Rich pickings

Continuing professional development (CPD) is essential for those wanting to keep abreast of the protection market while maintaining their competence and professionalism.

CPD requires IFAs to carry out a number of training practices and although the Financial Services Authority (FSA) used to require a minimum number of 50 hours of CPD to be completed by IFAs each year. However, this is no longer the case.

The FSA now appears to be less concerned with how many hours are put in, but more interested in the quality of work done.

Kate Bristowe, spokesperson at the FSA, explains: 'The Financial Services Authority does not specify a set number of hours IFAs have to complete for CPD. What we do require is that employees remain competent within their profession. This should be supervised and employees will need to demonstrate they are keeping up to date with developments in the marketplace. The emphasis of CPD is on quality, rather than quantity. It is not about ticking boxes, but ensuring the job you are doing is up to date and complete.'

However, Alan Maclean, spokesperson at Standard Life, believes this new approach could lead to confusion for some less experienced advisers.

He says: 'It is a far more flexible and pragmatic approach, but for those who have less knowledge, it may be less clear.'

Although the FSA no longer stipulates a set number of hours, members of the Society of Financial Advisers (SOFA) have to abide by a set 60 hours per year of CPD.

The allocated hours have to be completed by fulfiling a combination of training. This can be made up from 25 hours of general courses, 25 hours of courses for examinations, 20 hours of attendance at conferences, 30 hours of skills development, 20 hours of work associated with professional bodies and 10 hours of specialist reading.

Technical training

Several insurers in the protection market have technical consultants that offer training facilities for IFAs such as regional training days and seminars. These include Scottish Equitable, Royal & SunAlliance, Standard Life and Norwich Union.

SOFA also has an extensive training programme on offer which comprises free regional training days, casestudies, technical workshops, seminars, paid training, two-day conferences and budget updates.

The association also publishes a magazine, Technical Adviser, which SOFA members can put towards the specialist reading component of CPD. The Life Assurance Association (LIA) also provides regional training events for the insurance industry.

On its training programme, Royal & SunAlliance focuses mainly on corporate clients. Training courses last from between half a day to two days.

Jerry Bayman, field training manager at Royal & SunAlliance, says: 'Training mainly looks at the needs of the corporate client looking at the structure of a company, key people, the roles of individuals, business ownership, share structure, partnerships and partnership law. We also look at how to pass on a business in a tax-efficient manner to the next generation.'

Bayman says there is not as much demand for training for individual protection issues, so their focus is on training IFAs within the corporate market.

Scottish Equitable also includes business protection training as part of its technical CPD for IFAs. Training is categorised into two groups: technical, which looks at products and market segments and general, which is sales focused.

Leslie McPherson, spokesperson at Scottish Equitable, says: 'Technical training moves away from standard protection products and looks at more complex areas such as business protection. It provides IFAs with information about the products on offer and the issues which surround different market segments such as insuring company directors or partnerships. General sales training is more like field development training and shows IFAs the opportunities around products.'

Mix and match

Bayman says it is important for an IFA to complete a mixture of study including self-study, attending courses and completing the Advanced Financial Planning Certificate (AFPC) in order to maintain competence.

However, he warns advisers against participating in training courses offered by insurance providers, to ensure they are legitimate training practices, rather than a plug for a particular product.

'If someone is putting CPD points down we have to differentiate between product pushing and training from providers,' he says.

Norwich Union's team of training and development managers help protection IFAs to extend their professional development through examinations and the development of their own business with a focus on tax and trust issues.

Malcolm Mackenzie, head of IFA development at Norwich Union, says: 'On the protection side we focus on the tax and trust elements. We assume IFAs already know the product side, so we try to provide the added value elements.'

Extra study

One means of accrediting CPD hours is by studying for additional examinations. The most common is the AFPC which consists of three papers, one which is compulsory and the other two which are selected by the IFA. The examinations are completed by those IFAs wanting to demonstrate their proficiency.

Two of the non-essential modules are G10, which focuses on tax and trusts, and the G30, which looks at corporate planning.

However, Bayman believes not enough IFAs are taking these optional examinations: 'There are not enough people taking the AFPC and the G30. There should more of a push for people to take the AFPC exams as they discipline advisers to cover the whole syllabus, rather than picking out a few aspects of training,' he says.

Once an IFA has passed the AFPC, they may join SOFA ' for which the exam is an entry requirement .

Indications from SOFA paint a positive picture of those IFAs currently completing CPD programmes.

Adrian Senior, website and publicity co-ordinator at SOFA, says: 'We monitor our members which requires them to send in CPD records, and a lot of members are doing more than the 60 hours required.'

Scottish Equitable has also noticed a recent increase in the number of advisers requesting technical training from the group.

'In the last few months we have had an increase in requests for this type of training. Looking at specialist areas can provide more opportunities for IFAs and the more an IFA knows, the more value they can add which makes the advice more worthwhile in the long-run,' McPherson says.

Getting to grips with the product is half the battle, according to Mackenzie, who believes that through CPD the role of the IFA can become more than just an adviser ' especially in the corporate market.

He says: 'IFAs need to find the key issues that they want to develop from their fact find. An IFA cannot only advise but also act as a management consultant, advising the business and making sure it is on a firm financial footing.

'If IFAs are serious about the market they need to get the G10 and the AFPC examinations. They should also ensure that their relationship with the provider is up to date with developments in the marketplace.'

Now the FSA has scrapped the 50 hour requirement for CPD, IFAs embarking on further development do need to be motivated enough to complete the work. However, those that succeed with their CPD programme can benefit from the knowledge and competence it can bring.

Adele Burton is a staff writer