Old Mutual Wealth-backed adviser school expands training
The Old Mutual Wealth-backed Financial Adviser School (FAS) has announced an expansion to its offering with two new standalone training programmes available to the next generation of financial advisers.
The FAS now offers an upgraded package for candidates that aim to obtain their Certificate in Mortgage Advice and Practice (CeMAP), the level 3 qualification required to give advice on mortgages.
And it will also launch a standalone soft-skills-only course for qualified advisers that wish to supplement their existing skillset with training in non-technical competencies including customer service, behavioural finance, and building trust with clients, FAS said in a statement.
The core FAS programme is a 58-week course which sees candidates study the full DipFA, CeMAP and the soft-skills training package.
The changes means FAS will be able to accept candidates four different training packages:
- the core 58-week programme for aspiring financial advisers
- the programme for existing mortgage and protection advisers who wish to obtain the full DipFA
- CeMAP course for candidates who wish to advise on mortgages (about to launch)
- soft-skills training for advisers that want to complement their existing skill-set with training in a range of modules tailored to the financial advice profession (will be launched in October)
FAS is a not-for-profit entity set-up to support the training and development of the next generation of financial advisers, set up by Old Mutual Wealth. Earlier this year the first three cohorts of students graduated from the programme, with one more cohort due to graduate in the coming weeks.
The majority of students that study with FAS are sponsored through the programme by a financial planning firm, and they typically combine study with an existing role within the business. However, the school has also placed a number of students into vacancies after they have self-funded the programme.
‘Next generation’
Darren Smith, pictured above left, head of the Financial Adviser School, said: “We’re excited about this opportunity to broaden our support for the financial planning sector by helping to train the next generation of mortgage advisers and offering practicing advisers the opportunity to add to their skillset.
“At FAS our purpose is to help to train the next generation of financial advisers, promoting growth in the financial planning sector and enabling more customers to access the benefits of face to face advice.
“We have already helped 18 financial advisers kick-off their career by obtaining their Diploma in Financial Advice, and we currently have another 73 students currently studying with us. We look forward to welcoming cohorts onto the new programmes.”
CeMAP course
The new mortgage qualification programme will consist of a six month course providing training on the FSRE and CeMAP 2 and 3 exams. It will be conducted through remote-learning based sessions, workshops and other study tools.
The soft-skills-only programme is designed specifically for financial advisers, and is aimed at helping them enhance their communication and business planning skills, which are crucial to a successful career in financial planning.
Old Mutual Wealth has an adviser and customer offering spanning: financial advice delivered by the Intrinsic network in the UK and AAM Advisory in Singapore; platform based wealth management and protection products delivered by Old Mutual Wealth in the UK and Old Mutual International globally; asset management solutions delivered by Old Mutual Global Investors and discretionary investment management delivered by Quilter Cheviot.
Old Mutual Wealth oversees £122.2bn in customer investments (as at 31 March).
