Guest editorial: An historical understanding of financial planning and services for a better marketing perspective

An outline of the recent history and educational programs affecting the financial planning services industry provides a basis for better understanding financial planning and services. The ''financial planner'' is a new entrepreneurial professional generalist seeking to fit all a client's disjointed financial and tax affairs into one client-oriented whole. Financial planners arose during the 1960s and 1970s from the ranks of dissatisfied specialists in such fields as real estate and banking. The changing role of financial institutions that accompanied this trend brought the financial services industry into existence. Several financial giants made major institutional changes through mergers and acquisitions, while creative new players also entered the field. A broad range of educational alternatives emerged to help educate the new generation of professionals. In the future, the companies that survive will be those which effectively market their services.