Johannesburg: The Financial Planning Institute of Southern Africa NPC (FPI) recently conducted a review of its Continuous Professional Development (CPD) policy and amended the requirements for professional members who hold the REGISTERED FINANCIAL PRACTITIONER™ and FINANCIAL SERVICES ADVISOR™ designations.
In addition, the CPD requirements for FPI professional members who are Registered Tax Practitioners with the South African Revenue Services (SARS) were updated in accordance with the SARS amendments effective 1 June 2022.
Why the amendments?
Considering the credits assigned to the said FPI professional membership categories’ underlying SAQA registered qualifications, it makes sense to align FPI CPD hours accordingly. Given that the requirements for membership for the advice designations (RFP™ and FSA™) differ in both the education and experience spheres, it made sense for FPI to use the same differentiator when setting the required CPD hours for the designations.
These amendments include:
RFP™ professional members
o Twenty hours verifiable CPD per year of which two hours should relate to Ethics and Practice Standards.
FSA™ professional members
o Twenty-five hours CPD per year, of which twenty hours should be verifiable. Five of these hours must relate to Ethics and Practice Standards.
FPI professional members who are also registered Tax Practitioners with SARS o Eighteen hours verifiable CPD of which two hours should relate to Ethics and Practice Standards, and ten hours relate to tax.
CFP® professionals still need to obtain thirty-five CPD hours per year, of which twenty should be verifiable. Furthermore, these hours must consist of five related to ethics and practice
standards, ten to general skills and abilities and twenty to technical content for financial planners.
Continuous Professional Development means the process of lifelong learning whereby an individual engages in activities that maintain and develop the abilities, skills and knowledge necessary for professional practice. CPD forms the cornerstone for continued competency of professional members of the FPI. Verifiable CPD means a formal learning CPD activity where the identification of the attendee was objectively verified and for which proof of completion of the CPD activity is available via for example, attendance registers and completed assessments.
The FPI Board approved these amendments on 24 of August 2022 following commentary by FPI professional members and FPI stakeholders. The new CPD requirements will be amended retroactively to be applicable to the current FPI CPD cycle (1 June 2022 to 31 May 2023).
For more information on these amendments, contact certification@fpi.co.za.
Should you wish to apply for FPI Professional Membership, please visit www.fpi.co.za or alternatively contact membershio@fpi.co.za
Nici Macdonald, CFP® FPSA®
HOD: Certification and Standards
By the Financial Planning Institute of Southern Africa
