Personal PensionJul 23 2015

Professional body struggles to meet pension training demand

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Professional body struggles to meet pension training demand

The pensions industry is going through a challenging period, meaning demand has never been greater for the qualifications that advisers require to keep up with the pace of regulatory and legislative change, according to the Pensions Management Institute’s new president.

Speaking to FTAdviser, Kevin LeGrand said the PMI has its work cut out to remain relevant and provide up-to-date training materials for providers and advisers.

“Our advanced diploma is still at the core, but given the changes and complexities in recent months, there has been an increased focus on particular sub-areas of pensions,” he commented, adding that this meant “there is a seemingly never ending need to update qualifications”.

Specifically, the PMI is busy at work on its new defined contribution governance certificate, which it claims is much more intensive now since the introduction of independent governance committees and the at-retirement reforms.

“We’ve always provided qualifications for the adviser market and I think the DC governance certificate will be particularly popular with IFAs.

“Pension scheme members are being asked to make ever more complex decisions, so the role of knowledgable advisers is ever more crucial.”

Keith Richards, chief executive at the Personal Finance Society, said that being part of the Chartered Insurance Institute means they have seen “significant” demand for their new pensions bridging paper.

“In addition, we have implemented a number of practical support mechanisms to help advisers respond to greater pension freedom and the complexities which come with that.

“We have seen massive demand for face-to-face events and webinars - all being over-subscribed within a short time of advertising.”

He explained that concerns over volatility drag and sequencing risk have been a particular topic of attention and debate among members, given the significant impact this can have on capital in retirement years and especially when clients’ attitude to risk and capacity for loss are usually the opposite from when in the accumulation phase.

“We are working with other experts across the market to ensure advisers are provided with the relevant technical information and practical support needed, including software solutions to meet the demands and opportunities of helping their clients plan effective financial futures.”

Meanwhile, the Institute of Financial Planning’s director of professional standards Sam Rees-Adams, told FTAdviser that while they do not offer a qualification specifically in the pensions area, there is lots of ‘continued professional development’ to be had.

“We ran sessions at last year’s IFP annual conference and a retirement planning CPD workshop in the spring.

“Although this was on retirement planning more broadly, it had a strong thread of pension reform running through it, enabling members to consider both the technical aspects of the reforms and how they might apply these in their day to day planning for clients.”

She added that the IFP will have further sessions at this year’s conference to continue the support available.

peter.walker@ft.com