INSU07031 2022 QFA Financial Advice - Practice

Assess the needs of consumers for protection policies, including life assurance cover, serious illness cover and business insurances, and for savings and investment policies and tracker bonds issued by life assurance companies.

Evaluate the needs of consumers for investment linked pension policies, including retirement annuity contracts, PRSAs, employer pension schemes (including small self-administered pension schemes (SSAPS), buy out bonds, AVCs, annuities, ARFs and AMRFs.

Appraise the needs of consumers for savings and investment products, including life assurance investment policies, collective investment funds, tracker bonds, Exchange Traded Funds, derivatives and unquoted transferable shares.

Evaluate the needs of consumers for mortgage credit agreements, housing loans, home reversion agreements, consumer credit agreements, and associated insurances.

Evaluate the main regulatory requirements relating to the marketing of financial services products and to the sales / advisory process pertaining to such products; and

Assess the suitability of financial products in meeting the needs of consumers, including formulating comparisons of products, and evaluate ongoing client financial planning needs, including in relation to retirement planning and to relationship breakdowns.

Act effectively under guidance in a peer relationship with qualified practitioners; learn to act in variable unfamiliar learning contexts managing tasks independently, professionally and ethically.

This module will be delivered through self-directed learning with the support of a supervisor and mentor in the student's workplace. This module complements the "QFA Financial Advice Theory Module" module and allows the student to integrate their academic knowledge gained into a practical work-based setting in the completion of a number of case studies and on-the-job tasks. The student will have ample choice to enable them to pick an agreed number of case studies and tasks from the work-based syllabus. The student should focus on case studies that are appropriate to their working environment. The completed case studies will be submitted through the learning management system having been signed off by their supervisor. The completed case studies will be reviewed by IT Sligo's academic programme leader.

There are specific requirements which must be met by the student in completing the experience-based syllabus. The work-based supervisor is required to validate that the case studies and tasks meet the attainment of the learning outcomes of the module. Specific criteria are provided for each of the case study areas. The student must answer the relevant questions posed in the prescribed format. The work-based supervisor will assess the case study/task on a pass / fail basis and the completed case studies (with the supervisor's report) are uploaded to the learner management system by the student. The case studies will not be considered/accepted as complete if they are not submitted with the supervisor's signature/report.

This module will be assessed 100% by continuous assessment.

This module has been designed to complement the ‘QFA Financial Advice Theory' module. The student will relate the topics covered in that module to their workplace environment and will work on these learnings in a business context.

This assessment examines the student's understanding and application of knowledge. These questions will require students to link pieces of information together in a cause-and-effect relationship and apply their knowledge and/or understanding to a given set of circumstances.

The answers will involve an essay-type response.

The work-based supervisor must sign-off on the student's submission. The student has a maximum of 3 opportunities to submit their work to their supervisor.

A submission will not be accepted or considered complete if the work-based supervisor has not signed off on the work and the sign-off sheet is not included with the submission.

Financial Planning: Fact-Finding

• Introduction to Financial Advice
• Financial Planning to Meet Financial Needs
• The Benefits of Financial Planning
• Conduct of Business Rules
• The Fact-Finding Process
• Errors and Inconsistencies
• Existing Clients
• Standard PRSAs and Fact-Finding Exception

Taxation

•  Introduction
• Income Tax
• Capital Gains Tax
• Capital Acquisitions Tax

Review: Pensions

• Introduction: Retirement Planning
• Personal Contracts
• Employer Pension Schemes
• Chargeable Excess Tax
• Annuities, ARFs/AMRFs, Taxable Cash
• Employee Leaving Service
• Pension Adjustment Orders – Retirement Benefits
• Comparing Individual Pension Plans
• Quantifying the Pension Need

Review: Life Assurance

• Types of Life Assurance Policies
• Serious Illness Cover and Income Protection
• Business Insurances
• Quantifying Protection Needs
• Protection Products: Choosing the Right Product, Term and Optional Benefits

Review: Investment

• Investment Asset Classes
• Deposit Accounts
• State Savings
• Shares
• Bonds
• Collective Investment Funds
• Tracker Bonds and Structured Retail Products
• Employee Share Incentives
• Alternative Asset Classes
• Financial Maths
• Lump Sum Investment Products: Comparisons
• Suitability Before Comparison
• Developing a Recommendation: Comparing Products Available
• Collective Investment Funds, Unit-Linked Bonds and Tracker Bonds: A Comparison
• Advising on Investment Needs and Objectives
• Investing for Income
• Comparing Fund Performance
• Savings Plans Comparisons