Financial planning students McKenna Jacobsen, Douglas MacDonald, and Colton Peck—advised by Dr. Hyrum Smith, recently placed first overall in the National Financial Planning Challenge, sponsored by Ameriprise, the Financial Planning Association (FPA), and the CFP Board. 

Student teams from across the nation submitted a written comprehensive financial plan based on a case study of a household, where they provided recommendations on retirement, taxes, risk and insurance, estate, and cash flow management. Only the top 8 teams were invited to the national FPA conference, held in Minneapolis, to compete in an oral presentation and quiz bowl competition.

“We were extremely excited with the outcome,” said Colton. “It was a great opportunity to rub shoulders with, and learn from high-performing students from the other financial planning programs. We are lucky to have such a great financial planning program at UVU!”

UVU’s team won two of the three events, taking first in the quiz bowl and first place in the case study. UVU students secured first place overall, followed by Kansas State University in second place and Texas Tech University in third.

The prize for first place was $10,000 and a full scholarship for each of the students to the FPA’s residency program. This is the second time that UVU financial planning students have won first place in this competition, and UVU has placed in the top three multiple times.

“We are so proud of Colton, McKenna, and Douglas,” said Hyrum. “They put forth hundreds of hours of work and represented themselves and UVU well in front of thousands of planners throughout the nation. In many ways they reflect the growth and quality of our financial planning students and program.”

Our students were featured in a CNBC article about how the WSB is preparing financial planners to fill the coming talent shortage.