Friday afternoon saw me sat in an examination centre in Farnham, nervously waiting for the invigilator to arrive for the start of my latest exam.
This was the third exam I’ve sat in the past six months.
What initially started as a simple project to obtain the qualification I needed to advise clients on care fees planning grew into a second exam to tick all of the boxes for Society of Later Life Advisers (SOLLA) membership later this year.
Once I had passed the second exam, I realised it meant I was ‘only’ two exam passes short of another achievement, Fellowship of the Personal Finance Society.
Fellowship is widely regarded as the premier qualification for those working in personal financial planning.
It is currently the highest qualification level offered by the Personal Finance Society, requiring years of study and exams to obtain.
The route I’ve picked to reach Fellowship involved taking two more exams which together make up the Certificate in Discretionary Investment Management.
On Friday afternoon I sat the tougher of the two – J10: Discretionary investment management.
The objective of this unit is to develop knowledge and understanding of the role of the Discretionary Investment Manager, and the ability to analyse and apply financial information and portfolio management skills.
It was by far the toughest of the three I’ve studied for in recent months, heavy on complex calculations and unfamiliar terminology I do not come across on a daily basis in my role as a Financial Planner or in my work leading our wealth management proposition.
In fact, I found myself cramming at the last minute on Friday morning to memorise some crucial formulas and then felt a wave of relief pass over me when I received the on screen result after answering 70 multiple choice questions and 20 multiple response format questions.
The final exam I need to pass to obtain my Fellowship and the Certificate in Discretionary Investment Management is RO1: Financial services, regulation and ethics.
Back at my desk on Friday afternoon, fresh from my exam pass, I was straight onto the Internet to enter this for March. Rather than taking a break from study, it makes sense to push straight through.
This might make it seem as if I’m an exam junky. I’m definitely not.
I can think of many better ways of spending my time than reading a study manual, making notes and answering test questions.
These exams are however important.
We take our professional qualifications very seriously here at Informed Choice, with every member of the team exceeding the minimum regulatory requirement of a Level 4 diploma qualification.
All six of our Financial Planners are qualified to QCF Level 6, to either Chartered Financial Planner and/or Certified Financial Planner (CFP) professional standard, something that very few firms of our size can boast.
The knowledge and skills we all learn from studying for (and passing!) these tough exams is invaluable as we guide our clients through complex technical subjects and consistently deliver the very best advice.
Some advisers see exams as something they must do. We view them differently, as something we want to do.
They give us the opportunity to apply valuable technical knowledge and skills in our daily work as Financial Planners.
With the right amount of effort, I look forward to adding the letters FPFS after my name by the end of next month.
