Founder and chief mentor
Harminder Garg, CFP
He cleared the CFP challenge exam in A grade, then went to work at the body that sets the standard. He still takes every batch himself.
Harminder Garg is the founder and chief mentor of IIFC, the Indian Institute for Financial Certifications. Twenty years in financial services, 8,400 or more hours of training delivered, and more than 700 finance professionals coached towards CFP certification.
Roughly 40% of new CFP certifications in India now come through his classroom. He teaches in Chandigarh, in Delhi and online, and he does not hand batches to rotating faculty.
20+
Years in financial services
8,400+
Hours of training delivered
700+
Professionals coached
How he got here
Founder and chief mentor, IIFC
Present
Teaches every batch personally across Chandigarh, Delhi and live online. Also runs closed batches for institutional teams at IDFC Private Wealth, SBI Wealth and HDFC AMC.
Manager, knowledge management
FPSB India
Worked inside the body that owns and administers CFP certification in India, on the standards he now teaches to.
Cleared the CFP challenge status exam in A grade
2007
One of the tougher benchmarks in the programme, and the route the IIFC fast track pathway is built around.
Branch manager
ICICI Bank
Ran HNI relationship management at scale. This is where he saw capable bank staff promoted into advisory roles they had never been trained for.
Qualifications
CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER, CFP
Awarded by FPSB India. Challenge status exam cleared in A grade, 2007.
Executive PGDM in finance
IMT Ghaziabad.
PG in financial advising
Indian Institute of Banking and Finance.
NISM Series XA
Investment Adviser Level 1.
NISM Series XB
Investment Adviser Level 2.
Retirement Adviser certification
Retirement planning specialisation.
His awards
Best CFP Educator Award, 2024-25
Awarded to him personally by FPSB India.
Best CFP Coach Award, 2023-24
Awarded to him personally by FPSB India.
Best Education Provider Award, 2024-25
Awarded to IIFC as an institute.
How he teaches
The idea IIFC was built on is that a candidate should finish ready to advise a real client, not just ready to pass an exam. That shapes how the programme runs.
Classes work through the three FPSB specialist certifications in sequence, then the integrated final. Tax gets drilled hardest, because that is where candidates most often lose marks. Every session is recorded, because most people in any batch are holding down a full time job in banking, insurance or wealth.
And he takes the classes himself. Larger institutes cannot make that claim, because their founders stopped teaching years ago.
Where his students sit today
More than 700 finance professionals have been coached under his teaching, and 416 or more have cleared CFP certification. They now hold senior positions at HDFC Bank, IDFC FIRST Bank, SBI MF, Franklin Templeton, Nippon AMC, Axis Bank, ICICI Securities and Centrum Wealth.
One joined after retiring as an AGM from SBI following 36 years of service. Others have gone on to co-found their own wealth advisory firms.
Speak to a mentor about the next batch
Which pathway you qualify for, what it costs and when the next batch starts. No cost, and no obligation.