Educators not sitting on their hands
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Financial services educators are aiming to be prepared for whatever changes may arise from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC)'s CP153 consultation paper into education standards, even though no new details have been provided since submissions closed mid last year.
Kaplan Professional is one of the major trainers with respect to the diploma of financial services - the industry standard designation for RG146 compliance - and the organisation's vice president Marilyn Hill said Kaplan has recently introduced a range of changes aimed at staying ahead of upcoming legislation.
One of the key CP153 proposals is that an external assessment be conducted separately from the courses offered by registered training organisations (RTOs), which are currently able to assess their own students.
Hill said RTOs are awaiting clarity from ASIC about whether new standards and requirements for certification will remain consistent - as they have been for the last few years.
Regardless, Kaplan has moved to a closed-book exam format and focused on ensuring students get repeated practice at developing statements of advice.
The changes were partly in response to industry submissions to CP153, Hill said.
ASIC confirmed plans to introduce the national exam had been pushed back from 1 July 2012 to 1 July 2013.
Money Management understands ASIC is currently interviewing candidates to form an education committee to assist in instructional design of the exam and help formulate exam questions, and is assessing tenders for companies to conduct the exam - although ASIC is refusing to comment further on the matter.
Kaplan has also introduced a greater focus on advisers' client engagement skills as a result of feedback from licensee clients, Hill added.
Kaplan is also giving serious consideration to offering undergraduate degrees if that looks to be the way the industry is headed.
"We would put that in place as a natural pathway because we're a higher education provider as well as a vocational education provider," Hill said.
At the licensee level, AMP's Horizons Academy last year introduced the university challenge, which is run in conjunction with the Financial Planning Association.
This year, Horizons is working with the universities to further integrate the program into university curricula to make it both more appealing and more feasible for students to participate, according to Horizons director Tim Steele.
And MLC - which recently introduced a mobile adviser program aimed at upskilling career-changers looking to move into financial planning, and an adviser business school that helps advisers become better business operators - will shortly introduce an accountants' advice academy.
The Association of Financial Advisers (AFA) at its latest national conference launched Campus AFA, an education initiative AFA vice president and education chair Adam Smith describes as the beginning of another phase for the AFA where it will look to create more education solutions.
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