But the RDR was always about more than increased qualification barriers and a remuneration overhaul to remove the perception of commission bias. The professionalism being brought into the sector also introduces increased ongoing development requirements for advisers.
Previously there was no prescribed minimum amount of time an adviser had to spend undertaking continuing professional development (CPD) and no demonstration of the value of any learning undertaken was required. Advisers were expected to commit to furthering their professional knowledge, but the process was unencumbered by strict processes or specific demands.
Structured learning
Now, to obtain an SPS, an adviser must be able to prove they are undertaking a minimum of 35 hours’ worth of CPD each year. In addition, 21 of these hours must be ‘structured’, that is they must be part of a clearly defined learning framework.
This means, for example, that the amount of time an adviser might spend each week reading an industry magazine such as Investment Adviser – once a suitable CPD activity on the basis that reading about ongoing industry developments keeps knowledge up to date – will no longer be a viable submission for much of his CPD time.
As such, there have been concerns that the new requirements will prove onerous for advisers already juggling the management of their business and effective servicing of clients in a more demanding consumer-orientated post-RDR world.
Advisers were expected to commit to furthering their professional knowledge, but the process was unencumbered by strict processes or specific demands.If predictions that the “structured” process will eventually become the minimum standard for all continuing development activities prove prescient, this is only likely to intensify. Many also believe an increased focus on demonstrating the knowledge attained from any learning is going to further raise the required standard of eligible CPD in the future.
Steve Aspinall, director of corporate development at the Chartered Insurance Institute, says that under the current rules, proving the value of any learning over and above simply meeting the criteria for structured learning will constitute a “gold standard”. In time, he says, this will become a basic requirement of all CPD.
Meeting the new requirements
In order to help advisers meet these demands, Investment Adviser’s website, FTAdviser.com, has launched the unique CPD Tracker solution. The tracker aims to help advisers build up structured CPD efficiently while reading content written for the newspaper and the website, which would otherwise not qualify towards this.
Certain educational features, special reports and adviser guides published in Investment Adviser and on FTAdviser.com will be included within the tool, which is free to use and fully accredited by the CII. Relevant CPD content will be available to read in print and online in the usual fashion.
To complete a piece of learning, advisers simply need to find relevant content either by looking out for the logo on qualifying content or by searching through the continually-updated tabbed database on the CPD Tracker page (FTAdviser.com/CPD).
Once the article has been read, an adviser will be faced with six contextual multiple choice questions to complete in order to provide evidence of learning, as well as two brief statement fields that record the “learning need” or knowledge gap the article was chosen to meet and the outcomes of the learning, both of which are required for the learning to qualify as being “structured”.
The questions in particular provide the “gold standard” demonstration of the learning undertaken; they evidence understanding of the article and prove that the whole of the article was intellectually digested.
All “banked” content is stored in the “Your Banked CPD” area of the CPD Tracker landing page. From here an adviser can keep an eye on the CPD activity undertaken over a given period and produce PDF reports at the click of a button to supply to their accredited body or the regulator.
The CPD Tracker cannot reduce the time advisers are required to spend accumulating structured CPD. However, it will ensure that educational content in Investment Adviser or on FTAdviser.com can contribute towards this total quickly and efficiently, which will mitigate some of the burden.
Ashley Wassall is editor of FTAdviser.com
Structured continuing professional development: what is it?
Structured CPD means any continuing professional development activities that are part of a formalised learning framework. Under the RDR, 21 of the minimum 35 hours of CPD each year must be structured.
To qualify, advisers will need to be able to show that a piece of learning relates to a specific identified need or knowledge gap and that they have reflected on the learning undertaken.
The Chartered Insurance Institute says it is also going to become increasingly important to be able to show that the learning from any CPD activities is demonstrated. Steve Aspinall, director of corporate development at the CII, says any submissions including this will currently constitute a ‘gold standard’, but in time will become a minimum requirement.
To respond to these demands, FTAdviser’s tool requires advisers to demonstrate their learning by answering six multiple-choice questions for each piece of content, and to provide a statement outlining the learning need the content is meeting and any reflections on the process.
Watch out for the following logo on features that can be used for CPD.
