Certified Lease and Finance Professional is globally recognised, says CAFBA
The Certified Lease and Finance Professional (CLFP) has arrived in Australia to change the commercial and asset finance profession.
This internationally renowned credential is the only asset finance industry certification program in the world and stands for excellence in business practices.
Customised by CAFBA’s Education Council and the Institute of Strategic Management to meet Australian tax, accounting and regulatory codes, the CLFP is now available through face-to-face workshops and self-paced online programs.
CAFBA launched the CLFP last year, as the highlight of our 2022 annual conference, with the CEO of the CLFP Foundation, Reid Raykovich, in attendance.
Based in the United States, the CLFP Foundation has established the CLFP designation as the preeminent credential throughout the world for asset and commercial finance professionals, who demonstrate a mastery of the CLFP Body of Knowledge, exceptional competency and a commitment to exemplary ethics through their business practices, continuing education and dedication to the industry.
Gain international experience and propel your career with the CLFP
The arrival of the CLFP designation in Australia broadens the horizons for Australian asset and commercial finance professionals. As the CLFP is internationally recognised, the designation provides graduates with the opportunity to work overseas, including in the US, where predominantly all commercial finance professionals who engage in commercial equipment finance are CLFPs.
The CLFP can be your passport to valuable international experience in the equipment lease and finance industry. In the US, the CLFP is the leading qualification of all commercial finance professionals, including bankers and brokers, with the designation representing a commitment to continuing education and excellence in business practices and a dedication to the industry.
“The CLFP designation has grown exponentially over the past several years and having an Australian version is incredible” CLFP CEO Reid Raykovich (pictured above left) said.
“Gaining those four letters shows your customers, colleagues, and partners that you are dedicated to the industry. It is no small feat, but the reward of completing the preparation and passing the exam is unparalleled. There is a reason that there are almost 1,500 members worldwide.”
Become a leader in your industry
CLFP graduates go on to become leaders in their industry and ambassadors for the program, with CLFP ambassadors fostering a community within asset and commercial finance that holds itself to higher standards of professional conduct and levels of excellence in service to deliver better value to their clients.
The CLFP course takes approximately six months to complete with a final examination, and includes workshops conducted by the Institute for Strategic Management.
The course covers a range of subjects customised to meet Australian accounting, tax and regulatory codes, including in-depth examinations of equipment finance products, financial accounting, leasing law, origination channels, sources of capital, asset management and more.
“The CLFP is a specialised program that provides participants skills and knowledge that are transferable and applied to what we do day to day in our working environments” COEX Capital CEO and inaugural intake candidate Michael Burke (pictured above right) said.
“The program is a great example of CAFBA’s vision and investment in the continued professionalising of our industry.”
As the preeminent credential for equipment and financing professionals throughout the world, to be among the select few in Australia to call themselves Certified Lease and Finance Professionals will be a prestigious honour.
Be at the forefront of change
Professionalisation is the future of commercial finance in Australia and the key to maintaining our industry’s self-regulating framework in the long term.
As commercial finance experiences a period of rapid change, with a range of non-bank lenders entering the market and a surge of brokers from other sectors looking to diversify into commercial broking, it is increasingly difficult for consumers, governments and aspiring commercial finance entrants to be able to tell the genuine professional from the growing field of people purporting to be professional.
The CLFP designation represents a level of professionalism and alerts clients, lenders and aggregators that the broker they are dealing with possesses a level of technical expertise, a commitment to ethics through their business practices, continuing education and dedication to the industry.
I invite you to join CAFBA in this exciting chapter of professionalising Australia’s commercial finance industry by becoming one of the first Australian graduates of the CLFP.
A better educated, deeply engaged industry will deliver better value to borrowers, lenders and the Australian economy alike.
This article was supplied by Terry Moody on behalf of CAFBA. Moody is a founding partner of Moody Kiddell & Partners and past president and lifetime patron of CAFBA, where he currently serves as the Chair of Education.
