IS LEVEL 4 YOUR EVEREST… OR JUST BASE CAMP?
For many, taking the Level 4 Diploma in Regulated Financial Planning can be a daunting undertaking. Throughout 2017 we are likely to see higher numbers of new candidates taking the Level 4 qualifications than at any other time in the last 4 years as new financial adviser Apprenticeship programmes get underway. This is in addition […]
An excellent pass rate, and some positive feedback from our students…
BTS have just finished delivering a two day R01 workshop for five London students. All were sitting their R01 exam within a few weeks of the end of the workshop, and were concerned about knowledge levels and their ability to pass the exam. Their concerns are not unreasonable. The R01 financial services, regulation and ethics […]
Bridging the Succession Gap
Much has been written about the current demographic challenges facing the Financial Services Profession. We know that there is an ageing adviser population with the average age of an adviser estimated to be north of fifty, and survey after survey stating that at least one third of advisers are looking to retire in the next […]
BUDGETING FOR RETIREMENT – WHOSE JOB IS IT?
According to recent findings from research provider Platforum, advisers are not using long-term cashflow planning with enough of their clients, both ‘at retirement’ and ‘on a regular basis’ once clients have retired. Long-term cashflow planning should be at the heart of retirement and in-retirement advice. It also makes a lot of sense in the accumulation […]
DEFINED BENEFIT TO DEFINED CONTRIBUTION – WHY NOT?
Final Salary pensions schemes, also known as Defined Benefit (DB) schemes, have long been held out as the gold standard of retirement provision. It’s true that, if the pensioner lives a long time, they will provide a high total return. If, however, the pensioner lives a short time then only a small part of the […]
THANKS AGAIN BTS – LOOK FORWARD TO THE NEXT ONE!
BTS have just ran a series of R05 workshops for one of our wealth management clients. This involved two 2 day workshops for four separate groups, Edinburgh, London, Solihull and Manchester. The attendees were mainly second careerists with little or no financial services experience. R05 is always talked about as an easier exam in the R0 […]
THE APPRENTICE – YOU’RE HIRED!
As I write this, Lord Sugar is about to select another apprentice as his business partner in that most festive of modern Christmas traditions, The Apprentice final. T’is the season to… conclude all of those reality TV shows by crowning a winner whilst supermarkets entertain us in the ad breaks with their latest 7 minute […]
DEFINED BENEFIT TO DEFINED CONTRIBUTION – SOME EXTRA CONSIDERATIONS
Since the introduction of pension freedoms on 6th April 2015, Defined Benefit (DB) pension transfers advice is topical. One ‘fly in the ointment’ is that members in defined benefit schemes can’t access much of what is good in relation to such reforms. So, if you are a single man or woman with no dependants you […]
REMEMBERING WHY ‘WHY?’ DOES NOT ALWAYS PRODUCE THE RESULTS WE WANT
During a recent busy day in London I had the chance to leave the office, get some fresh air (well, as fresh and nitrogen dioxide-free as it can be around Threadneedle Street) and pick up some lunch. So, resolution-affirming healthy salad and calorie-laden desert in hand, I found myself queuing in a well-known food chain, […]
CII R0 PASS-RATES FOR 2016 RELEASED…….
The CII have just released the pass-rates for the R0 exam sittings in 2016: R01: 57.01% R02: 57.92% R03: 50.46% R04: 54.07% R05: 72.11% R06: 73.23% The R03 personal taxation exam now has the lowest pass-rates of the level 4 Regulated Diploma in Financial Planning qualifications. This is […]