Independent Financial Adviser - Qualifications

Qualifications

To offer financial advice an individual must represent or be an appointed representative of a firm registered with the Financial Services Authority (FSA). The FSA require that firms ensure that individuals acting for them have appropriate qualifications. The list of appropriate qualifications is determined by the Financial Services Skills Council at the behest of the FSA.

The qualifications for most firms relate to Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) exams past and present.

The entry level is normally the historic 'Financial Planning Certificate' (FPC), or its successor, the 'Certificate in Financial Planning' (CFP) which includes an additional examination focusing on investment advice and risk. For the payment of a fee to the Personal Finance Society members with this level of qualification may use the CertPFS designation. The exams to achieve this are certificate level as designated by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) each exam is approximately equivalent to a GCSE (five for CFP and three for FPC).

The next level is the historical 'Advanced Financial Planning Certificate' (AFPC) and newer 'Diploma in Financial Planning' (DFP). Again for a fee members of the Personal Finance Society may use the designation DipPFS.

The next level is 'Advanced Diploma in Financial Planning'.

The highest level is 'Certified Financial Planner' (CFP) issued by the Institute of Financial Planning or Chartered Financial Planner status granted by the CII.

All IFAs also have an obligation to keep up with current developments in the profession, sometimes referred to as Continuous Professional Development. There are many advanced and more specialised qualifications an IFA may take throughout their career, and it can be worth asking about an adviser’s specific areas of expertise.

While the CertPFS qualifications are the minimum requirements, it is likely that an adviser will progress to the more advanced qualifications throughout their career. With the introduction of higher qualifications becoming more important, the level of qualification can therefore be a useful indicator of an adviser's expertise, although a great deal of experienced advisers currently offer a greater deal of practical knowledge than those obtaining qualifications rapidly in a corporate training ground.

In addition to that, recently a project was managed by the Financial Services Skills Council (FSSC) - to assess the various types of IFA Qualifications.

All qualifications / designations have been assigned a level based on an analysis which was completed by UK NARIC, a national DfES agency which provides guidance on levels of international qualifications (academic, vocational and professional). A list of these qualifications was compiled at IFA Promotion and split up into two levels (A & B).