What is a Certified Kingdom Advisor

[INTRODUCTION] Welcome to “Christian Financial Perspectives”, where you’re invited to gain insight, wisdom and knowledge about how Christians integrate their faith, life and finances with a Biblical Worldview. Here’s your host Christian Investment Advisor, Financial Planner, and Coach, Bob Barber. [EPISODE] Shawn: Well, welcome to another episode of Christian Financial Perspectives with Bob and Shawn. And if you’re listening to this episode, Bob and I are looking better than ever. Now, if you are watching this disregard that last comment but how are you doing today, Bob? Bob: I’m doing good. Doing good. And looking forward to what we’re gonna be talking about today, which is Kingdom Advisors, which is dear to my heart, as you know I remember when Kingdom Advisors was started by Ron Blue many years ago. I even remember when Ron Blue and I went to lunch when I was president of the National Association of Christian Financial Advisors® many, many years ago. He was talking about starting Kingdom Advisors, and I’ve been to so many of the conferences and there’s nothing like it for a financial advisor. Shawn: Yeah. It’s a great organization. Bob: It is. Really is. Shawn: So today our episode is gonna be what is a Certified Kingdom Advisor. So I guess Bob, you already mentioned a little bit, maybe you could tell our listeners, viewers, a little bit about who is Kingdom Advisors. Bob: Well, Kingdom Advisors is a Christian membership community, and it’s made up of financial planners, investment professionals sometimes referred to as wealth managers, insurance professionals, estate planning lawyers and attorneys, tax and accounting professionals, CPAs. And it’s made up of these people in the industry, the financial industry, that want to integrate their faith with their business. Shawn: That’s awesome. Bob: And Shawn, a lot of Christian advisors, Christian Financial Advisors®, they don’t actually have a process to deliver biblical advice to their clientele. So Kingdom Advisors came along and it helps us members by offering a real step by step process of how you integrate biblical principles into your practice in helping your clients. Shawn: So just giving them something simple, step by step, to engage their clients using biblical principles. Bob: Many years ago when Kingdom Advisors was started, it wasn’t long after that, that you can be a member of Kingdom Advisors, but then there’s another step you can go into, which is a real deep, educational program. And that’s called a Certified Kingdom Advisor. Shawn: Okay. Now a Certified Kingdom Advisor, and I am using my notes a little bit here – you can step in time, Bob because he’s been a Certified Kingdom Advisor for years, but a Certified Kingdom Advisor, for those not aware, is a member of Kingdom Advisor that wants to take it to the next level with their membership. Bob: That’s right. Shawn: By going through a rigorous training certification process, which we’re gonna cover in a little bit with more details on that. And they have to hold either one of the following industry approved designations or there’s an experience component. So, if they go through this training certification process and they hold something such as CFP or their CPA. Bob: Or a Chartered Financial Life underwriter. Shawn: There’s a few. Or they have at least 10 years of experience in their particular field related to insurance, investments, accounting law, or financial planning. Now, they also have requirements for references like from their pastor and client references from a non-family member (Your family’s probably gonna say good things about you). And they also have to have been working with those clients for a minimum of two years and have worked with them in the last two years as well. So, there’s the training, there’s the experience or the certification pre requirement, and then there’s of course the references before you can become a Certified Kingdom Advisor. Bob: It’s quite a process. It really is. I mean, you think about before you even step into that, you have to have been in the business for 10 years or you have to be like a CFP – Certified Financial Planner. Shawn: The CFP is a good example. CFP, just to get that designation, for example, you have to have 6,000 hours that you can attribute towards your experience. And for those of you doing the math, that’s full time, 40 hours a week, that’s about three years. Right. Bob: That’s right. That would be three years, because 2000 hours a year, approximately. Right. Shawn: So definitely, if someone is able to even qualify for Certified Kingdom Advisors and have gone through that education, it is a very respectable mark, especially for someone looking for a Christian advisor of some kind. Bob: So today what we’re gonna do is I want you to really understand all the things that a Certified Kingdom Advisor has to abide by in these principles. And we’re gonna go over 10 principles that they have to abide by. And then we’re gonna go a little bit into the certification process again and get deeper. It’s not gonna be a super long episode today, but this is very serious, and I have such respect for Kingdom Advisors. I wanna make sure that I do this right, because this video is promoting Kingdom Advisors. And so, I wanna do right by that because I love the organization so much, and it is such an organization of integrity. And the man who started this, Ron Blue, is just one of my mentors. He’s just a good brother in Christ. And he used to be on Focus on the Family a lot with James Dobson, I remember years ago, and Dennis Rainey, and he’s written something like 15 or 20 books. I hope I’m quoting it right. I mean, it may be more than that. Shawn: Just say at least 20. Bob: And I’ve taught many of his Bible studies. So, he was very instrumental in putting this program together. So let’s start with those 10 principles, and we’ll go through these quickly. Shawn: So principle, number one is integrity. A commitment to absolute honesty, which is never swayed by personal gain or advantage. A commitment to integrity placed in them by their clients. Bob: That’s exactly right. Principle number two is objectivity, and a Certified Kingdom Advisor is required to provide honest and impartial advice, services, and products that are always in the best interest of the client. And at Christian financial… Shawn: What is knows as fiduciary. Bob: Yeah, exactly. Right. So at, at Christian Financial Advisors®, we are fiduciary. We don’t work on a commission basis at all. That’s not to say that a Certified Kingdom Advisor does not offer commission based products. Shawn: Right. They might. Bob: I mean, we don’t here at Christian Financial Advisors®, but they may, but they need to do that with honesty and impartial advice. Shawn: That’s right. Principle number three is competence. A Certified Kingdom Advisor has the skills, knowledge, and ability to sufficiently serve their clients in the field or fields in which they engage. Bob: Number four is suitability. A Certified Kingdom Advisor shall strive to ensure that the advice, the products, and services that they offer to their clients are suitable and appropriate, given each client’s goals, objectives, and current financial condition. Shawn: Principle number five, full disclosure. A certified Kingdom Advisor shall always make full disclosure to clients with respect to compensation being earned and any conflicts of interest that may exist. Bob: That is so important today, especially with some of the commission based products that have backend penalties to them, or maybe a alternative investment that’s not liquid. That really needs to be disclosed. I’m glad that this is part of the 10 principles of being a Certified Kingdom Advisor. Shawn: Because there’s nothing inherently wrong with a product or service that has, say, a commission or an upfront payment, as long as it is very clearly disclosed to a potential client. Bob: And all the fees and expenses. That’s right. Principle number six, I like this one, is confidentiality. So important. A Certified Kingdom Advisor shall not disclose confidential information ever about a client without the consent of the client. That would be like if maybe a client, sometimes I’ll talk to somebody, and they’ll say, could I speak with one of your clients? Well, I have to call the client first to make sure that’s okay. Shawn: And that doesn’t mean anytime someone asks that we can give that client information out to that person. It’s that specific time, is it okay if you talk to this person. Or, the other thing that’s very important as well is we’ll have somebody call that says they’re a CPA or they’re an attorney or some other kind of professional. And they say, ” Oh, I need client A’s information.” Well, we’ve gotta make sure, typically, it’s in writing at a minimum, but we have to have that from the client. Bob: That’s right. That’s right. I know you’ll love this one ,being that you’re Mr. Technology, that under that confidentiality is to maintain proper and prudent physical and technological safeguards to protect that information. Shawn: We take that very serious. Bob: That’s interesting that that is in one of the principles. Shawn: It’s important. Bob: So principle number seven… Shawn: Professionalism. A Certified Kingdom Advisor strives to conduct themselves in a manner that is consistent with a Christian financial professional, and they must conduct themselves as a committed believer. The conduct of a Certified Kingdom Advisor is also a reflection of Kingdom Advisors and directly affects the ability of Kingdom Advisors to fulfill its mission and vision. Bob: That’s a strong one It shows that when we’re saying we’re a Kingdom Advisor, we are reflecting Kingdom Advisors as well when we say we’re certified. Principle number eight is accountability. A Certified Kingdom Advisor submits to the authority of the local church and the Kingdom Advisors’ leadership team. In addition, Certified Kingdom Advisors actively maintain personal and business accountability with an accountability partner or board of directors. And we do that right here. We hold each other accountable at Christian Financial Advisors®. Shawn: So principal number nine, humility. a Certified Kingdom Advisor is to maintain a servant spirit, meekness and modesty in behavior, attitude, and spirit. Bob: We talked about that last week when we talked about a Christian financial advisor. Shawn: That’s right. Also, a Certified Kingdom Advisor recognizes that God is sovereign and the fruits of their labor is a direct result of God rather than their own human efforts. Furthermore, it is a privilege and a blessing to be used by the Lord on this earth. Bob: Amen. Shawn: Don’t get too big for your britches. Bob: Right. That’s right. And the last one is principle Number 10, generosity. A certified Kingdom Advisor is to be generous with their time, talent, and treasure and show a willingness to serve any client regardless of their financial position, either directly or on a referral basis to another Christian financial professional that can serve them in their area of need. So in addition to these 10 principles, a Certified Kingdom Advisor must submit a pastoral reference. I remember doing this and going to my church. Shawn: This part of that certification. So you’ve got, say, the experience of the designation. You’ve gone through the training and you’ve agreed to the principles, but these are the things that you need in order to become a Certified Kingdom Advisor, right? Bob: Exactly, and not only the pastoral reference, but several letters of reference from clients that have been with you for several years. And like I said, they cannot be a family member. It’s gotta be somebody to that. And a Certified Kingdom Advisor goes through a strong Certified Kingdom Advisor, or we call CKA, extensive training and educational program. This is taught by Ron Blue and a faculty. And this delivered to you in partnership with Ron Blue Institute and administered through… Shawn: Indiana Wesleyan University. Bob: I started to get tongue twisted, Indiana Wesleyan University. Exactly. So upon completion of the Certified Kingdom Advisor program, and you’ll hear us referred to that as a CKA again, candidates receive a university certificate from Indiana, Indiana… Shawn: Indiana Weslyan University. Bob: And they must complete ongoing, continuing educational requirements. Shawn: Right. That’s each year that you’re going through that where you, I guess you’d call the CE, “Continuing Education”, in order to maintain that Certified Kingdom Advisor’s designation. It’s not a one time thing. It’s not, “Once you pass it, you’re good.” Nope. You gotta do it every year and make sure you’re staying on target. Bob: And you sign off on all these principles that we went through today. Shawn: Well that’s pretty much it, I think, for today, but if you’d like to learn more or know more about Kingdom Advisors or their certification program, we’d invite you to visit their website kingdomadvisors.com or you can also visit our website, ChristianFinancialAdvisors.com, because we have several Certified Kingdom Advisors on our team. Bob: I’m one of them. That’s right. Shawn: I’m working on mine, but hopefully within the next year from the recording of this, I will have it. Bob: And we can be reached during business hours by calling or texting (830) 609-6986. Shawn: Thank you so much for being here with us. God bless and have a wonderful day. [CONCLUSION] That’s all for now. We invite you to listen to all of our past episodes covering many financial topics from a Christian Perspective. To make sure you don’t miss any of Bob’s upcoming episodes you can subscribe to Christian Financial Perspectives on iTunes, Google Play Music, Spotify, or Stitcher. To learn more about integrating your faith with your finances, visit ciswealth.com or call 830-609-6986. [DISCLOSURES] Investment advisory services offered through Christian Investment Advisors Inc dba Christian Financial Advisors®, a registered investment advisor registered with the SEC. Registration as an investment advisor does not imply a certain level of skill or training. Comments from today’s show are for informational purposes only and not to be considered investment advice or recommendations to buy or sell any company that may have been mentioned or discussed. The opinions expressed are solely those of the hosts, Bob Barber and Shawn Peters, and their guests. Bob and Shawn do not provide tax advice and encourage you to seek guidance from a tax professional. While Christian Financial Advisors® believes the information to be accurate and reliable, we do not claim or have responsibility for its completeness, accuracy, or reliability.