Advanced Wealth Management

The Advanced Wealth Management course has been introduced, with technical support from the Securities Institute, Australia, a pioneer in the area of financial counselling and advising, to create a cadre of financial advisors in the financial sector.

OBJECTIVES:

This course covers the entire spectrum of financial services/ products from banking, insurance, pension fund, mutual fund, derivatives, debt market to micro credit. This comprehensive course aims as under:

• To create a cadre of competent practitioners of financial advisors/ counselors in the country.
• To provide candidates with competencies required to act as an Independent Financial Advisor.
• To enable candidates to possess the needed skills and knowledge to understand clients’ needs attitudes and fears.
• To enable candidates to design appropriate finance planning strategies suitable to individual clients.
• To enable candidates to meet the client’s wealth creation and wealth protection needs.
• To enable candidates to attain high ethical and professional standards.

FOR WHOM :

• Bank Employees
• Insurance Professionals
• People intending to be Financial Counsellors/ Advisors/ Planners

ELIGIBILITY :

• Members and Non-Members of the Institute
• Graduate in any discipline

SUBJECTS OF EXAMINATION :

• Introduction to Financial Planning
• Risk Analysis, Insurance and Retirement Planning
• Investment Planning, Tax Planning and Estate Planning

PASSING CRITERIA :

• Minimum marks for pass in the subject is 50 out of 100.
• Candidates securing at least 45 marks in each subject with an aggregate of 50% marks in all subjects of examination in a single attempt will also be declared as having completed the Examination.
• Candidates will be allowed to retain credits for the subject they have passed in a attempt till the expiry of the time limit.

MEDIUM OF EXAMINATION:

Examination will be conducted in English only

PATTERN OF EXAMINATION:

• Question Paper will contain 120 objective type multiple choice questions for 100 marks including questions based on case studies/ case lets. The Institute may however vary the number of questions to be asked for a subject
• The examination will be held in Online Mode only
• There will NOT be negative marking for wrong answers.

DURATION OF EXAMINATION:

The duration of the examination will be of 2 hours.

SYLLABUS:

SUBJECT 1: INTRODUCTION TO FINANCIAL PLANNING

CHAPTER 1: INDIAN ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT

Introduction to Economics and Indian economy

• What is economics?
• Objectives of economic policies
• Indian economy today
• Economic growth & national income
• Inflation
• Role of money in inflation, Money Multiplier
• business cycles
• international trade and balance of payment
• Economic policies and tools
• monetary policy
• fiscal policy
• Economic indicators and value of investment
• Media and information sources
• the financial press
• research papers
• company reports
• official sources of data as per economic calendar

CHAPTER 2: OVERVIEW OF INDIAN FINANCIAL MARKETS

Basic concepts

• Money
• Financial assets
• Securities
• Debt securities
• Equity
• Risk
• Primary and secondary markets
• The Financial System
• Economy and financial system
• Functions of the financial system
• Facets of Market Malpractices and Asset Bubbles
• Types of Financial markets
• The equity market
• The debt market
• The foreign exchange market
• The Money market
• The Derivative market
• Insurance and Mutual Funds
• Features of Financial markets
• Primary and secondary markets
• What makes a market tick?
• How securities are bought and sold?
• Investing in securities and financial markets
• Impact of globalization of financial markets
• The flow of funds
• Intermediation
• Disintermediation

CHAPTER 3: PARTICIPANTS, INTERMEDIARIES & REGULATORS OF THE INDIAN FINANCIAL SYSTEM: INSTITUTIONAL & NON-INSTITUTIONAL

Participants in the finance industry

• participants and the flow of funds
• Who is an intermediary?
• Intermediaries and financial markets
• role of Intermediaries
• Intermediaries in the Indian Financial System
• Types of financial services
• retail financial services
• wholesale financial services
• mutual funds

CHAPTER 4: BASICS OF FINANCIAL PLANNING

Introduction

• What is financial planning?
• The importance of risk profiling
• Pre- and post-retirement planning
• Users of financial planning services
• The role of a financial planner
• Who provides financial planning?
• Increasing professionalism of financial planners
• Remuneration
• You and your client
• You and your dealer
• Regulatory controls and practices
• Regulation of the Indian financial system
• Regulatory authorities
• Self-regulatory bodies
• reasonable basis for recommendations
• limited advice
• disclosure requirements
• documentation
• advertising and projections about securities
• A brief overview of advisers.
• Liability
• Basic field audits
• Basic licensing review
• The consumer life cycle
• stages of the life cycle
• non-traditional life cycle stages
• demographic trends underlying the life cycle
• the changing workforce
• variables that influence financial behavior over the life cycle
• Stage by stage analysis
• The wealth cycle
• accumulation
• preservation
• distribution

CHAPTER 5: THE FINANCIAL PLANNING PROCESS

• Various views of financial planning
• The evolution of financial planning as a profession
• Good practices in financial planning
• Content of a comprehensive financial plan
• Appendix: Preparing financial statements

CHAPTER 6: TOWARDS A FINANCIAL PLAN

Working with clients

• the client introduction
• the financial services guide

Gathering initial information from the client

• data collection

Additional information

• Financial goals
• Assessing risk tolerance
• Analysis of insurance needs
• Analysis of retirement savings
• Analysis of investment preferences
• The conclusion of the first interview

Meeting the client's objectives

• general requirements
• disclosure
• recommendations

Asset allocation

• Selection of investment and insurance products

Implementation

• The written plan
• Your action plan

Ongoing service

CHAPTER 7: RECOMMENDING FINANCIAL PLANNING STRATEGIES TO INVESTORS

• Financial planning strategies - investing for the long term
• Asset allocation - the strategic tool
• Comparison of products

CHAPTER 8: EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION IN FINANCIAL COUNSELLING

Introduction

Three types of structured communication

• Interviewing
• Counseling
• Advising

Essentials in financial counseling

• Structure
• Rapport
• Recognizing resistance
• Common areas of resistance

Profile of the effective counselor

• Unconditional positive regard
• Accurate empathy
• Genuineness
• Self-awareness

Elements of non-verbal behaviors

• the body
• the voice
• interpreting the meaning of non-verbal behaviors

Attending and listening skills

• Physical attending
• Active listening
• Responding during active listening

Counselor leading responses

The questioning process of a Financial Counseling

SUBJECT 2: RISK ANALYSIS, INSURANCE AND RETIREMENT PLANNING

CHAPTER 1: BASIC CONCEPTS OF INSURANCE AND RISK MANAGEMENT

• The Concept of insurance
• The asset
• The risk
• The Fundamental Principles of Insurance

CHAPTER 2: INSURANCE ORGANISATION STRUCTURE AND FUNCTIONS

• Background
• Actuary
• Underwriting
• Policy Owner Services
• Claim Administration
• Marketing
• Investment
• Accounting
• Information Systems
• Legal & Compliance
• Distribution Channels
• Agents
• Insurance Brokers
• Insurance Consultants
• Banking outlets
• Direct marketing
• New Product Creation

CHAPTER 3: REGULATIONS AND LEGISLATIONS APPLICABLE TO INSURANCE

• The rationale and scope for insurance legislation
• History of Insurance Regulation in India
• Regulations relating to Insurance:
• The Insurance Act, 1938
• LIC Act, 1956
• Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority Act, 1999
• Consumer Protection Act, 1986
• Ombudsman Scheme (Redressal of Public Grievances Rules, 1998)
• Income-tax Act, 1961

CHAPTER 4: LIFE INSURANCE: ANALYSIS OF LIFE COVER, STRATEGIES AND PRODUCTS

• Life Insurance and general insurance
• Pricing and structure of a life insurance policy
• Mortality and interest
• Expenses and contingencies
• Types of Insurance
• Term insurance
• Whole life insurance
• Endowment insurance
• Annuities
• With and without profit policies
• Distribution of surplus as bonus
• Unit linked policies
• Life Insurance policies – some standard provisions
• Riders
• Health insurance as riders
• Free look provision
• Grace period
• Claim concession
• Lapses, non-forfeiture provisions and surrender
• Loans
• Revival. Assignment and nomination
• Suicide clause
• Claims
• Premium calculation – some points and exercises

CHAPTER 5: GENERAL INSURANCE AND ITS PRACTICE IN INDIA

• General insurance
• The concept of Rating
• Important factors in rating
• Pure and market rate
• Risk assessment and rating
• A note on reinsurance
• Probability
• Tariff Advisory Committee

CHAPTER 6: LIFE CYCLE ANALYSIS, RETIREMENT NEEDS AND FACTORS IN PLANNING

CHAPTER 7: RETIREMENT PLANNING PROCESS

CHAPTER 8: EMPLOYEE BENEFITS AND SUPER ANNUATION

CHAPTER 9: PENSION PRODUCTS

CHAPTER 10: REGULATORY FRAMEWORK OF RETIREMENT PLANS

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SUBJECT 3: INVESTMENT PLANNING, TAX PLANNING AND ESTATE PLANNING

CHAPTER 1: INVESTMENT CONCEPTS, ASSET CLASSES AND INVESTMENT PRODUCTS

Investment concepts

• Investment styles
• Speculation
• Gambling
• Shorting
• Trading
• Hedging
• Diversification
• Immunization
• Arbitrage
• Leveraging
• Margin trading
• Ethical investment

Asset classes

• Financial asset classes
• Physical asset classes
• Financial investment products
• Equity shares
• Preference shares
• Debentures
• Fixed deposits
• Savings bonds
• National savings certificate
• Mutual funds
• Derivatives

Money market products

• Commercial paper and certificates of deposit
• Ready forward contracts or repos
• Bond market indices and benchmarks
• Secondary markets and trading in government securities
• Regulatory and procedural aspects
• Bond valuation
• The yield curve
• Duration

Securities markets

Depository & Investment process

Fixed income derivatives

CHAPTER 2: INVESTMENT PLANNING, MEASURING AND ANALYSIS OF RETURNS

• Statistical and mathematical tools
• Risk and return
• Portfolio riskv
• Portfolio analysis & selection models
• Introduction to efficient market hypothesis

CHAPTER 3: INVESTMENT STRATEGIES AND PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT

Investment decision making process

• What is investment?
• Measuring return and risk
• The other aspect - Understanding investor's needs
• Stating investment policy
• Investment portfolio management process
• Investment avenues

Introduction to fundamental and technical analysis

• Basic philosophies and underlying assumptions
• Advantages and disadvantages of each methodology
• Concept of intrinsic value
• top down versus bottom up approach to fundamental analysis

Economic analysis

Industry analysis

Company analysis

• analysis of management
• analysis of competitive advantage and competitive strategies of a company
• analysis of company on the key success factors for the industry
• financial analysis

CHAPTER 4: REGULATORY AND PROCEDURAL ASPECTS OF FINANCIAL PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

• Regulation of Derivatives
• Regulation of Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs)
• Regulation of Collective Investment Schemes
• Grievance Redressal Mechanisms in the capital market
• Regulatory framework
• Corporate Governance
• Market Malpractices and Asset Bubbles

CHAPTER 5: TAXATION ASPECTS OF WEALTH

• Principles of taxation
• Components of tax liability
• Some other principles of taxation
• Taxation of direct investments
• Taxation of pooled (managed) investments
• Self-assessment, returns and payment of income-tax
• Taxation of perquisites and fringe benefits
• Capital gains tax
• Tax avoidance versus tax evasion
• Gearing and debt management
• Borrowing v. Repayment of existing loans
• Case studies using negative gearing
• Other forms of gearing

CHAPTER 6: ESTATE PLANNING PROCESS AND STRATEGIES

• What is a will?
• Administration of an estate
• How else may assets pass?
• Dwelling house
• Tax planning through wills and trusts
• Taxation of terminal benefits
• Regulatory Framework of Estate Planning

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