CPD

All CPD content

Understanding the role of independent financial advice in divorce

Describe how financial planning at the outset of divorce proceedings can help fund it.
List what factors are relevant to financial arrangements in divorce proceedings and the need for financial disclosure.
Identify what need there is for clients to get financial advice when going through a divorce.

Discretionary Management

Taking care of outsourced clients

Describe what advisers' duty of care is when outsourcing investments.
Identify how to use DFMs without ruining client-adviser relationships and what the FCA expects.
List key questions to ask those running client investments.

Defined Contribution

Testing DC pension benefits against the lifetime allowance

List the calculations involved in testing against the lifetime allowance.
Describe how the tax charge is calculated and whether there is any way of mitigating it.
Identify how pre-2006 pensions can still reduce the available lifetime allowance at age 75.

Prospects are glowing for collective defined contribution schemes

Describe how Collective Defined Contribution schemes might work
List how CDC schemes might be useful for the Royal Mail
Describe why it might raise retirement income over the longer term

Personal Pension

Guide to helping mid-lifers plan for retirement

Describe what mid-lifers need to consider when saving for retirement.
List how advisers can help mid-lifers prioritise their pension and what tools providers can offer to help.
Identify how women can ensure they are financially prepared for retirement given the pensions gap.

Defined Benefit

Partial DB transfers offer a good third way option

Describe the reason why people should do a partial transfer
List the important things to communicate to clients
Describe how the partial transfer mitigates risk for members

Inheritance Tax

How to engage with clients’ beneficiaries

List the benefits of engaging with clients’ beneficiaries as part of intergenerational planning.
Identify ways to help a client’s executors and beneficiaries during the probate process.
Describe the opportunity for taking on beneficiaries as clients.

Defined Benefit

Why specialist advice is critical for GMP equalisation

Describe the background to GMP equalisation and how schemes can get started.
List the different methods of equalisation for schemes to adopt and how they communicate the process with members.
Identify the potential pitfalls and how specialist advice can help smooth the GMP equalisation journey.

Guide to advising US expat clients

Describe the tax liabilities due when one is a US citizen
List the problems US citizen have with conventional investment funds
Describe the issues when it comes to selling property

Due diligence on P2P platforms

Describe why P2P has become more popular.
Identify the risk profile of P2P.
List how clients should use P2P.

Improving pensions for the self-employed

List the challenges faced by the self-employed in saving into a pension and the employment landscape in general.
Describe what the DWP trials are looking at in regards to self-employed pensions.
Identify possible solutions to saving for retirement among self-employed.

Guide to later life mortgages

List what types of later life mortgage products are available and how they differ.
Describe what is driving the growth of this market and why clients are demanding these products.
Identify what advisers can do to help later life mortgage clients and what they need to know about suitability and risk.

Tax Efficient Investments

Top 10 tax-efficient investing vehicles

Describe how tax relief works
Understand the differences between the different Isas
To learn about different tax efficient vehicles such as EIS and SEIS

Small Self Administered Scheme

Schemes buckle up for a bumpy ride: Ssas survey

Learn about how Ssas providers are faring
Understand the features and costs of current plans
Be able to describe the challenges facing Ssas firms

Regulation in 2019: Have advisers got the all-clear?

Learn about the regulatory challenges facing advisers
Be able to describe which areas the FCA is focusing on
Understand the new Mifid II changes

What is in store for Chinese equity investors?

Describe how the US-China trade war has impacted Chinese equities.
Identify the reasons for China's slowing economic growth and the outlook for its economy in 2019.
List the opportunities in Chinese equities for clients and how to get exposure.

Guide to how advisers are using technology

List what technology can be used for throughout the advice process.
Identify what due diligence is required to select a technology provider.
Describe how technology can help comply with regulation and what the future is for tech in advice.

Five things advice company acquirers are looking for

To learn about how to prepare one's company for sale
To understand what are the main drivers to the due diligence process
To learn about what makes a company more attractive

Exchange-traded Funds

Using ETFs to position for trade war events

Describe how the US-China trade war started and three possible scenarios that could develop.
Identify how exposed various equity indices, tracked by ETFs, are to an escalating trade war.
List which sectors and company sizes are more or less exposed to the trade war.

Personal Pension

Understanding Qrops and transfers from UK pensions

Identify what a Qrops is and the conditions that must be met by a Rops.
Describe the transfer process from a UK registered pension scheme to a Qrops.
List what five conditions are used to assess an overseas transfer charge and what needs to be known about the lifetime allowance.

Guide to with-profits

Get up to speed about the current state of the with-profits sector
Learn about the implications of asset allocation
To understand the smoothing process and allocation of bonuses

How to be a financial adviser in a changing political landscape

To learn more about how to meet the challenges of being a financial adviser
To understand the impact of Brexit
To see the importance of the FCA Register

Wealth planning needs of internationally mobile clients

Describe the growth trends among the high net worth community and their wealth planning needs.
List the tax implications for multi-jurisdictional individuals and what they need to know about fund accessibility.
Identify what impact regulation will have and the concerns and goals of the next generation of HNWIs.

How to navigate political and economic risks in 2019

Describe what political and economic predictions were made in 2018 and if they came true.
List what is next for the global economy this year and how policymakers will influence it.
Identify how investors can respond to economic risks and which asset classes might offer diversification.

Guide to the outlook for 2019

Describe how equity markets are likely to perform in 2019 and how advisers can help clients ride out political noise.
Identify how clients should be positioned in fixed income this year.
List the predictions for how the macroeconomic picture will look in 2019.

Discretionary Management

What is behind the evolution of managed portfolio services?

List what MPS is and what have been the main drivers of the evolution of MPS.
Describe what impact the platform approach has had and increased transparency.
Identify how MPS solutions might develop and what impact new entrants will have.

Are US equities still the main game in town?

Learn about the performance of US funds
Gain an understanding of which sectors are proving propular with managers
Be able to describe the challenges facing the region

Holding firm in tricky year for risk assets

Gain an understanding of fund flow activity during 2018
Learn which companies and funds have proved popular
Gain an insight into future trends

Investment Trusts

Investment trusts: Back in vogue?

Learn about trends in the investment trusts market
Understand the attractions of investment trusts
Grasp some of their misconceptions

What are the biggest risks for clients in 2019?

Describe what to expect from financial markets in 2019.
Identify the impact of Brexit on sterling and for asset allocation in client portfolios.
List the reasons why some are predicting a recession and the asset classes expected to perform well next year.

What you need to know about the annual allowance

Describe the basics of the annual allowance and recent changes to pensions tax relief.
Identify what carry forward is and how it affects the annual allowance.
List what impact the MPAA and tapered annual allowance has for advisers' clients.

Pension Freedom

Getting the withdrawal profile right for clients in decumulation

Identify inappropriate and appropriate investments for decumulation.
Design and document a retirement centralised investment proposition.
Describe and document a client withdrawal profile.

Guide to accident, sickness and unemployment insurance

To learn what ASU is and for whom it might be suitable.
To be able to list the pros and cons of ASU compared with income protection.
To be able to explain ways to protect clients in the event of forced redundancy.

Gamechangers of the protection industry

Describe the impact some gamechangers have had on the protection industry
Understand the potential effect of future gamechangers
List the way forward for the protection industry

US citizens need to sort out their tax affairs

Learn about the US tax system
To describe what needs to be done in the run-up to tax year-end in the US
To take on board the correlations between US tax and UK tax

Fintech is the future - along with traditional advice

Describe what fintech is
Articulate why fintech might be a threat to financial advisers
Describe how financial advice might be able to work with robo-advisers and other fintech

Income Protection

Guide to the background to protection planning

Describe what types of financial shocks income protection can cover.
Identify how state benefits and IP interact and how advisers can help clients understand the IP claims process.
List how the income protection market might develop over the next few years, including whether it will consolidate.

Sustainable Investing

Climate change will have an impact on all retail investors

To understand some of the risks associated with climate change as an investor
To learn about the impact one can have as a retail investor
To describe ways in which retail investors can access ESG markets

The growing importance of advice on long-term care

Describe why the number of people living for longer is set to increase and the care available to them.
Identify what to check with a client or relative who has immediate care needs.
List the options clients have to be able to meet care costs and how to communicate these to them.

Changes for financial advisers under SMCR

Identify the types of firms affected by SMCR
Describe the new financial services directory
Identify the importance of the new functions under SMCR