2020/2021/2022 Inductee
When Cynthia Conger started her foray into the financial planning industry, she was married with two young children at home. She began studying accounting in Michigan and when her husband got a job in Arkansas, she enrolled at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. She then decided to pursue her master’s of business administration, graduating in 1983. She joined a local insurance agency to start a financial planning section, and by 1985, she was a founding partner in Little Rock’s Arkansas Financial Group, Inc.
There she gained experience, expertise and national acclaim. Along with three other financial planners, she founded a fee-only financial planning firm working with middle income clients, Financial Decisions, Inc., in 1999. In 2005, she formed her own firm, now known as Conger Wealth Management. Her firm focused on women in transition, while also advising couples on financial planning. In 2018, she sold her firm to Advisory Alpha, but continues to work part-time.
Conger writes extensively about financial planning, and her articles have appeared in Arkansas Business, Arkansas Times, AY Magazine, Newsweek, Medical Economics, Physicians’ Financial News, Journal of Accountancy, Journal of Financial Planning, Financial Planning Magazine, Smart Money, Money Magazine, USA Today, Financial Adviser Magazine, Investment Adviser Magazine, Worth, Kiplinger’s Personal Finance, Southwest Spirit Magazine, Elle and CNNfn.
During her career, she has been recognized byWorth magazine as one of the top practitioners in the nation, and she was named to Wealth Management magazine’s list of “50 Distinguished Women in Wealth Management.”
She sat on the National Board of Directors of the International Association for Financial Planning for four years and served as chairperson for IAFP Registry Admissions and for the IAFP Conference for Advanced Planning. She is also a past president of the Arkansas Chapter of IAFP.
Active in her community, Conger served on the Women’s Foundation of Arkansas Board from 2006 to 2014, the University of Arkansas at Little Rock Foundation Fund Board from 2002 to 2006, and the University of Arkansas System Foundation Inc., since 2004. She also served on the boards of Professional Counseling Associates and the UALR Friends of the Arts. Today, she is a member of the Arkansas Symphony Board of Directors.