The CFP® Professionals
Sentiment Indices
The CFP® Professionals Sentiment Indices (CPSI) measure the financial and economic outlooks of CFP® professionals and their clients. They provide investors, the media and the public with a new set of data that will measure the strength of the economy, leveraging the trusted advisor-client relationship. The CPSI capitalizes on the voices of more than 100,000 CFP® professionals to provide valuable information on economic performance and consumer/investor sentiment.
Summer 2025 Results
CFP® professionals report that their clients’ financial outlook has rebounded substantially over the past three months. CFP® professionals are more optimistic about their clients’ financial futures than they were in the spring.
Nearly half of CFP® professionals report that their clients have a positive financial outlook — that is double the 23% who felt their clients’ financial outlook was positive during the Spring 2025 survey. Still, a sizable 16% of CFP® professionals indicate that their clients hold a negative outlook, albeit less than half of those who stated so in the Spring 2025 survey. Further, CFP® professionals are about equally likely (about one-third each) to report that their clients’ outlook is more positive, the same or negative relative to a year earlier.
Three in 5 CFP® professionals hold a positive personal financial outlook — comparable to the higher levels experienced in Winter 2025. Two in 5 CFP® professionals have a more positive financial outlook compared to a year earlier. One quarter of CFP® professionals are more pessimistic about their personal financial outlook than a year ago.
Overall, CFP® professionals remain cautiously optimistic about the future, with 37% anticipating better economic conditions 12 months from now, compared to 33% who believe economic conditions will stay about the same and 30% expecting a deterioration.
Finally, 63% of CFP® professionals report that their client bases have expanded over the past year, and 73% expect to take on more clients over the next 12 months.
In your opinion, which of the following best summarizes your clients’ current financial outlook?
(A higher index score indicates clients are more positive.)
|
|
Index |
Positive |
Neutral |
Negative |
|
Summer 2025 |
65 |
47% |
37% |
16% |
|
Spring 2025 |
44 |
23% |
41% |
36% |
|
Winter 2025 |
74 |
54% |
39% |
7% |
|
Fall 2024 |
65 |
42% |
45% |
13% |
Percentages may not add to 100% due to rounding.
Read the Full Report With Seven CFP® Professionals Sentiment Indices