Education extending beyond compliance for advisers

Advisers are changing their view of education as merely a means for compliance under FSR to embrace the concept of ‘life-long’ learning, according to theSecurities Institute.

Securities Institute chief executive Brian Salter says, “Our feedback is that while many in the industry are relieved at the achievement in complying with theAustralian Securities and Investments Commission’s (ASIC) minimum licensing requirements, they realise it is not sufficient to instil the long term skills and expertise necessary to meet the increasingly sophisticated needs of clients.”

This opinion is echoed byTribecachief operating office John Prowse.

“I think there are many advisers who prior to FSR have done very little formal education, and some of them have even enjoyed the training that they have been required to do, and are going on to complete other courses,” Prowse says.

Tribeca has seen strong enrolments into their SMSF courses and the Advanced Diploma of Financial Services, which go beyond ASIC’s education requirements, according to Prowse.

While earlier this year the Securities Institute restructured its open entry financial planning courses to assist advisers meet the ASIC compliance competencies with a sharper focus and shorter time frames, it has also run additional training sessions to educate advisers on key developments that will raise industry standards.

Salter says these courses, such as a new self-managed super fund (SMSF) workshop, intentionally go beyond industry requirements to meet the standards of an increasingly demanding market.

“We have mapped the content of these workshops to the draft SMSF competencies released by the National Finance Industry Training Advisory Body last year. As a result, the program will fast track education for advisers so they are ready to meet potential future licensing requirements,” Salter says.