The AAFM was founded in 1996 through a merger of the American Academy of Financial Management & Analysts (AAFMA) and the Founders Advisory Committee of the Original Tax and Estate Planning Law Review.

[7] CWM certification normally involved about 80 hours of online study, although holders of certain professional designations, such as a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) or Certified Public Accountant (CPA), needed only to take a test and pay a fee; and anyone with sufficient professional experience could skip the test and get the designation by only paying fees.

[9] In October 2010, The Wall Street Journal published an article detailing the use of questionable credentials by financial advisors that discussed the AAFM extensively.

[10] The organization also posted to its website part of the signature page of a document agreeing that the Association for Investment Management Research (the precursor to the CFA Institute) would not contest the AAFM's trademarks, with the signature itself blanked and replaced with the type-written statement, "Signed by Sharon Glover, who must have been Jeannie Andersons Boss at the time" [sic].

[11] What appears to be a version of the same faxed agreement can be found on the GAFM website, with a signature by "Sharon Glover" and the handwritten information "VP & Assoc.