FPA education change anges providers

Financial services industry educators are divided over moves by the Financial Planning Association (FPA) to change the way the Diploma of Financial Planning (DFP) course is administered.

The FPA made public the proposed changes at its annual convention last week in the presence of education suppliers including IntegraTec, Investment Training College, the Securities Institute and a number of compliance officers from funds management houses and dealer groups.

The proposals plans to move away from granting exemptions to educators, which allows them to supply courses which carry the same weight as the association’s own DFP course.

FPA senior manager education and certification Ken Bruce says the emphasis would shift away from these courses to ‘recognised prior learning’ (RPL) and the assessing of individuals for compliance, and would tie in with the association becoming a registered training organisation in its own right.

Those individuals taking the DFP course through the FPA will automatically be considered under RPL but those taking courses outside the FPA will have to pay to sit and pass a ‘challenge test’ according to Bruce. This will be a condensed form of the DFP unit exam to ensure third party training meets required standards.

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However this move has come under fire from some education providers who have been granted exemptions to supply DFP level education.

IntegraTec general manager John Prowse says this move goes against established agreements and his group would be taking a close look at what action it can take in response.

“We have a number of letters from the FPA stating that we have exemptions on a range of our courses for up to three years. We have also made significant investments in the business based on these standing arrangements,” Prowse says.

He also questions the transitional arrangements which have yet to reveal what will happen if advisers sit the challenge test but are not successful, stating that this uncertainty makes it difficult for education providers to compete.

The news comes at a critical time for Integratec which will have a full DFP equivalent course available in January next year.

However Securities Institute, general manager of knowledge and learning, Christine McMillan says the changes were not unexpected and the challenge test is not a huge assessment.

“It is more a sign off on the proof of competencies and does not represent a shifting of the goal posts. In fact given the changes ahead we expected this move,” McMillan says.

Bruce rejects claims the moves are designed to push more enrollments into the DFP course or to generate revenue for the FPA.

“There are choices in any industry and people will still be free to do what course they wish but the FPA is the professional body that sets the standard, hence the reason for the challenge exam,” Bruce says.

Association of Financial Advisers national president Joe Nowak says while he understand why the FPA is making the move it was important for choice and competition to remain within the educators market.

“The FSR Act aims for wider competiton and consumer protection and we encourage our members to work through courses in the marketplace. Yet the industry must endorse competition and there must be freedom for advisers to choose education based on their own work disciplines,” Nowak says.

Tertiary courses will still retain full accreditation under the new system.