---
title: Do Clients Care About Advisor Credentials?
description: Research shows clients value advisor credentials but can't explain them. Julie Littlechild on how financial advisors should talk about certifications.
image: https://content.investmentsandwealth.org/hubfs/IWI-ExceptionalAdvisor-HostandGuest-1920x1080-Episode-10.png
---

[Skip to content](https://content.investmentsandwealth.org/podcast/do-clients-care-about-advisor-credentials#main-content)

[![Investments & Wealth Institute ](https://content.investmentsandwealth.org/hubfs/content-hub/iwi_logo_w294_h46.svg "Investments & Wealth Institute ")](https://investmentsandwealth.org/)

 Explore

- [All Content](https://4812204.hs-sites.com/content-hub)
- [Video](https://4812204.hs-sites.com/content-hub?type=Video)
- [eBook](https://4812204.hs-sites.com/content-hub?type=eBook)
- [Case Study](https://4812204.hs-sites.com/content-hub?type=Case+Study)
- [Blog](https://4812204.hs-sites.com/content-hub?type=Blog)
- [Podcasts](https://4812204.hs-sites.com/content-hub?type=podcast)
- [Webinars](https://4812204.hs-sites.com/content-hub?type=webinar)

- [Find An Advisor](https://www.investmenthelp.org/)
- [Contact](https://investmentsandwealth.org/contact-us)
- [My Dashboard](https://portal.investmentsandwealth.org/s/login/?startURL=%2Fs%2Fhome-page)

- Certifications 
    - [CIMA](https://investmentsandwealth.org/certifications/cima-certification)
    - [CPWA](https://investmentsandwealth.org/certifications/cpwa-certification)
    - [RMA](https://investmentsandwealth.org/certifications/rma-certification)
    - [Help Me Choose](https://investmentsandwealth.org/certifications/compare-iwi-certifications)
- [Online Education](https://investmentsandwealth.org/online-learning-financial-advisor-ce)
- [Conferences & Events](https://investmentsandwealth.org/financial-advisor-conferences-events) 
    - [Experience 2026](https://experience.investmentsandwealth.org)
- [Membership](https://investmentsandwealth.org/membership)
- [Publications & Resources](https://content.investmentsandwealth.org/)
- [Partner Solutions](https://investmentsandwealth.org/partner-and-sponsor)
- [About](https://investmentsandwealth.org/about/mission-purpose-value)

 Podcast

# What Your Clients Really Think About Your Credentials

 October 14, 2026 JULIE LITTLECHILD

<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/R6AydnpzlVc?rel=0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen loading="lazy" title="Video Player">
          </iframe>

Julie Littlechild, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Absolute Engagement, has spent 25 years asking clients what they think of their advisor relationships. Her [annual survey of 1,000 high-net-worth (HNW) investors](https://content.investmentsandwealth.org/publication/high-net-worth-investor-research-connection-between-confidence-expertise-growth), conducted by Absolute Engagement on behalf of the Investments & Wealth Institute, finds that 87% say it is somewhat or very important for their advisor to hold advanced professional credentials, rising to 91% among investors with $5 million or more.

Yet more than half say they don't understand what their advisor's letters mean.

Julie joins host Sean Walters, Chief Executive Officer of the Institute, to talk through what the [*2026 High-Net-Worth Investor Research*](https://content.investmentsandwealth.org/publication/high-net-worth-investor-research-connection-between-confidence-expertise-growth) shows about client confidence, advisor expertise, and practice growth, and how advisors can explain their certifications in terms of what clients care about.

The conversation covers:

- **How to explain your certifications to clients:** Tie each certification to a specific client need, such as preparing heirs for a wealth transfer, and cover the education, exam, and ethics standards as supporting detail. In the research, clients who understood their advisor's credentials were more likely to feel confident about their financial future.
- **Why clients refer a financial advisor:** Credentials and good service make an advisor worth referring. The referral itself happens when a friend raises a problem, such as family dynamics around money, that the advisor has already solved for the client.
- **Do advisor credentials still matter to clients years later?** Yes, and more to clients than to advisors. In Absolute Engagement's research, about a third of advisors said their credentials matter as much or more now than when they earned them, compared with 64% of clients.

 Read the Full Episode Transcript

**Sean Walters:** Hello everyone. Welcome to the Exceptional Advisor Podcast. I’m your host, Sean Walters. I’m Chief Executive Officer of the Investments & Wealth Institute. This podcast is about how we can step back from the weekly noise and talk about what it actually takes to serve clients with a wealth management and advisory practice in the highest possible way as exceptional advisors. I’ll say up front that I’m not a financial advisor. I have served advisors for over 30 years in different professional associations. And the Investments & Wealth Institute is an association of and for professional financial advisors. Today we’re going to talk more about the client of the financial advisor. And as my guest, one of the experts in client research is Julie Littlechild, founder and CEO of Absolute Engagement. Welcome, Julie.

**Julie Littlechild:** Thank you. Pleased to be here.

**Sean Walters:** Julie has spent a little less time than me, we’ll say about 25 years, working and asking clients what they actually think about their advisor relationship. She started Advisor Impact in 1998 and ran that company for about 16 years and then started Absolute Engagement in 2014. She’s written books on the subject. She’s served on boards of financial advisor associations. And she sits on one of our advisory boards as well. A valuable volunteer of the Institute, a very valuable contributor of thought leadership to the industry. So thank you, Julie, again for joining us.

**Julie Littlechild:** No, can’t wait for the conversation.

**Sean Walters:** It’s been ten years since you and I partnered to do a client research project for the Investments & Wealth Institute. Happy anniversary.

**Julie Littlechild:** I know. It seemed like a good idea a decade ago. I still think it is.

**Sean Walters:** We’ll get into some of the questions, but talk a little bit about the research that you do and how many people you survey and just a little bit about the client survey that you conduct each year.

**Julie Littlechild:** Yeah, so every year we go out and roughly the same time of year we’ll survey about 1,000 high-net-worth investors. And the 1,000 gives you a very strong sample in terms of margin of error. And we’re particularly focused on investors who work with an advisor. We have a sub segment of that, people who actually contribute to or make the financial decisions in the house. Well, we want them to have an opinion on the advisory relationship. And then we split it based on household assets. And that’s been our sort of anchor research that we do every year. We also do a lot of research through our own programs with individual advisory firms, and that adds a lot of color, but we treat this as kind of our core that we look at. And it’s, you know, the questions have evolved over the years, the themes, and the learning, but it’s been a really invaluable source of just understanding what’s changing in the minds of investors.

### What Do Clients Think About Their Financial Advisor’s Credentials?

**Sean Walters:** Yeah. Well, we could go in so many directions because as Julie knows, she and I share a common passion, which is research. So we could geek out on research all day. One of the things that I think is not really discussed enough is research around what clients think about the professional credentials that advisors hold. And just a little context on that. You know, in our industry, regulation is not great for, you know, giving an advisor a broad client-focused set of skills and knowledge that they can then apply to the engagement. So professional certifications have filled that void. And as an example, the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards spends not millions, but tens of millions of dollars advertising, “It’s gotta be a CFP®,” directly to the public. And the CFA Chartered Financial Analyst Institute, which also has a lot of money, has spent, I remember right before COVID, I think their budget was $60 million in one year on public awareness. I mean, these numbers are significantly higher than our entire annual budget at the Institute, but we spend at least a quarter of our budget just in advancing and protecting the integrity of the marks and then promoting that out through public awareness, public relations, et cetera. So obviously it’s high stakes, right? The value of the credentials after the financial professional’s name have become a high stakes game that organizations like mine have spent a lot of money promoting. So we’re going to talk today about those credentials and what clients think about the letters after their advisor’s name. So talk a little bit about what have you seen. You’ve asked about the credentials after an advisor’s name and you’ve been asking for 10 years now. What is the data telling you and what is this research telling you about that?

**Julie Littlechild:** I think that, we can go into any of this in some detail, but we know they matter, we know they’re important. We know that there’s a distinct lack of understanding about what they really mean. And we also know that there are ways for advisors to communicate this more effectively. Like the data tells us, perhaps, what advisors need to do a little differently or better, not in terms of their expertise. That is objective. They have the credential. They have the proof. But when it comes to articulating that and communicating that and making it a true differentiator through the eyes of the client, I think that’s where a lot of the learning has really been.

**Sean Walters:** Have you seen a shift? Because we’ve been doing this through COVID, right? We started in 2017 and what has changed in regards to what clients expect from their advisor or from their advisor’s credentials?

**Julie Littlechild:** Well, I think those two, the way you phrased that’s important because it’s probably less that they expect something from the credential. I think they assume a lot from the credential. The bigger question is what do they expect? What do they need? Right? And that’s where we have seen an evolution. You know, as our research changed a lot as we went through COVID, we kind of doubled down and leaned into what are the big concerns that investors have? What’s keeping them up at night? What’s sort of the humanity of how people are feeling? And I think that those two things can be connected more effectively to the extent that advisors can help clients understand how their expertise, how their knowledge, and ultimately how that credential can support clients in what is most important. What I really don’t know, I’ll be honest, is: is this a change in how clients are feeling or are we just asking better questions? Maybe I’d like to tell you that I know the answer to that, but I don’t. So we’ve been hyper focused on behavior and concerns and confidence and needs and, you know, again, those very human, softer side of things. But I think these things have always been there. I just think advisors are starting to ask the better questions.

**Sean Walters:** The Heisenberg effect, right? Like, as you observe that the observation changes. So one of the things that seems paradoxical at times is that over that time it seems like the value of credentials generally has risen. But clients can’t really explain why. Or they can’t say that they understand the advisor’s certifications. They know they’re there, they know they matter. But they can’t say what they get out of it. How does an advisor close that gap?

**Julie Littlechild:** Well, I think you’re right. Like to your point, the research shows a really steady view on the importance of credentials. I mean, really high. 87% of investors said that it was somewhat or very important that their advisor hold advanced professional credentials. So they get that. That’s more pronounced among those with higher wealth. That increases to 91% if you’re in the $5 million-plus category. We’ve seen advisors rewarded, so to speak, for that. You know, I looked in particular at those that held one of the Institute’s certifications this year. And, you know, we could see that if they had one or more certifications from the Institute, their loyalty was higher, their net promoter score was higher, and they all said they’re more likely to refer. I mean, even if you’re not saying it’s important, you can see in how people behave that it’s important. But then, you know, and I’d also mention, we can talk a little bit about this, we see a connection with client confidence as well. Like when clients are more confident, they’re more likely to say their advisor has some sort of advanced credentials. But to your point, they still don’t know what it means. So it’s a bit like saying, “I know you went to Harvard. And I think that’s really great. But I have no idea what you studied.” There’s an awareness, and it’s got to be a good thing. And it’s got to somehow suggest that you’re smarter than the average bear because you were able to get through that. But what does it really mean? And that was a complete digression from your question, but it has context.

Back to your question. If we look at, you know, what maybe what advisors can do or why that gap exists, I think that it has a lot to do with how advisors communicate the value, or if they communicate the value of the credentials. So one of the things I’ve observed is that when you talk to advisors, as we’ve done with members, and ask them about the impact of holding, say, a CIMA® or a CPWA® or what have you or an RMA®, they tend to focus on having much more confidence in delivering advice and more, you know, complex advice. And that’s awesome. But it’s more internal, right? I feel more confident. I think part of this just starts with flipping the switch a little and saying, okay, we need advisors to feel confident. We need them to have the knowledge. But if we actually look at the impact, so for example, clients who said they were more aware of what the credentials actually meant were more likely to be confident in their financial future. Right? So awareness and understanding are correlated with confidence. And I think if the advisory community in particular leans into that idea, then they’ll start thinking about, you know, I need to communicate this, not because I just didn’t do it for myself. I did it because it’s going to have an impact on you. And I think there are specific things we can do and we can talk about that, but I think that’s kind of the almost like foundational flipping of the switch to understand why this matters.

### How Should Financial Advisors Explain Their Certifications to Clients?

**Sean Walters:** Yeah. The research that is being done on the value of credentials is showing that clients really almost require their advisor to have something beyond the licenses in order to trust the advisor, understand their credibility. As you were just talking about, the confidence of the client goes up when they know they can trust the advisor and they don’t have to worry about that. It’s similar to when I’m sitting in my doctor’s office and waiting and I’m looking around at all the, you know, the different certificates on the wall. That voluntary certification for being a board certified dermatologist or whatever it is, not to get into too much detail, those aren’t required. Like for them to be a doctor, they don’t have to be board certified. That’s a voluntary step that I now have a little extra confidence about my medical specialists. So that all makes sense. The difference is, I mean, I know what a board certified dermatologist is. I’m there. I know exactly what they’re going to be looking at. So I assume now that this person has more legitimacy, more knowledge, more credibility, whatever. With the advisors, a lot of the certifications are specialty certifications. There’s a lot of them, right? I had Dane Snowden as a guest a few podcasts back, and we talked about the difference between a certificate program that offers a designation but really nothing else versus a full-fledged quality, legitimate professional certification that has ongoing standards and disciplinary and all that stuff. And most clients don’t know the difference. And so it becomes part of the advisor’s responsibility to educate. You’re the first one that really said that, Julie, from our first year or two of research, was how important it is for the advisor to explain what this knowledge represents and how that benefits the client. The value proposition, as you were just saying. So if I’m the client and you’re the advisor and we’re sitting down and I have no idea what your certification stands for, you know, walk me through that. What would you say?

**Julie Littlechild:** I think it would be different if you were a prospective client versus an existing client. I think there, you know, are times to raise this. It’s probably not the initial meeting. It might be a follow-up to the meeting. But if you were a client and for whatever reason you had chosen me as your financial advisor, then there’s a few sort of key messages that I would want to get through. And we can talk through what that might sound like. First of all, I’d want to lead in with why am I talking about this? Maybe we’ve worked together for years. And I don’t want to put you on the spot. I don’t want to make you feel uncomfortable that you don’t know what these letters mean. I want to reinforce why I chose this particular certification. I want to really focus on what it means for you. And that could change client to client, the impact and the process.

So, you know, I would probably introduce it, particularly if it’s a longer term client, by saying, you know, it was interesting. This weekend I was reading, Sean, this report about investors, and I was fascinated to see that over half of investors said they didn’t understand what their advisors’ letters actually meant. They valued it, but they didn’t understand. Now I’m not going to ask them if they understand, because that just makes people feel stupid. I’m just gonna say, like, would you mind if I just took a little time? Because I think it’s important that you understand, you know, exactly what all this means to you. I have a CIMA® and then I chose to do the CPWA®. So I’ve talked to you about that. The reason that I did the CPWA® is because I know that for the kind of clients I work with and their needs, that is the best I could do. That provides the best possible education. But I want to kind of tie it back to something specific. Like we could go general or we could go specific at this point, right? So I could say, hey, Sean, here’s the curriculum and here’s why it matters. Or I could say, you know, one of the things that we’ve talked about, Sean, is family and, you know, passing your wealth along to the next generation and ensuring that they are prepared to manage that. And I found that the CPWA®’s focus on helping me do that was critical. So by having this, it’s going to help me facilitate family conversations with you. It’s going to help me 

support your kids as their needs evolve, as they get a bit older, to really help you have confidence in your plan to transfer wealth, define your legacy and even communicate as a family more effectively about that. That’s the kind of stuff that we see and the research shows us creates more confidence in your financial future. So that’s exactly why I pursued this particular certification.

Now, all of that was just like I want to tie it back to your needs and what’s important. And unless you care about strategic asset allocation or something, you know, maybe that’s the path I would go. But in this case, I might choose to do that. The other thing that we noticed in the research, and we’ve seen this year after year after year, is that there are certain aspects of this, like you mentioned, that are really important. So I think you could lean into that. So for example, there’s a lot of choice out there when it comes to these certifications. The reason I chose to go down this path is because there was a really rigorous set of standards that had to be in place. That was education, it was experience, it was exams. I have to meet ongoing standards. That’s really important to me. I think it should be important to you. And I think it’s important that you know that I would lose this if I didn’t meet certain ethical requirements. Again it’s just kind of taking it back to what matters to them.

**Sean Walters:** Yeah. No, exactly. And so many clients, you know, neighbors, family members, whatever, when they’re looking for an advisor and they ask me for help, or even looking for a professional and they ask me about credentials and certifications because they know that’s what I do. I mean, we get overwhelmed in our industry with 250-plus letters that are out there just in financial services. Which nursing, by the way, has about 200 also, but they all are accredited. They all require that the certifier meet standards, continuing education requirements, disciplinary standards, a legitimate examination that’s based on a job analysis, all that stuff that we do behind the curtain. Financial services, there’s literally maybe a dozen. Actually, I think it’s closer to ten, that have any third party voluntary certification standards that apply to the certifier. So it’s the Wild West here. And that’s how many have disciplinary standards and that’s how many that have legitimate continuing education. So I think it’s important for that standards piece to be part of the conversation. It doesn’t have to be as detailed as I’ll get into it, but I think it’s important for them to know that, yeah, I’m certified, which means every two years I have to be recertified. That’s the biggest difference between a certification and an educational designation, for example.

**Julie Littlechild:** Well, and it’s an interesting one. And I think you’re right. Yeah, I wouldn’t lead with that, but I think it’s an important message because first you need to lead with why I should care about this. And then how it’s going to help me. And then, by the way, you know, there is a rigor behind that. Because we know that’s important to clients. But that ongoing piece, I don’t think we communicate that on an ongoing basis either. I love the idea of advisors, you know, even if it was something like an out of office saying, I’m out of office because I am at a conference where we’re learning, you know, this is part of my ongoing continuing ed to ensure, you know, just keep reinforcing the fact that this was not one and done. And let clients know that you are working on their behalf on an ongoing basis. To me, that’s a really important message to send on an ongoing basis.

### Do Financial Advisor Credentials Lead to More Client Referrals?

**Sean Walters:** Yeah. I think, how do I say this in the most loving way possible? Having worked with advisors for three decades now, they don’t want to have to work that hard at this part of the business, right? Explaining why they’re valuable, explaining why they’re competent and ethical. They want the letters to do all the work for them, which is why the CFP Board was able to double its fees and advisors, Certified Financial Planners, were willing to do it, because they want the entity to run those commercials, you know, explaining to their clients why they’re valuable and competent and ethical. Most industries, you don’t see that. Like I’ve never seen any other commercial on during a football game about, make sure your HR professional is a SHRM certified professional, or make sure, you know, your physical therapist holds these letters. Most people just don’t think of, other than CPA, they don’t think of the credential. They also don’t like to ask for the referral. That’s always been interesting to me because referrals are such a driver for the business model of financial advice. And so this kind of slides into that question I wanted to ask you about, have you go a little deeper in the client research you’ve done on referrals. Two-thirds are more likely to refer their advisor because of their credentials and it goes higher with wealthiest clients. But let’s just talk about referrals for a moment. Let’s shift in that direction. Willingness to refer and actually referring are different things. What has to be true before the client says the words out loud to a friend?

**Julie Littlechild:** So I love that research on, you know, people who are more likely to refer. I mean, that’s such a high number. Over two-thirds. And in fact, when they understood that and can visualize it, it can be higher still. I think the fundamental difference that we need to consider is the difference between being referable and facilitating a referral. 

Credentials make you referable. A good experience makes you referable. Good service makes you referable. All of these things are the foundation. But they don’t necessarily get clients to say the word. Right. So you know, say like I used family dynamics in that example. If I used that again, like, nobody goes out to dinner with a friend, and between the app and the main courses, says, you know, you should really talk to my advisor because she’s got her CPWA®. Like never were those words spoken over dinner. But they are talking about family dynamics, right? So they might be talking about kids, money, fears for the future. That’s the trigger with expertise. Right? So that’s the moment where you want somebody to go, you know, my advisor’s actually done some really specific training in this area and can help families navigate all of this. She actually met with us and guided us through some of these discussions with the family. They weren’t easy, but, you know, she made it that much easier. This is somebody you should talk to. Because this is just about spotting a referral opportunity. And that’s not actually about the certification or the credential or the designation or whichever word I am using. But it is about what it allows you to do. That’s the referral opportunity. Right. So I think, and I would say this for any kind of referral conversation, if we can help clients spot a referral opportunity. So now the job of the advisor is to tie that expertise back to the problems that they can solve and can solve better than anyone else. I think that’s what gets them to say the words, ultimately.

**Sean Walters:** Yeah, that’s such a great point. It is so much more about the capabilities than the letters themselves. The letters, you know, might indicate what type of capabilities you have, but showing rather than telling is so much more valuable.

**Julie Littlechild:** Yeah, they’re a proof point. And look, referrals don’t happen, they’re not a transaction. That comment, “You should talk to my advisor,” is just one point. We know that that prospective client will now go online, will check your social profile, will check your website, will see the letters, will maybe think about those letters and what they mean, but that’s the validation phase now before making it. So, that’s where I think that comes in a bit more specifically. But it probably wasn’t what got them there in the first place.

### What Is the Client Confidence Index?

**Sean Walters:** You published some work some months back, or its inaugural year, so I’m sure we’re gonna hear more from you about the Client Intelligence Monitor. And that leads into a Client Confidence Index, I believe. I mean, I may be botching it. So tell me how those two 

concepts connect, the Client Intelligence Monitor, the Client Confidence Index, and particularly as it relates to referability.

**Julie Littlechild:** We created the confidence index in 2020, actually. It wasn’t a post-COVID thing. It was literally on March 10th, we were in field asking about how people were feeling. It became very apparent that there was a lot going on in people’s lives and that that had an impact on the advisory relationship. And so the data showed us effectively this index. It’s a simple equally weighted index. It’s about do I feel secure? Do I feel confident I’ve got a plan? Do I feel in control? Do I feel clear about the future? And that confidence was correlated to referrals, to net promoter score, to loyalty, to satisfaction. It was everything. And the monitor that we published this year was sort of a way of packaging up some of these key metrics so that we could say to advisors, there’s a few things you should be tracking on an ongoing basis. Yes, you want to know satisfaction. Yes, you want to know net promoter score. Perhaps if you measure that, you should probably ask about value, that perceived value, but you should also go a level deeper and understand confidence and concerns. And so we kind of built this out as a set of, you know, here’s nine questions that if you ask those every year, you would have a deeper understanding of your clients, and you’d uncover some of those referral opportunities. So that’s why we did it. Simply, you know, it’s a bigger conversation, but we believe pretty strongly that advisors are drowning in data, but they don’t always have the right data to drive engagement and growth.

### Do Credentials Still Matter to Clients After 20 Years in Practice?

**Sean Walters:** Yeah. Yep. That’s so solid. I mean, I actually think about the role we play as an education and credentialing organization. That is the primary value proposition at the beginning of someone’s, you know, process working with us, learning all of these cool tax strategies and charitable planning strategies or investment strategies builds confidence. Even if you know you’re not going to remember the specific thing that Steve Seat will set in the classroom, you’re building confidence as an advisor. So I’m going to kind of lead that into our last question, which is: you’ve also conducted some member research for us this year and last year. And one of the things that came through pretty clearly in the research is that a lot of these advisors, fast forward 10, 20 years into the future, they don’t need that confidence kick anymore. Like they’ve got it. They’ve got the experience, they trust themselves, they trust their judgment. So they don’t see their credentials as being as valuable, you know, now that they’re a 20-year professional in the business. However, their clients do. And so, help me explain to those advisors that the credentials after their names are still as important 

today as they were at the beginning of their journey. You know, and maybe a little bit more about what you think is going on here. Twenty years in, how should those advisors look at the credentials after their name and how should they express those back to their client?

**Julie Littlechild:** Yeah, well, this was a classic sort of he said, she said piece of research, right? We asked advisors, and a third said that they are as or more important now as they were initially. And then we asked clients, and 64% of them said they’re as important now as they were. So I mean, the gap is substantial. What you said, I think you just nailed it, though. I think the reason, it’s almost like a projection issue. And it kind of goes back to what we were talking about earlier. I did this so I could feel more confident. That’s a sound reason and it is a clear outcome. But I’ve got to remember that it also makes my clients more confident. And even though my confidence has increased, and maybe I don’t feel that I’m using it quite as much, being able to reinforce this and build the confidence of my clients is all that matters. So the convincing to me, you know, often I don’t do a lot of convincing. I just say, here’s the data on what clients said, you know, take it or leave it. Clients say it’s as or more important to a significant degree. And so how do we not only keep them up, but reinforce the value? And let’s face it, the content changes as well. Like this is an evolving area of education. It’s not one and done. So the clients tell the story in this case. 100%.

**Sean Walters:** Yeah. Yep. I mean, I have my own professional credentials. I’ve been in the business of association management, you know, as I’ve said a couple of times now, too long. And I see it as an act of professional humility to maintain those standards year after year, maintain the code of ethics, maintain the continuing competency requirements and maintain the marks. I want people to see me as a lifelong learner, ’cause that’s what I value within myself. Yeah, it may be harder for me to find something new and shiny at a conference. Oh yeah, we tried that years ago type of thing. But it’s still an important part of my professional journey to maintain that.

**Julie Littlechild:** It absolutely is. And we’ve got to remember that you’re only partly doing this for yourself. You’re really doing this for your client. So I think let’s focus there and the importance becomes very clear.

**Sean Walters:** Yeah. Let me ask one more closing question which I ask all our guests: what does it mean to be an exceptional advisor today? You know more than most. So, in your opinion, what does it mean to be an exceptional advisor today?

**Julie Littlechild:** We know some of the fundamentals, expertise, and ethics, right? They are at the foundation of everything that an advisor who is exceptional does. I think that exceptional advisors lean into understanding their clients at a deeper level, understanding what drives confidence, understanding what keeps them up at night, and then build an experience that supports that in a very personalized way. So in our world we talk about the shift from delivering an efficient experience to one that is deeply engaging and enduring over time. I think that’s where the most progressive advisors are heading right now.

**Sean Walters:** Yeah. I mean, that just nails it. You know, that’s what I love about podcasts. Sometimes there’s just a twenty or thirty second clip that just catches it. That’s such a great summary of everything you’ve observed through this research and in your field for so many years and why you continue to be such a valuable thought leader to our members and to the profession as a whole. So thank you, Julie, for your time today.

**Julie Littlechild:** Thank you. Well, I appreciate it.

**Sean Walters:** So if this is a useful podcast to you, if you want useful content, we’ve got more. Please come to investmentsandwealth.org or join the Investments & Wealth Institute. We have conferences, online education, certificate programs, and professional certification. So the Investments & Wealth Institute is for advisors and of advisors. For the Exceptional Advisor, I’m Sean Walters. Keep raising the standard, and let’s be careful out there. Thank you.

Available On:

[Apple Podcasts →](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/what-your-clients-really-think-about-your-credentials/id1436637266?i=1000796311624)

[Spotify →](https://open.spotify.com/episode/6T5SojkBmyVlH18k3dTD6Z)

[YouTube →](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6AydnpzlVc)

[Soundcloud →](https://soundcloud.com/user-600457759/exceptional-advisor-ep-10-v2-1)

[Practice Management](https://content.investmentsandwealth.org/?topic=Practice+Management) [Professional Development](https://content.investmentsandwealth.org/?topic=Professional+Development)

Share: <https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcontent.investmentsandwealth.org%2Fpodcast%2Fdo-clients-care-about-advisor-credentials&text=What+Your+Clients+Really+Think+About+Your+Credentials> <https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcontent.investmentsandwealth.org%2Fpodcast%2Fdo-clients-care-about-advisor-credentials> [mailto:?subject=What+Your+Clients+Really+Think+About+Your+Credentials&body=https%3A%2F%2Fcontent.investmentsandwealth.org%2Fpodcast%2Fdo-clients-care-about-advisor-credentials](mailto:?subject=What+Your+Clients+Really+Think+About+Your+Credentials&body=https%3A%2F%2Fcontent.investmentsandwealth.org%2Fpodcast%2Fdo-clients-care-about-advisor-credentials)

Subscribe to the Institute Insider

Get the latest publications, podcast episodes, and resources in our biweekly editorial newsletter.

## About The Exceptional Advisor

*The Exceptional Advisor* is a monthly podcast from the Investments & Wealth Institute focused on the issues shaping the advisory profession. Host Sean Walters sits down with leading thinkers to unpack markets, policy, technology, and client behavior, translating what matters into insights advisors can use right away.

## More Podcasts

### [![How to Talk to Clients About Politics with Jeff Bush](https://content.investmentsandwealth.org/hubfs/IWI-ExceptionalAdvisor-HostandGuest-1920x1080-Episode-9.png) How to Talk to Clients About Politics with Jeff Bush September 15, 2026](https://content.investmentsandwealth.org/podcast/how-to-talk-to-clients-about-politics-exceptional-advisor)

### [![Where Asset Allocation Meets Client Psychology](https://content.investmentsandwealth.org/hubfs/IWI-ExceptionalAdvisor-HostandGuest-1920x1080-Episode-8.png) Where Asset Allocation Meets Client Psychology August 10, 2026](https://content.investmentsandwealth.org/podcast/asset-allocation-client-psychology-the-exceptional-advisor-podcast)

[![white\_logo\_horizontal 1](https://content.investmentsandwealth.org/hubfs/Assets%20-%20LP/white_logo_horizontal%201.png)](https://content.investmentsandwealth.org/)

#### Get Certified

- [Compare Certifications](https://investmentsandwealth.org/certifications/compare-iwi-certifications)
- [CIMA Certification](https://investmentsandwealth.org/certifications/cima-certification)
- [CPWA Certification](https://investmentsandwealth.org/certifications/cpwa-certification)
- [RMA Certification](https://investmentsandwealth.org/certifications/rma-certification)

#### About us

- [About Us](https://investmentsandwealth.org/about)
- [Board of Directors](https://investmentsandwealth.org/about/governance)
- [Leadership Team](https://investmentsandwealth.org/about/leadership-team)
- [Newsroom](https://investmentsandwealth.org/advisor-publications/newsroom)
- [Careers](https://investmentsandwealth.org/institute-careers)
- [Privacy Policy](https://investmentsandwealth.org/privacy-policy)

#### Support

- [Contact Us](https://investmentsandwealth.org/contact-us)
- [File a Complaint](https://investmentsandwealth.org/about/governance/report-or-file-a-complaint)

 © Copyright 2026 by Investments & Wealth Institute

<https://www.youtube.com/c/InvestmentsWealthInstitute> <https://www.linkedin.com/company/investmentsandwealthinstitute/> <https://x.com/iw_inst> <https://www.facebook.com/investmentsandwealthinstitute/>

```json
{
  "@context" : "https://schema.org",
  "@type" : "BlogPosting",
  "author" : {
    "@type" : "Person",
    "name" : "JULIE LITTLECHILD",
    "url" : "https://content.investmentsandwealth.org/podcast/author/julie-littlechild"
  },
  "dateModified" : "2026-10-14T16:03:48.504Z",
  "datePublished" : "2026-10-14T13:29:08.000Z",
  "headline" : "Do Clients Care About Advisor Credentials? ",
  "image" : [ "https://content.investmentsandwealth.org/hubfs/IWI-ExceptionalAdvisor-HostandGuest-1920x1080-Episode-10.png" ],
  "mainEntityOfPage" : {
    "@id" : "https://content.investmentsandwealth.org/podcast/do-clients-care-about-advisor-credentials",
    "@type" : "WebPage"
  },
  "publisher" : {
    "@type" : "Organization",
    "logo" : {
      "@type" : "ImageObject",
      "url" : "https://content.investmentsandwealth.org/hubfs/IWI%20Logos/IWI%20Logo%20Horizontal/180227_4C_LOGO_Horizontal.png"
    },
    "name" : "Investments & Wealth Institute"
  }
}
```