Make the differentiation

1 February 2010 8:00 am

Continuing professional development - or CPD - seems to be the hot topic of the moment and is a major part of the retail distribution review.

For many people, the letters seem to mean nothing more than “Constant Proof of Doom” or “Clear Path to Destruction”, judging by many of the whingey comments I have heard lately.

But successful professionals in many sectors have long realised the importance of gaining new knowledge, improved skills and developing personal qualities through CPD and most now consider it part of any good professional practice.

As in any walk of life, financial planners will have to adapt to changes in world circumstances, economic conditions and regulatory requirements. Those that can adapt will stay strong and survive, those that cannot will wither and die. CPD is designed to develop expertise within an individual role, and help to maintain that special edge throughout a professional’s career. It is also a clear indicator to clients that they are working with a planner who is committed to maintaining the highest professional standards.

CPD is just the acquisition or improvement of knowledge, experience, skills, and the development of personal qualities that we would expect to see in daily life, but organised in a more formal and structured way. Therefore, we have nothing to fear from CPD and should be positive about embracing any changes that have a positive effect on our individual futures and on the professional as a whole.

From a client perspective, well qualified, up-to-date planners are likely to be a position to do a much better job for them. They may see CPD as standing for “Clever People Delivering” a great service or planners providing a “Clear Picture of their Destiny” and “Creating Positive Direction”, which is what we do.

If clients are certain of this, they will always be beating a path to the door of the most up-to-speed professionals.

Interestingly, a lot of the new issues that we will have to get to grips with have not been formally tested in the past. The FSA will certainly want to know that all people offering advice to the public are at least familiar with subjects such as exchange traded funds and ethics in the post-RDR world, as these issues will have a fundamental effect on the advice we give to clients and the way this advice is delivered.

It seems to me that a proper CPD programme always make good sense commercially. If a business has a robust plan and effective monitoring, it does not need to worry too much about whether its planners are sufficiently well qualified to deal with specific client situations.

This can save a great deal of time, ensure the right people are deployed effectively and ultimately make a huge contribution to the bottom line.
So for me, I intend to think of CPD standing for “Commitment to Personal Differentiation” and once I have acquired all the necessary points, it will definitely stand for “Continual Partying and Dancing!”

Julie Lord is a CFP and chartered financial planner at Bluefin Wealth Management

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