One of the principles we subscribe to here at Informed Choice is continuing professional development.
It’s a regulatory requirement, sure, with the Financial Conduct Authority insisting that all approved persons carry out a minimum of 35 hours of CPD each year.
But part of our culture is about lifelong learning and always looking for ways to get better at what we do.
We take the view that we are already very good at what we do, but there is always room for improvement.
With that in mind, we invest a large amount of our budget each year in professional development activities.
When Andy asks me to reconcile my company credit card statement at the end of each month, there’s typically a number of study materials, training courses and exam entry fees to note.
Continuing professional development is a mix of activity carried out as individuals, but also the work we do together as a team.
Yesterday our Financial Planners and Paraplanners took a day out to spend in the classroom with Prestwood, providers of the Truth financial planning software we use.
Truth is a very powerful financial planning tool, described by one publication as “…the mother of all cashflow modelling tools.”
Our use of Truth from Prestwood for cashflow modelling is how we give our clients answers to the questions that matter most.
Because Financial Planning is the service we offer to every new client who engages with Informed Choice, it’s important that we are all able to make best use of this software.
Our training day yesterday was led by Prestwood Truth trainer Simon, who took the team through various elements of the software, from entering financial data about clients to adjusting assumptions and creating new scenarios.
In a busy work environment, it’s sometimes difficult to take a day out to learn new these valuable new skills.
Despite no doubt returning to desks this morning with a few extra emails and phone calls, this investment in leveling up our cashflow forecasting skills through continuing professional development is so important.
How Informed Choice invested in continuing professional development to level up our cashflow forecasting skills Share on X