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Resources & FAQs

RESOURCES & FAQS

General FAQs

To offer financial planning a business must either hold an Australian Financial Services License (AFSL) or be authorised by an AFSL to offer financial planning services. Both large and small businesses offer the opportunity to become an employed financial adviser. Of course, you may also want to one day get your own AFSL and become what is known as self-licensed … and employ financial planners to work in your business.

There are many places to look but a good start is Striver and the FAAA Careers Centre. You can also try LinkedIn and SEEK.

We think so. There is currently a shortage of financial advisers in Australia, so much so, that the role is listed as being in “skills shortage” by the Government.

Anyone with the drive and passion and who wants to give great advice to help more Australians build a better financial future. Financial planning suits career changers as well as those who are recently out of university and wanting to work in financial services.

Please see the Advice Academy “Roles in financial advice” page for more details.

Please see the Advice Academy “Studying financial advice” page for more details. For a full list of all approved degrees please visit Corporations (Relevant Providers Degrees, Qualifications and Courses Standard) Determination 2021.

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Mentoring FAQs

There is no requirement to engage an external mentor, but the Advice Academy sees it as beneficial as a good external mentor can:

  • Accelerate your development – either personally or professionally or both.
  • Help build your network of financial services contacts.
  • Expose you to different ideas and ways of thinking.
  • Provide you with personalised guidance (from someone outside of your organisation).
  • Be a great source of feedback and can provide you with support and encouragement.

The small fee charged to the mentee covers the operational and administrative costs of the external mentoring platform.

No. If you wish to share the details of your mentor or mentoring sessions, that is up to you.

Anyone with the right attributes and attitude can be an Advice Academy mentor.

If mentoring a PY candidate it is beneficial to have been an adviser yourself at some point as most likely they will have technical questions about clients and/or giving advice.

On the other hand, PY Supervisor mentors can be anyone with 10+ years experience in financial services.

The Advice Academy aims to provide mentees with a diverse range of mentors to choose from. Preference is given to current FAAA members and those who hold the Certified Financial Planner (CFP©) designation.

No. Having said that, being a mentor can be incredibly rewarding and beneficial in many ways. Here are just a few key benefits:

  1. Make a difference/Give back: Mentoring gives you the opportunity to make a significant positive impact on someone else’s journey to becoming a future adviser.
  2. Networking: Mentoring can expand your professional network, connecting you with people you wouldn’t necessarily come across in your day-to-day role.
  3. Personal Growth: Mentoring allows you to reflect on your own experiences, learn from them and share them with others, which can lead to personal growth and self-discovery. Often the mentor learns just as much from the mentee as the mentee learns from the mentor.
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Structured Learning FAQs

To buy Kaplan structured training modules from the Advice Academy the purchaser must be either a PY Candidates who is an FAAA member or someone who is purchasing the module(s) on behalf of a PY Candidate who is an FAAA member.

Yes, please select the relevant membership category from this become a member page of the FAAA website.

Yes.

Yes, but only if you are purchasing the module(s) on behalf of a PY Candidate who is an FAAA member. If that is not the case, then you will need to purchase the module(s) directly from Kaplan.

No, instead, you will need to purchase the module(s) directly from Kaplan.

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Professional Year FAQs

All new entrants are required to complete a Professional Year program. You are considered a new entrant if you were not registered on the ASIC Financial Adviser Register (FAR) before 1 January 2019 or if you did not have a “current” status on ASIC FAR anytime between 1 January 2016 and 1 January 2019.

Yes, you can start your Professional Year while in the final stages of your approved degree, however you must complete your approved degree before you are eligible to begin the third quarter of your Professional Year.

If you are going to study and start your Professional Year, consider whether you are ready to juggle study and work commitments or if you are better suited to completing your approved degree then focusing 100% on your Professional Year.

You are required to complete the following work activities, under the direct supervision of a Supervisor or other relevant providers nominated by the Supervisor:

Quarter 1: Client observations and supporting PY Supervisor or other relevant provider

  1. Shadow the Supervisor or other relevant providers nominated by the Supervisor in meetings with a range of clients
  2. Complete post-meeting documentation as required and undertake follow up actions
  3. Discuss with the Supervisor appropriate advice strategies suitable to the client’s objectives, financial situations and needs
  4. Actively participate in administration and ‘back office’ activities.

 

Quarter 2: Supervised client engagement and advice preparation

  1. Prepare for client meetings
  2. Conduct meetings with clients
  3. Prepare draft documentation for clients, including;
    • Advice strategies
    • Statements of advice
    each suitable to the client’s objectives, financial situations and needs;
  4. Complete relevant administration and ‘back office’ activities

 

Quarter 3 and 4: Indirect supervision of client engagement and advice preparation

  1. Model strategies and research products to determine suitability to clients’ objectives, financial situations and needs
  2. Determine and prepare appropriate client documentation (such as statements of advice)
  3. Complete relevant administration and ‘back office’ activities, and
  4. Satisfactorily identify and resolve ethical dilemmas.

 

In each quarter, you will be expected to:

  • Complete and maintain your logbook for the quarter.
  • Satisfactorily complete all work activities and structured training set out in the Professional Year Plan for the relevant quarter, and
  • For quarter 3 or 4 – has satisfactorily identified and resolved ethical dilemmas as required by subsection 10(3) of the Corporations (Work and Training Professional Year Standard) Determination 2018.
  • For quarter 4 – has achieved the outcomes and acquired the key competencies, set out in section 6 of the standard.

At least 1,500 work activity hours must be tracked in your logbook and at least 100 structured training hours must be completed as well.

Note: You will need to pass the financial adviser exam before progressing to activities set in quarter 3 and before receiving a final completion certificate your Licensee must have conducted an audit of at least 5 client files on which the person worked on during the Professional Year and be satisfied, having regard to the work done by you on those files, that you can be relied on to comply with applicable legal and regulatory requirements applicable to the provision of personal advice to retail clients in relation to relevant financial products.

Yes. This is predominately because of the timings of the financial adviser exam sittings and then results distribution release dates. The release of your final academic transcript can also prevent you being able to be signed off by your licensee as holding an approved degree. Additionally, sometimes people only work part time and of course people take annual leave and/or sick leave during their Professional Year which will prevent accumulating the required 1500 work activity hours or the 100 hours of structured training.

Yes, however you are still required to complete the 1,600 hour requirement (i.e. minimum 1,500 work activity hours and at least 100 hours of structured training).

A PY Supervisor must have at least 2 years’ experience working as a relevant provider (not counting any period during which the Supervisor was a person undertaking his or her Professional Year).

If you happen to have multiple PY Supervisors be sure to nominate one of them as your “primary” or “main” Supervisor as that way the quarterly certificates can be issued by them. If any of your Supervisors leave your practice (or your primary PY Supervisor goes on leave), be sure to update your Professional Year Plan so it is current at all times.

No, however once you see yourself listed on ASIC’s Financial Adviser Register you can update your job title to “Provisional Financial Adviser” or “Provisional Financial Planner”. The status of “current” on ASIC’s Financial Adviser Register (FAR) is the indication that you can begin quarter 3 of your Professional Year program.

More Professional Year FAQs can be found in the FAAA Member Portal and FAAA members can book a 1-1 conversation about their specific needs.

FAAA members can find more FAQs in the FAAA Portal and can book a 1-1 conversation about their specific needs.

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Sponsorships FAQs

There is a range of packages available at various cost points. Sponsors of the Advice Academy also get additional discounts on certain products from the Academy.

Great! Please see our sponsorships page and send an email to [email protected] and someone from the FAAA will be in touch.

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Advice Academy resources

Questions?

If you have any questions about any of these tools or the requirements of the Work and Training Professional Year Standard please contact [email protected].

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