Advisers have 38 days to make assessment reservations
ETITO has given advisers a wake-up call today announcing that 29 October is the date by which advisers must be registered with ETITO, with examination and assessment reservations made for Standard Sets B and C if they are to be authorised by 01 July 2011.
Wednesday, September 22nd 2010, 1:37PM 
5 Comments
by Jenha White
ETITO manager of corporate relations and strategy Michael Frampton says otherwise ETITO cannot guarantee access to examinations and assessment in time for the authorisation deadline.
Advisers can start preparing themselves for examinations and assessments once they have booked them in for the period between 29 October 2010 and March 2011.
This gives advisers 38 days to take the required action, otherwise come July next year financial advisory businesses may not be able to operate under the new regime.
ETITO is required to examine Standard Set B and assess Standard Set C as these are capstone standard sets within the National Certificate in Financial Services [Financial Advice] [Level 5].
The Securities Commission has also made it clear that all financial advisers must have applied for authorisation by 31 March 2011 in order for their application for authorisation to be processed before 01 July 2011.
Frampton says it is difficult to quantify just how many financial advisers will be seeking authorisation but the general consensus is that there are potentially between 5,000 and 7,500 individuals.
At midday yesterday, just 1,843 advisers had registered with ETITO, and of these, 1,452 advisers had activated their registrations.
Only 178 advisers have made an assessment reservation for a Standard Set B examination and even fewer - just 40 - have registered for assessment against the requirements of Standard Set C.
To date, ETITO has been advised that there are an estimated 4,600 advisers enrolled with registered and accredited training providers for courses of training and education to the National Certificate programme.
Frampton says he is concerned that a very real risk exists for financial advisers who have yet to fully engage in preparation for the competence assessment process.
He says ETITO has been focused on building and making capacity available for the demand.
"However, it is clear to us that as each week passes and the system is underutilised, capacity is being lost that cannot be replaced."
He says if the system is fully utilised from October 2010, there is sufficient capacity for the demand ETITO estimates.
Effective from 01 October, there will be capacity for 1,600 Standard Set B examinations each month and capacity for 430 examinations for Standard Sets A, D and E has been available, but underutilised, for some months.
In addition, a team of trained assessors has been available since August, ready to conduct assessment of Standard Set C. However, they have not been utilised.
"If these assessors are not fully utilised from October 2010, the expected volumes of assessment will cascade into April, May and June and this will pose real risks for advisers who wish to be authorised in time," says Frampton.
"ETITO urges advisers to act now. In addition to the imperatives that I have outlined, immediate action is indicated because advisers need to factor in the possibility that they may need to re-sit examinations or assessment."
Frampton also acknowledges the uncertainty that has prevailed around the requirements of regulation and the impact that this may have had on advisers.
He says some have taken the view that they will wait until full clarity prevails before proceeding and yesterday's approval of the Code by the Minister provides just that clarity for a large number of advisers, giving no further reason or excuse for delay.
Jenha is a TPL staff reporter. jenha@tarawera.co.nz
| « Voluntary authorisation allowed | Industry delighted with voluntary authorisation » |
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Comments from our readers
On the issue of cost of the 3,300 advisers who have previously registered for courses (and then held off wisely till the Government made up its mind) I wonder how many are now thinking twice about going through with their training? The average consumer is never going to see the value in dealing with an insurance adviser or mortgage broker who is authorised Vs being registered.
Bank staff who assist customers with mortgages and insurance are not being required by the Government to become authorised so why would a mortgage broker put him/herself through regulation?
Bottom line this has all come down to money folks. Regulation was touted originally as being what was best for the consumer but it became twisted into nothing more than a money making venture from various organisations like the ETITO and thankfully the Government saw through this farce in making the decision that insurance advisers and mortgage brokers did not have to become authorised.
Average cost to go through regulation for a mortgage broker/insurance adviser was about $6,000 so do the math....$6,000 × 3,300 advisers =????
Of course Frampton is happy that brokers can voluntarily become authorised but I seriously doubt many will actually go ahead now with their training.
Don’t be a sheep and line an organisation’s pocket just to keep them in existence and fuel another bureaucracy! Spend your money instead on looking after your clients and their financial needs. That’s what we are supposed to be in this industry for in first place.
Also, they have a bug in the system and you have to make sure that the system doesn't redirect you away from the https page, so you have to manually put the s in the address if it has, otherwise it will give you an error.
BTW the user name was a shot straight back at the last sentence of the article above!
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I read the Candidate booklet, saw the fees. Got back on my chair. Wiped my eyes. Looked again.
Righto, so HAVE TO BOOK. By 29 October. Let's see what dates are available and start planning. Forget being done with set B by mid 2011. The ONLY date available for Set B on the ETITO Booking System in Palmerston North (At DIVE HQ?? of all places) is on the 3rd of November. Methinks that if the ETITO, with their monopoly, and massive fees is going to bully 'Candidates' into making a booking by 29 October, then to have the only assessment date just 6 days after their deadline seems insane.
BTW. New Plymouth the only date IS OCTOBER 29!!!
WTF? Surely more dates are being organized, but I am absolutely stunned that Frampton would release a media statement like this, when the dates are not yet locked into the booking system.
And so I will remain, for now, in the clear majority - those who have not booked. Frampton can be as concerned as he pleases about the lack of takeup, and the comcom can be as clear as they like about what has to happen by when.
I am concerned. About the whole implementation of this, and the sheer cost. Also the confusing layout and text on ETITO's own site: It's not easy figuring out what I need to do, the cost, and what I don't need to do through them (Open Polytech covers stage 1 of A, D and E. I think).
And let me also be clear. Maybe the majority have not booked yet, because they are still waiting for things to be organised. Until last week the Power's that be (pun intended) had not finished their bit. And the ETITO still haven't got fully organised either. Theres a 'reason' for you Mike. What's your excuse?