THE ADVISOR EXPERTISE STUDY 2026
Index Shows Advisors Need More Retirement Expertise
The American College of Financial Services regularly surveys financial professionals to understand the services they offer. Meanwhile, third-party research indicates some clients feel advisors aren’t delivering the services they need. This study helps explain why that gap exists and how to fix it.
From a list of eight financial planning services (shown below), advisors say they offer on average five of them. When asked to select their top three, advisors tell us general financial planning, retirement income planning, and portfolio management are their top offerings.
About the same percentage of advisors (69%) say they offer general financial planning as say they offer retirement income planning (66%) as one of their top three services. This data echoes a problem revealed in third-party consumer research: advisors position retirement income planning as a general service (which most provide), whereas The College and many consumers believe retirement income planning encompasses specialized knowledge and services few advisors are qualified to deliver.
Top Advisory Services By % of Advisors Selecting as Top 3
The American College of Financial Services. Advisor Expertise Study. 2026.
Note: The number of advisors who selected “philanthropic planning” and/or “special needs planning” among their top three services was a small sample size. Use caution when drawing conclusions in these categories.
About seven in 10 financial professionals (69%) say they routinely offer general financial planning services – which implies about a third (31%) self-identify as specialists.
Introducing the Advisor Expertise Index
The College is mission-driven to educate and develop the financial services profession and benefit society. In support of this mission, The College has defined and set out to quantify advisors’ levels of expertise for each of the eight areas of financial planning covered in this study.
Researchers worked closely with program directors and faculty of The College to identify the skills advisors need to deliver exceptional (and expected) levels of client service. The Advisor Expertise Index was born.
Index scoring was inspired by Bloom’s Taxonomy, which ranks skills like remembering and understanding lower than skills like analyzing and creating. Researchers scored survey responses based on skill level (higher-level skills yielded higher scores) to calculate the Advisor Expertise Index – with scores ranging from 0 to 60. Higher scores reflect more advanced service delivery: 55 to 60 (advanced), 37 to 54 (intermediate), and 0 to 36 (basic). In 2026, the average overall score across all eight service areas was 44.
Calculating the Advisor Expertise Index
The American College of Financial Services. Advisor Expertise Study. 2026.
Key Findings
About the Advisor Expertise Study
The Advisor Expertise Study by The American College of Financial Services explores the relationships between the services advisors offer, how they deliver those services, and which clients they serve. The College surveyed 478 financial professionals via a 10-minute online questionnaire in March 2026. Respondents included advisors of various ages and backgrounds: the average age was 54, with an average of 18 years of experience; 74% identified as men, 20% as women, and 6% chose not to answer. Each respondent was asked to indicate the top three services they offer and describe how they perform those services. Researchers used Bloom’s Taxonomy to create the Advisor Expertise Index, which measures the advisors’ levels of expertise and segments them into three categories: advanced, intermediate, and basic. Study findings yield insight into the existing gaps between the financial services that clients need and the level of expertise required to deliver them, as well as the impact professional designations can have in helping to close those gaps.
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The American College of Financial Services is committed to equal access to its educational programs, facilities, and employment for all persons, regardless of race, color, sex, disability, age, religion, national or ethnic origin, or any other protections afforded by applicable laws. Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Inc. owns the certification marks CFP®, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™, CFP® (with plaque design) and CFP® (with flame design) in the U.S., which it awards to individuals who successfully complete CFP Board's initial and ongoing certification requirements.
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