aus2be

Hi,

I was wandering if there any Financial Advisers lurking around this forum?
I ask as my wife and I hope to move across to Perth next year on a Skilled Permanent Visa. We will go under my wife's career as a Child Care Coordinator as this is on the Occupation on Demand List (passed TRA & Visa lodged this week).
I have been a self-employed IFA here in the UK for the past 3 years and I would like, if possible, to continue to do this in Perth (or surrounding area). Have any Financial Advisers moved across to Oz and if so, I would be grateful if they could recount their tales of finding employment?
How did they find employment?
What is the typical salary?
Comparison between UK and Australian advisory market?

Thanks in advance for any help and advice given.

Regards,
Darren

Becky723359

Can I latch onto to this also please?

What qualifications will we have to do and can we do them in UK before going out to Oz?
How much are they?
What are they like compared to Cemap (mortgages only for me) exams?

Becky

aus2be

Good questions Becky. Looking forward to any answers provided

Regards,
Darren

GinaUK

You can do the qualifications by distance learning before you leave the UK. There are lots of different providers and the costs vary. Here is one link to one of the distance learning providers:
http://www.pinnacle.edu.au/

If you go to www.google.com.au and put in PS146 or "financial advisor"+qualification, you'll get loads of hits.

Gina
(not a financial advisor)

Becky723359

Just found a website that offers online course and exam and you can even do practice exams.
Website is http://www.kaplan.edu.au/
How exciting

I've just had a shot got 50% need 75% to pass not bad though but I'll def need to do some revising!

Becky

platapus

Hi my husband is an IFA.We are going over on Business visa 163 & he is setting up his own IFA business,as he has one here.

He is doing his "retraining" with Kaplan.He had had the course material sent over & he can do it from here before we go.

If you need any info on Kaplan let us know,we will try & help.

Clare

SKIPPI79

hahaha, don't do anything with finance, and just got 60%.
should i be looking for a career change???
lol

Becky723359

Skippi,

Your as sad as me

Doing an mortgage exam just for fun and you don't work in industry?
I don't know naf all about Oz market place and Career change been working on that one mate.

Becky

SKIPPI79

I know Becky, how sad can some people get
The best thing about it all is that I have a bloody sandwichbar

Becky723359

hmm subway......sorry off topic.

SKIPPI79

No, were a lot nicer, everythings fresly made nothing comes in plastic wrapped.
Sounds nice, but after some time you can't see another roll, haven't eaten one for ages!!!!!
Sorry people, back to the topic.
I'm leading at the moment

Skippi - 60%
Becky - 50%

Anyone else???
& No cheating

aus2be

Hi Clare,

Did your husband go for Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) for any existing qualifications here in the UK? I have full FPC (1,2 & 3) and also Securities (Unit 2) and Financial Regulation (Unit 1) from the Securities & Investment Institute (SII) and I was wondering how far these would go towards the Diploma of Financial Services in Australia? If he has I would appreciate any advice you can give on how it did this and what the outcome was?

Kind regards,
Darren

aus2be

I had a quick run through on "Practice entry Level Competencies & PS146 Generic Financial Planning 2007".

Result = 65%.

Fell down on Superannuation. Not surprising as this is one area I do not concentrate on in the UK.

Looks like I do need to study

Darren

platapus

Hi Darren

I have copied you some correspondence I received when enquiring about RPL. Having gone onto the Kaplan website ( www.kaplan.edu.au ) I would agree with them about it being advisable to do the re-training as whilst the products are the same the tax treatments and terminologies differ. I got about 40% in the mock exams!!

I have enrolled on the distance learning course for the Diploma in Financial Services, which I would say is slightly more in depth than FPC but not upto AFPC level. I hope the following is of use. Apologies for it being a long winded reply, but the letter I received is probably more use than me going on.

Regards

Phill ( Clare's husband )

Suggested reply to overseas students enquiring about working here in Australia

We are sometimes asked by people with foreign qualifications about the requirements for becoming a Financial Advisor in Australia. (To help find the information I have embedded several links into this explanation.)




To operate in Australia as a financial planner giving retail advice and selling financial products you must comply with the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) Policy Statement 146. There is some information about foreign qualifications in Paragraph [146.67] on page 22, and the knowledge requirements are listed in Appendix A which starts on page 33. In regard to the foreign qualifications you will see that ASIC says people with overseas qualifications will need to undertake some training in Australian conditions to be able to advise in Australia.

ASIC also states in paragraph [146.67] that overseas qualifications can be verified by Australian Education International-National Office of Overseas Skills Recognition (AEI-NOOSR), this process can take some time and you will receive a letter from them telling you that your qualification is at an equivalent standard under the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF). A recent example was a student who had a South African Commerce Degree; the AEI-NOOSR reply confirmed that the South African Degree was at Degree standard here in Australia. To become PS146 compliant an advisor must complete training that is listed on the ASIC Register of Training and as most overseas degrees are not on the register, writing to AEI-NOOSR does not help in becoming PS 146 compliant.

If a person has been in the Industry for more than 5 years in the last 8 even if those years were not in Australia, they are able to undertake an assessment without doing a course. However, most people would find the assessment difficult as although many of the products are the same, the legislation and tax environment are very different in Australia. If you would like to check your knowledge you can do a practice exam on our web site. (There is a button on the right hand side of the screen “Login – Practice Exam”). The assessment without doing a course is called the Tribeca PS146 assessment and Gap training, at the bottom of the page attached to this link you can click the link to the brochure and the gap training order form. The topics covered by each exam are listed in the brochure and the booking form for the exam is on the last page.

I think the best option for most students from overseas would be to do the training courses. The Diploma of Financial Services (Financial Planning) can be completed before coming to Australia by enrolling in our 4 courses as a distance education student; we can also arrange the completion of exams in many countries around the world. This diploma will allow you to advise and sell in all areas except Foreign Exchange and General Insurance Broking.

In addition to the training advisors will also need to complete a Skills Assessment. Read through the instructions for the student and the instructions for the assessor so you know exactly what is expected of you. If you have a ‘Voice Over Internet’ facility such as “Skype” on your computer we could conduct the skills assessment before you come to Australia if you wish, it only takes about an hour to complete.

Give me a call or drop me a line if any of these links don't work or you have more questions.

John Hudson

Quality & Workplace Assessments Manager
Tribeca (Aust.) Pty Limited
Level 11, Comalco Place
12 Creek Street,
(GPO Box 2052)
Brisbane, Qld. 4000
Ph: 07 3018 0811
Mob: 0438 831 650
Fax: 07 3229 9261
www.tribeca.com.au

aus2be

Phil,

Thanks very much for the very detailed reply. I will contact Kaplan with a view to enrolling in the same course. I think it would be good to be able to hit the ground running (well after a month or so of arriving ) once I arrive in Oz.

When are you hoping to move and what area? We are going to Perth hopefully around April - May '08.

Regards,
Darren