Financial Advisory Practice Training Course

Participants can gather, verify and organise the information required for a client financial profile.

• Structured discovery meetings using open questions, active listening, and summaries
• Fact-find data: income, spending, assets, debts, insurance, and dependants
• SMART financial goals ranked by timeframe, importance, and funding gap
• Cash-flow statements distinguishing committed costs, discretionary spending, and irregular payments
• Net-worth statements reconciled to account records, valuations, and outstanding liabilities
• Data privacy consent, source documentation, and client file completeness checks

Participants can develop goal-based financial plans using quantified assumptions and funding analysis.

• Financial planning process from engagement letter through review cycle
• Goal-based planning assumptions for inflation, returns, taxes, and longevity
• Time-value-of-money calculations using present value, future value, and annuities
• Funding-gap analysis comparing required capital with projected savings capacity
• Scenario analysis for job loss, market decline, and life events
• Written recommendations linking objectives, evidence, actions, and review triggers

Participants can explain investment principles and construct strategic allocations aligned with client objectives.

• Asset classes: cash, bonds, equities, property, and alternative investments
• Risk-return trade-offs measured through volatility, correlation, and expected return
• Modern Portfolio Theory and diversification across assets, regions, and issuers
• Strategic asset allocation aligned with horizon, objectives, liquidity, and risk capacity
• Active versus passive management, fees, tracking error, and manager selection
• Investment Policy Statements defining objectives, constraints, governance, and rebalancing rules

Participants can assess client suitability using behavioural, financial and portfolio-risk evidence.

• Risk tolerance questionnaires distinguished from risk capacity and required return
• Suitability assessment integrating knowledge, experience, financial position, and objectives
• Capacity-for-loss analysis under adverse markets, illiquidity, and income shocks
• Behavioural finance biases: loss aversion, anchoring, overconfidence, and herding
• Portfolio stress tests using drawdowns, inflation shocks, and rate changes
• Rebalancing decisions governed by thresholds, tax effects, and transaction costs

Participants can compare common financial products against client needs, constraints and costs.

• Bond pricing, duration, credit risk, and interest-rate sensitivity
• Equity valuation concepts: earnings, dividends, multiples, and growth assumptions
• Collective investments: mutual funds, ETFs, unit trusts, and expense ratios
• Insurance products assessed for protection needs, exclusions, premiums, and claims
• Retirement vehicles compared by contribution limits, access rules, and taxation
• Product due diligence covering issuer strength, liquidity, charges, and documentation

Participants can identify tax, estate and protection considerations while recognising specialist referral needs.

• Tax-aware planning distinguishes deferral, exemptions, reliefs, and taxable income
• After-tax return calculations incorporating income tax, capital gains, and fees
• Retirement income sequencing from pensions, investments, and cash reserves
• Estate-planning fundamentals: wills, beneficiary nominations, trusts, and probate
• Protection needs analysis for death, disability, illness, and dependency risks
• Referral protocols for tax, legal, and regulated specialist advice

Participants can communicate financial recommendations clearly, accurately and with appropriate disclosures.

• Plain-language recommendation reports structured around goals, options, risks, and actions
• Explaining compound returns, inflation, and volatility without misleading certainty
• Client meetings managed through agenda setting, questioning, and documented decisions
• Handling objections about fees, performance, risk, and competing advice
• Disclosure conversations covering conflicts, costs, limitations, and material risks
• Behaviourally informed communication during market stress and client anxiety

Participants can organise client reviews, monitoring activities and core advisory practice controls.

• Client review calendars triggered by life events, performance, and regulation
• Portfolio monitoring against Investment Policy Statement targets and drift bands
• Fee reviews, service scope, and client profitability analysis
• Client relationship management records, workflow stages, and service-level commitments
• Complaint triage, root-cause analysis, remediation, and regulatory reporting
• Cybersecurity controls for client data, communications, and payment instructions

Participants can apply the full advisory process and define improvements to their own client workflow.

• End-to-end client case synthesis from fact-find through written recommendation
• Recommendation prioritisation using urgency, impact, dependencies, and client readiness
• Reviewing assumptions, evidence gaps, conflicts, and specialist referral requirements
• Quality assurance checklist for suitability, disclosures, calculations, and file notes
• Personal application plan identifying client segments, workflow changes, and milestones
• Peer feedback against advice quality criteria and professional conduct standards