Advanced Certificate in Financial Planning

Purpose

The purpose of the Advanced Certificate in Financial Planning is to apply the educational knowledge, skills and values (KSV's) to integrate the competency areas of a professional wealth manager for effective management practice. Qualifying learners will demonstrate knowledge, skills and applied competence in the area of professional wealth management including subject areas such as contracting, negotiations, relationship management, financial acumen, income tax, investment planning, business insurance, retirement planning, estate planning and behavioural finance. Furthermore, the qualifying learner will be able to enter and perform competently in the financial service industry.

The general purpose of this qualification is to apply the educational knowledge, skills and values (KSV's) to integrate the competency areas of a professional wealth manager for effective management practice. Successful learners will demonstrate knowledge, skills and applied competence in the area of professional wealth management including subject areas such as contracting, negotiations, relationship management, financial acumen, income tax, investment planning, business insurance, retirement planning, estate planning and behavioural finance. In so doing, this qualification provides opportunities for continued personal growth through lifelong learning, gainful economic activity and rewarding contributions to society.

The curriculum is structured in such a way that learners, during the course of their studies will be exposed to certain generic competencies that will assist their future careers.

Competencies include

• The ability to draft a financial plan.
• The ability to gather, analyse and present information.
• The knowledge of the use of industry specific products.
• The ability to use various methods of presentation for communication purposes.
• The ability to identify and suggest possible sound solutions to a problem.
• The ability to organise work requirements so as to do assignments regularly.
• The ability to understand the financial world is a set of related economic systems.

Rationale

There is a constant request from insurance houses and companies to recommend learners, especially marketing learners to be trained as financial advisors and planners. The result was that a need for financial planners and advisors was identified because at any given time there are between 80 up to 350 vacancies advertised.

The Advanced Certificate Financial Planning is developed as a qualification to equip learners with the knowledge and skills required by expert practitioners in the financial planning sector and prepare them for further studies. It addresses the academic qualification requirements for the designation of Financial Service Advisor (FSA) professionally awarded by the Financial Planning Institute of Southern Africa. Consultations were held with the professional body and their consent were requested before the qualification was developed.

The rationale behind the qualification is to provide the financial industry with qualified financial advisors. Clients are intimidated by the complexities they face when they consider their personal finances - from the wide range of financial products available to the numerous pieces of legislation and the ever-changing nature of their individual circumstances. Clients need expert financial planning practitioners to guide them in setting their personal financial planning priorities and to make the difficult decisions. The Advanced Certificate in Financial Planning aims to equip learners with the knowledge and skills required for this task.

The qualification contributes to regional and national goals in a variety of ways, including

• Compliance with legislation.

The qualification was designed taking into account the requirements for the provision of sound financial planning expertise in terms of existing and proposed financial services legislation as well as the growth of the financial services and planning sphere globally.

• Economic activity and development.

The Advanced Certificate in Financial Planning promotes the enhancement, marketability and employability of learners and has the purpose of providing benefits to the economy by developing citizenship, increasing social and economic productivity providing specifically skilled/professional people and transforming the redressing of legacies of inequity. Additionally, it provides opportunities for continued personal intellectual growth, gainful economic activity and valuable contributions to society in the fields traditionally associated with financial services.

The flexibility of the qualification regarding entry together with the additional academic support components of the qualification, make it possible for a greater number of learners to enter and succeed as learners of financial planning at a higher education level.

Learners will be employable on graduation, but at the same time will have the knowledge base to continue with further learning:

• To enter and perform competently in the financial service industry immediately after qualifying or;
• To continue with further study in this field to build a solid knowledge base.

This qualification is an undergraduate qualification that offers a combination of theory and practice in the area of financial services. Qualifying learners will develop an integrated conceptual understanding, synthesis and application of specific issues in financial planning. They will also develop research skills, financial planning skills as well as skills in communication. The qualification provides background knowledge to allow junior and middle managers to pursue senior management positions within their organisations. This qualification will allow learners to apply theories to practice and learners will be well placed to pursue further studies.

Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL)

Learning that has been acquired through formal, informal and non-formal means is recognised for the fulfilment of the requirements of this qualification or part of the qualification. It is required that through assessment practices, the learner should demonstrate competence in the knowledge, skills, values and attitudes implicit in this qualification. Recognition of Prior Learning is performed by means of an Integrated Assessment.

This Recognition of Prior Learning may allow for accelerated access to further learning. All Recognition of Prior Learning is subject to quality assurance by the relevant accredited Education and Training Quality Assurance Body and is conducted by a registered workplace assessor.

The purpose of RPL is to recognise all forms of prior learning in order to

• Widen access to Higher Education through admission to qualifications;
• Grant advanced placement;
• Facilitate mobility and progression within the career paths and qualifications.

The following principles are applicable to RPL practice

General principles

• All qualification prerequisites are applicable.
• Admission requirements are applicable.
• Learners are exposed to a formal RPL process, which includes selection and assessment.
• All learners who want to change field at postgraduate level, and who do not comply with regular admission requirements, are selected and assessed through the RPL process.

Entry Requirements

The minimum entry requirement for this qualification is

• Higher Certificate in Financial Planning, Level 5.

This qualification consists of the following compulsory modules at Level 6 totalling 120 Credits.

Compulsory Modules, 120 Credits

• Legislative Environment applicable to the Financial Services Industry, 10 Credits.
• Retirement and Tax Planning, 25 Credits.
• Estate Planning, 25 Credits.
• Investment Planning, 25 Credits.
• Business Financial Planning, 25 Credits.
• Practise Management, 10 Credits.

• Execute Wealth Management and understand the role that macroeconomic trends and best practices have on the actions of the wealth manager.
• Develop and effectively manage a client's` portfolio including skills to enhance self-knowledge; personal mastery, managing change and setting strategic objectives.
• Apply both strategic thinking and strategic management by being able to scenario plan with a long term perspective and make judgments to develop strategic direction for a client's portfolio by reconciling paradoxes in the external and internal environments of the industry.
• Demonstrate the appropriate financial knowledge and skill to manage wealth, the technical knowledge and skill to advise on fiduciary, estate planning, retirement planning, business insurance, investment planning and holistic financial planning, the application of knowledge and insight to the role of alternative investments in wealth management and to be able to analyse the role of international investment planning in wealth management.
• Advise clients and evaluate practice management as a business entity.
• Build enduring financial partnerships, relationship building, demonstrate self-directed leadership skills, presenting oneself for impact, demonstrating skills of being a trusted advisor, apply networking skills and how to practically build relationships.
• Demonstrate knowledge and be able to advice on tax legislation, understand ethics in business and the importance of corporate governance.
• Demonstrate a full understanding of the concepts and principle of risk and the impact of decision making on the risk portfolio of the customer.
• Demonstrate expert sales and probing skills by applying deductive reasoning, demonstrate an understanding of the sales cycle and the effectiveness of sales techniques in the Wealth Management/Financial Planning environment.
• Develop practical solutions by applying product knowledge/structuring by applying an appropriate expert advice model, must demonstrate the ability to network and negotiate business, how to develop a potential wealth preservation solution for a client and apply wealth management tools to propose a financial solution to clients.
• Plan and exercise advanced research skills in the fields of marketing, finance, strategy, operations management, estate planning, investment planning, retirement planning, income tax and business insurance with the ability to synthesise the information that optimally delivers on the business strategy.
• Lead acceptable social, cultural and aesthetic sensitivity towards people of different business communities and the role players in the business field by applying the appropriate theoretical principles and reflect on the application made.

The following Associated Assessment Criteria will be assessed in an integrated manner across the Exit Level Outcomes

• Demonstrate detailed knowledge of the main areas in financial planning, including an understanding of, and the ability to apply the key terms, concepts, facts, principles, rules and theories of the field, discipline or practice to unfamiliar but relevant contexts; and knowledge of an area of specialisation and how that knowledge relates to other fields, disciplines or practices.
• Demonstrate an understanding of different forms of knowledge within the financial sector, schools of thought within the financial planning environment, and form of explanation within the planning field.
• Evaluate, select and apply appropriate methods, procedures or techniques in investigation or application processes within the financial planning context.
• Identify, analyse and solve problems in individual and organisational financial contexts, by gathering evidence and applying solutions in the process of planning.
• Demonstrate an understanding of the ethical implications of financial and planning decisions and actions within an organisational or professional context, based on an awareness of the complexity of ethical dilemmas.
• Evaluate different sources of micro and macro economical information, to select information appropriate to the task of financial planning, and to apply well-developed processes of analysis, synthesis and evaluation of that information.
• Present and communicate complex financial information reliably and coherently using appropriate academic and professional or occupational conventions, formats and technologies for an individual or organisation's context.
• Make decisions and act appropriately in familiar and new contexts, demonstrating an understanding of the relationship between systems and of how actions, ideas or developments in one system impact on other systems, especially in the financial sector.
• Evaluate performance against a given criteria, and accurately identify and address the task-specific learning needs in a given context, and to provide support to the learning needs of others where appropriate.
• Work effectively in a team or group, and to take responsibility for decisions and actions and the decisions and actions of others within wee-defined contexts, including the responsibility for the use of financial resources.

Integrated Assessment

The institution practices an integrated system of assessment, in terms of which learners are assessed on an on-going basis through class tests and regular assignments. Both Formative and Summative Assessments methods are used.

Continual formative assessment is employed in study material so that learners can assess their progress, in the achievement of specific learning outcomes, including feedback. The formative assessment tasks can be found with each component of the study material in the form of one of the following:

• A short questions test.
• Construction of assignments.
• Short practical tasks.
• Typical questions.

Summative Assessment is concerned with the judgement of the learning in relation to the Exit-Level Outcomes of the qualification. Such judgement includes integrated assessment(s) which test the learners' ability to integrate the larger body of knowledge, skills and attitudes that are represented by the Exit-Level Outcomes as a whole. In terms of, the qualification, summative assessment takes the form of a final examination consisting of an assignment incorporating each module. The marks attained in these activities constitute the learners' final mark for the module. The components of the final mark are determined separately for each module.

The institution acknowledges that at this time feedback on formative assessments on the qualification appear in the form of suggested, ideal answers that enable the learner to see a more robust and whole answer to the question.

The institution then practices an integrated system of assessment, in terms of which learners are assessed on an on-going basis. Formative and Summative Assessment methods (30%) are employed within the course ware and, in addition, a specific and practical formative assignment (70%) is compulsory and constitutes the learners final mark. For the formative assessment, a learner will receive timely feedback on his or her assignment. Such Formative Assessment measures are appropriate for the mode of study, the nature of the discipline as well as the assessment criteria.