Financial planners around the globe can now access Planipedia.org, a not-for-profit, community-based Financial Planning encyclopedia and knowledge base using a Wikipedia type model.

Planipedia was introduced by Shawn Brayman, president of Lindsey, Ont.-based PlanPlus Inc., at the recent Financial Planning Association Conference in Anaheim, Calif.

Planipedia is not restricted to any single country, designation or language and is meant to be a true community-based system dedicated to the best interests of the consumer. It will be a platform for sharing knowledge, concepts and ideas for the betterment of the financial planning and advisory community.

“Our vision was a Wiki-style community that was focused on client’s best interest, bringing together the best minds worldwide in financial planning”, says Brayman. “We believe that we are well on the way with support now from professional planning associations in Europe, the Americas and Asia, academics, authors and professional planners.”

“We were excited about the value of Planipedia to financial planners in an emerging market like India”, said Devang Shah, a financial planner from India. “The value of Planipedia depends upon the enthusiasm of the planning community to share information. With Planipedia the community will now have a powerful tool so that they never have to say “we didn’t know that”, if they make a commitment to make it work.”

The site has been under development for much of this year with an initial 2.000 pages or articles of content in English, French, Spanish and Chinese. With the announcement of the project, supporters are expecting to see an exponential increase in content.

“Sponsors” or “supporters” pay no money, they basically agree to provide content that can be used by anyone, anywhere, or to promote Planipedia to their membership to help build the community.

“We believe that the Financial Planning community worldwide is going through a renewed commitment to raise the professional standards to differentiate planners from traditional salespeople,” says Brayman. “There is a big difference between selling a consumer something that is suitable, and entering into a professional relationship that ensures that the client’s interests are placed first. Planipedia is dedicated to that difference.”

As a starting point, Brayman encouraged would-be contributors to visit www.Planipedia.org and consider what their organization may already be publishing that could be of value to the global community.

IE