Advisors4Advisors

Last updated April 22, 2026

Approved education for CFP, CIMA, CPA, and IAR practitioners.  NASAA IAR CE Course ID C82066.     

This Ethics IAR CE course on financial advising neurodivergent clients examines how ADHD and autism traits affect client communication, client decision-making, and fiduciary duty. 

Starting from the premise that everyone is neurodivergent,  some more than most others, this class draws on a comprehensive 12-class financial counseling course developed by Frank Murtha, Ph.D, of the Financial Counseling Institute. 

The instructor's approach focuses on ethical client care, communication clarity, and fiduciary judgment, rather than diagnosis or treatment. 

Practical techniques—including concreteness, structured communication, and verification of understanding—are explored as ways to improve client financial outcomes and reduce compliance risk. 

The importance of clarity and making certain the client understands key concepts driving their financial plan is a focus. 

Designed for IARs and financial professionals, this program strengthens ethical judgment, client trust, and communication effectiveness in real-world advisory relationships.

This class defines 10 best practices for investment adviser representatives (IARs) counseling client neurodivergence, such as ADHD, autism spectrum traits, heightened emotional sensitivity, executive-function challenges, or atypical information processing styles. 

Although 15% of the population has a formal diagnosis associated with neurodivergence (e.g., ADHD, autism spectrum, dyslexia), an estimated 30%–40% of people are neurodivergent. Neurodivergence may be coming up with undiagnosed individuals and it is more prevalent among high-earning individuals. 

An IAR is ethically obliged to know how neurodivergence might affect how clients process risk, trust, emotion, and information—and intentionally adapt communications to avoid misunderstanding, undue influence, or unintentional harm.  

Neurodivergence Through a Financial Counseling Lens
The session begins by reframing neurodivergence as variation in personality traits, emotional sensitivity, and cognitive processing—not pathology. 

The course explores how traits such as high neuroticism (emotional sensitivity), low conscientiousness (executive-function strain), introversion, or high openness influence investing behavior, decision-making under stress, and advisor-client communication dynamics.

Managing Stress, Overload, and Emotional Regulation
Drawing on lessons in previous classes in his quarterly Financial Counseling for FAs Course, Dr. Murtha how fear, anxiety, cognitive overload and environmental stress disproportionately affects neurodivergent clients. 

Advisors learn techniques to slow conversations, simplify choices, reduce emotional escalation, and preserve client decision capacity without crossing into therapeutic territory. 

Learning Objectives

At this class, you'll learn to: