Financial advisers who are thinking about completing the mandatory exam set by the Financial Adviser Standards and Ethics Authority (FASEA) have been cautioned to wait and complete bridging courses first to get a better understanding of what will be required to pass the exam, according to a financial services academic.
Deakin University Business School associate professor Adrian Raftery said while it was too late to get into the first round of exams scheduled to take place later this month, advisers should consider waiting until the end of the year or early next year before undertaking the exam.
“My advice is that you get involved in the exam process. I would not suggest sitting the exam in September, but encourage people to wait until December or February, in terms of the sittings, before doing the exam,” Raftery said during a webinar today covering the FASEA code of ethics.
He said the reading list and curriculum for the exam were broad and advisers needed to have a good look at the reading list to understand the scope of the exam before enrolling in it.
“In relation to the curriculum, hidden in there is stuff that goes beyond the FASEA code of ethics and touches on the Tax Practitioners Board code of ethics, and there are issues related to judgments and behavioural bias, so there is some behavioural finance and tax in there as well,” he said.
“There are 11 core knowledge areas for this exam and if you look at the detail in the reading list and curriculum, it goes way beyond the three competency areas [of regulation, advice construction and ethics].
“The reason I recommended waiting is because there is so much to prepare for and you don’t want to be the guinea pig, but instead spend the time and process it, and I think a bridging course will be better preparation.”
He also called on FASEA to approve bridging courses, adding he had been told by the body that courses should be approved in the coming weeks.
As part of its most recent roadshow, the Association of Financial Advisers (AFA) also cautioned its members not to rush into the exam, pointing out the range of education materials they need to comply with FASEA standards had not yet been released.
AFA policy and professionalism general manager Phil Anderson pointed out any adviser undertaking the exam in the coming weeks would be tested on the code of ethics and code monitoring subjects despite finalised materials not having been released on those areas.
