‘R’ you doing the right CPD?

Our accredited CPD system has been built to help advisers meet the exacting standards for Statement of Professional Standing (SPS) CPD.

Further CPD information is also available on these links:

• Accredited CPD system
• Which CPD camp are you in? (audiovisual presentation)
• Identifying and recording your structured CPD (audiovisual presentation)

You can subscribe to our accredited CPD system by logging in and selecting the CPD system from the Buy Accounts page. If you don't have an existing record you can create one here.

How to meet the exacting standards for Statement of Professional Standing (SPS) CPD

The regulator’s syllabus
The FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) Handbook sets out the following standards for the required CPD (Continuing Professional Development), to attain a Statement of Professional Standing (SPS) in TC 2.1.22:

“All continuing professional development should:

(1) be relevant to the retail investment adviser's current role and any anticipated changes to that role;

(2) maintain the retail investment adviser's knowledge by reference to current qualification standards relevant to the retail investment adviser's role;

(3) contribute to the retail investment adviser's professional skill and knowledge;

(4) address any identified gaps in the retail investment adviser's technical knowledge;

(5) have written learning objectives based on learning needs and a documented learning outcome;

(6) be measurable and capable of being independently verified by an accredited body.”

We will return to these numbered areas of guidance later.

Also, you need to note that TC 2.1.23 states the following:

“Continuing professional development completed by a retail investment adviser in relation to activities other than acting as a retail investment adviser should not be taken into account for the purposes of TC 2.1.15 R unless it is also relevant to the activity of acting as a retail investment adviser.”

TC 2.1.15R is the requirement to do 35 hours CPD.

It is left to the accrediting body to accept or reject the CPD evidence based on the guidance in the FCA Handbook. However, it is quite clear that for CPD to count towards the regulatory minimum 35 hours it must be based around the activities of a retail investment adviser, and not some other role, such as a mortgage adviser, an insurance broker or a marketer. This means that it might be necessary to carry out further CPD activity in addition to the 35 hours required for the SPS.

On a lighter note, the syllabus is quite broad and includes regulation, compliance, ethics and customer facing skills.

Relevant and in line with the current qualification standards
Taking points (1) and (2) from the guidance above:

(1) be relevant to the retail investment adviser's current role and any anticipated changes to that role;

(2) maintain the retail investment adviser's knowledge by reference to current qualification standards relevant to the retail investment adviser's role;

This can be achieved by matching topic areas to the appropriate exam syllabus and this is where Wizard Learning can help. The Diploma in Regulated Financial Planning learning objectives are all there in the accredited CPD system, as it includes online courses for R01 – R05 (you can also purchase these individually).

This material will always be current as it is constantly being updated. An additional feature is a list of updates so that it is easy to focus on areas that have changed.

Advisers using this tool can be sure that the CPD they carry out is relevant and acceptable.

Training needs analysis
It makes practical sense to establish what areas of training and development should be focused on before embarking on a program of CPD – otherwise it will prove neither productive nor effective!

Taking guidance points (3) and (4), we can see that this is exactly what the FCA hoped to achieve when setting the requirements:

(3) contribute to the retail investment adviser's professional skill and knowledge;

(4) address any identified gaps in the retail investment adviser's technical knowledge;

An adviser (and/or their supervisor) might be able to establish some of their training and development needs based on their experience and performance in their role, and by measuring this against what is expected of them. For others, supervision is not so hands-on and some advisers might struggle to identify what it is they should focus their learning on – they don’t know what they don’t know!

Both the Wizard Learning CPD system and the gap analysis and assessment tool are designed to address this with tests in each area of the syllabus. You can choose the number of questions you wish to answer, and the results are recorded. Having identified the shortfalls in your knowledge and skills, the materials for plugging these gaps are all available at your fingertips and are contained in the online courses.

Recording the outcomes
The FCA has clearly stated that a collection of attendance certificates is not sufficient evidence of CPD. Turning to points (5) and (6):

(5) have written learning objectives based on learning needs and a documented learning outcome;

(6) be measurable and capable of being independently verified by an accredited body.”

The learning outcome needs to be documented. There are several ways to achieve this, including written notes and reports, summaries and test results. The Wizard Learning CPD system allows for all of these types of CPD evidence to be recorded in the adviser’s record in a way that can be verified.

Structured CPD
The FCA definition of structured CPD is as follows (from fca.org.uk website).

“Structured CPD is an activity that uses material or activities that are designed to achieve a particular learning outcome.”

It can include “…completing appropriate e-learning. For a minority of activities it might also include structured, educational reading, where quality reading material has been produced to meet the required learning outcome.”

The FCA Handbook provides examples of unstructured CPD, as follows:

(1) conducting research relevant to the individual's role;

(2) reading industry or other relevant material;

(3) participating in professional development coaching or mentoring sessions.”

Even after studying all of the FCA rules and guidance, there remains some uncertainty as to what counts as what!. For example, when does your essential reading and research cross over from unstructured to structured? This is when the recording of learning objectives against outcomes is essential. Remember that 14 hours of unstructured CPD is acceptable, so research undertaken for a specific client can still be counted towards your unstructured total where it meets the required minimum 30 minutes duration, provided it is relevant to your role and provided an outcome is recorded. The outcome is sometimes referred to as a ‘reflective statement’. This mean you explaining what knowledge has been gained or refreshed, and to what end. In other words, the benefit needs to be relevant to retail financial advising.

In summary
Whether you are embarking on Diploma courses or you are considering subscribing to our accredited CPD system, the Wizard Learning packages will fulfil the following regulatory needs:

• Training needs analysis
• Verification of competency
• Continuing Professional Development to the required standards
• Record keeping
• Evidence of activity

And finally, you will inevitably pick up other snippets of useful information along the way - information that is relevant and useful in your day-to-day dealings with your clients.