CPD Policy
ARC Assets Pty Ltd
ABN 38 675 134 148
AFSL No. 556732
We, us, our
Overview
Continuing Professional Development, CPD, encompasses the wide variety of learning activities undertaken by professionals on an ongoing basis to maintain their technical knowledge and skills and to continually develop such competencies in existing and emerging areas.
We consider CPD and the quality of advice and services to be directly correlated. For this reason, CPD plays an important part in our advisers’ professional and personal development within our business.
We are required to have a CPD policy which sets out our processes for ensuring our financial advisers undertake CPD required to comply with the CPD legislative framework and ensure they are providing services to a competent and professional standard.
This policy is published on our website and is also available internally to all staff.
What is the legislative framework?
CPD requirements for advisers are prescribed by the Corporations Act and the Corporations, Relevant Providers Continuing Professional Development Standard, Determination 2018, and the Corporations, Relevant Providers Education and Training Standards, Determination 2021, Tax Financial Advice Determination.
Advisers are required to undertake CPD every CPD year to improve their knowledge and competencies within broader CPD categories. A minimum number of hours must be completed in each CPD category, and the total CPD must meet the minimum hour requirements for each CPD year.
Our CPD year is a calendar year.
The CPD categories and respective minimum hours are:
Technical Competence
Minimum hours: 5
Client Care and Practice
Minimum hours: 5
Regulatory Compliance and Consumer Protection
Minimum hours: 5
Professionalism and Ethics
Minimum hours: 9
General
Minimum hours: as required to meet total hours
CPD hour requirements
Full-time advisers are required to complete at least 40 hours of qualifying CPD each CPD year and meet the minimum hour requirements in each CPD category.
Part-time advisers may apply to reduce their CPD requirement to 36 hours of qualifying CPD. This reduction is subject to our written approval and will only be granted if we are reasonably satisfied that the reduced load will not compromise the adviser’s skills and competence.
What comprises qualifying CPD?
What comprises qualifying CPD is set out in the Determination.
Qualifying CPD must:
• be based on content relevant to a CPD category
• have sufficient intellectual or practical content
• primarily deal with matters related to the provision of financial product advice, financial advice services, and financial advice businesses
• be conducted by one or more persons with appropriate standing, expertise, academic qualifications, or practical experience
• be designed to enhance advisers’ knowledge and skills relevant to the provision of financial product advice and financial advice services
Approval of CPD
Seventy per cent of the qualifying CPD undertaken by our advisers must be approved by us.
Qualifying CPD will usually take the form of courses, presentations, or other educational material that meets the criteria above. It may also include professional or technical reading, to a maximum of 4 hours, and formal education, to a maximum of 30 hours.
Advisers authorised to provide tax, financial, advice must also meet the tax-specific CPD requirements set out in the Tax Financial Advice Determination.
Advisers registered with the Tax Practitioners Board as a tax agent must also meet the continuing professional education requirements of the TPB.
How we ensure compliance
It is our responsibility to promote a culture of professional learning and development.
Our role in ensuring advisers comply with CPD obligations includes the following components.
Approving CPD
We are responsible for approving activities as qualifying CPD. We ensure the activity meets the required standards and may approve CPD for part of an activity where only a portion meets the criteria. We maintain a register of approved CPD activities and the time that may be attributed to each activity.
Qualifying CPD may include seminars, presentations, internal or external training, online education courses, conferences, and reading material. We approve a sufficient range of activities to allow advisers to meet their CPD obligations.
Training plans
Training plans identify areas for improvement in competence, knowledge, and skills, and outline the qualifying CPD activities an adviser will complete during the CPD year. We work with advisers to formulate training plans aligned with business objectives. Training plans are not approved unless the adviser is returning from a career break.
Supervision
We monitor adviser progress throughout the CPD year through regular check-ins or reminders. Advisers must promptly update the training register when CPD activities are completed.
Compliance with training plans
Compliance with training plans is a key performance indicator. Failure to comply may affect performance outcomes and may result in restrictions or revocation of authority to provide financial advice. We will also meet our legal reporting obligations, including reporting to ASIC where required.
Career breaks
Advisers returning after a continuous absence of at least two years must have a training plan approved before resuming practice. Approval is at our discretion and requires assurance that the plan addresses all gaps in competence, knowledge, and skills arising from the absence.
Training records
Advisers must retain records of qualifying CPD and provide them to us promptly.
Completion of CPD is recorded in the training register, which we maintain. Records are retained for seven years or as otherwise required under our document retention procedures.
Monitoring and review
We continually monitor the effectiveness of this policy and may amend it from time to time by publishing updates on our website.