of those we serve. If I made a small difference in any of your lives, you in this profession have made a much larger difference in life. So thank you for letting me represent each of you.”
The P. Kemp Fain Jr. Award is considered one of the highest honors in the financial planning profession. The FPA presents the award to an individual who has realized outstanding achievements in service to society, academia, government, and professional activities.
Levin has been involved in financial planning for about 40 years. He held numerous positions with one of the FPA’s predecessor organizations, the International Association for Financial Planning (IAFP), in the 1980s and was elected in 1995 to serve as its chair. Levin was the first recipient of FPA’s Heart of Financial Planning Award in 2006.
He has authored several books, including “Implementing the Wealth Management Index: Tools to Build Your Practice and Measure Client Success,” which expands upon his Wealth Management Index tool that provides a framework for financial planners to assess and manage their clients’ plans and goals. His most recent book, “Spend Your Life Wisely: The Deeper Meaning of Money,” shares his humorous and thoughtful approach to life and money.
He has been recognized by numerous industry publications as one of the most influential people in financial planning. He has also been a speaker at many industry events and is a regular columnist for the Star Tribune of Minneapolis. He also has appeared in numerous publications and on various TV programs, including The Wall Street Journal, Business Week, Fortune, The New York Times, Newsweek, Barron’s, Money, NBC Nightly News, Oprah, and CBS This Morning.
Levin is a longtime advocate for pro bono financial planning and started the “Be Our Guest Program” for the Foundation for Financial Planning in 2006. The program is an opportunity for financial planning professionals to spend time with — and learn directly from — the profession’s leaders on various topics.
