‘Qualifications count more as April nears’: Richards

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‘Qualifications count more as April nears’: Richards

Professional qualifications will become even more important as the pension changes approach, Keith Richards, chief executive of the PFS, has said.

Mr Richards said: “Pensions liberalisation has woken up a nation and generated considerable focus on both income and investment strategies pre-, at and in retirement, with the need for professional advice services likely to increase accordingly.”

He added: “We continue to see both growth in membership and an ongoing appetite for learning via qualifications and CPD.

“In addition to the introduction of a retirement bridging unit we will be issuing a number of guidance and good practice documents to support members with the changes brought about by reforms.”

His comments came as CII figures showed that the average pass rate for the diploma in regulated financial planning from R01 to R06 has fallen slightly from 60.87 per cent in 2013 to 60.06 per cent in 2014.

The figures showed that the advanced diploma average pass rate across AF1 to AF6 was also down, but very slightly, from 52.99 per cent in 2013 to 52.97 per cent in 2014.

QualificationAverage pass score for 2014Average pass score for 2013
R0159.41%59.07%
R0255.99%54.7%
R0354.55%50.78%
R0454.09%58.03%
R0568.73%74.38%
R0667.56%68.27%

Adviser view

Max Slipaczek, senior administrator for London-based Filip Slipaczek Chartered Financial Planner, said: “We would advise the whole industry to work towards their chartered status. That is a good aim for anyone.”