Putting in the hours will pay off in the end if you want to be confident in your competence

A: An adviser’s ongoing competence should take into consideration technical knowledge and its application, as well as changes in the market, products, legislation and regulation. The measurement of CPD has returned to being in terms of hours spent, but also in terms of the learning achieved and must be relevant to their current role. So if you want, swot up on a new area perhaps with a view to moving into another regulated activity. You still need to chalk up the usual hours for your current role. You must complete a minimum of 35 hours of appropriate CPD in each 12 month period, of which at least 21 hours should be structured CPD. Examples of structured CPD include courses, seminars and workshops, including online events. Unstructured includes reading relevant material and participating in professional development coaching or mentoring sessions. To qualify, the structured CPD has to be for 30 minutes or more, including a record of it with evidence of learning activity completed, the target learning outcomes and how these have been met. If there is an assessment then the record should also include the results of the assessment. Unstructured CPD should also be measurable and consider the learning outcomes. Make CPD specific to you. Does it address identified gaps in your technical knowledge or skills? Have you identified these? If you define your learning objectives for the year ahead, you can easily record the results of each item of CPD undertaken as a learning outcome.

Phil Young is managing director of Threesixty

A: Each year, you need to complete at least 35 hours of continuous professional development, 21 of which must be structured. Your CPD must cover your technical knowledge and how you apply it, your skills and expertise, and any changes in the market, whether that is products or legislation and regulation. Your accredited body decides whether your CPD meets the standards. Your CPD must: be relevant to your role and any expected changes to that role, keep up your knowledge and qualifications, add to your professional skills and knowledge, address any gaps in your technical knowledge and advice skills, have clear objectives based on your learning needs and documented outcomes, be measurable, produce a certificate or result that an accredited body can check.

Sixty per cent of your CDP must be structured, so it must have pre-determined learning outcomes, be a form of learning that lasts for at least 30 minutes, be active, not be passive, have a test, exam or reflective statement at the end to show what you have learnt.

Andy Beswick is intermediary director of Aviva

Q: When can I put a client into non-advised business?

A: You can treat business as non-advised, when no personal recommendation is made, you only give information (it has got to be a sufficient amount) to a potential customer leaving them to decide how they wish to proceed. Sounds simple, but as non-advised business is still outside the scope of RDR, commission can be paid and so the regulator will keep a close eye out for any abuse here.

Ignoring any blatant abuse, the main dangers come from two areas:

n Where so little non-advised business takes place there are no written procedures for processing the business and staff get the process wrong. In these circumstances a business owner will need to decide whether to invest in developing a process or point customers elsewhere.

n When dealing with existing clients who want to invest or insure and put the business through your agency.

The second example is a common one. It is really important that the client understands that no advice has been given and you need to ensure your people are vigilant on this point. Increasingly, firms offering non-advised services record all telephone conversations for supervision issues, this makes more sense than checking a file as the risks are generally in giving advice on the call rather than in the letter issued.

Phil Young is managing director of Threesixty

A: Before you recommend a non-advised route, ask yourself these questions:

Is the client’s level of understanding or attitude to risk appropriate for a non-advised sale?

*Is the product appropriate for non-advised sales (for example, complex or high risk products are more likely to require advice)

*Can the customer afford to pay for advice?

*Is their investment so small that taking a charge of, say, £1,000 would leave them worse off?

You must consider whether a client would be comfortable with information only and no recommendations. If any of these are likely to apply to the customer, a non-advised route may not be suitable.

As far as protection goes, a customer who invests without taking advice has a measure of protection through the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. However, you should remind the customer that they will not have any other protection if he makes his own investment decisions and it is ultimately unsuitable for him.

Andy Beswick is intermediary director of Aviva