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This qualification is suitable for individuals who are working in or who wish to enter the financial services industry. It is an appropriate qualification for those seeking to advance to specialist roles and/or enhance their skills and knowledge within retail and personal services areas of the financial services industry.

The Financial Advice strand is of particular relevance to those seeking to provide personalised financial advice. Graduates will be capable of self-management in roles in: Financial Advice; Investment; Life and Health Insurance; General Insurance or Residential Property Lending

What you will learn

Once you have completed the certificate you will be able to demonstrate the knowledge and application of:

• professional practice, requirements of regulations, professional practice standards and operational guidelines as a financial adviser
• an understanding of the stages of financial advice and products
• an understanding of the relationships between economic environments and the financial market
• the steps in giving financial advice.

In addition, depending on which elective set you study, you will be able to demonstrate competence in:

• the principles of investment, investment risk and return, investment products and investment advice, OR
• the principles of risk, risk management and underwriting, and specialist knowledge in at least one area of insurance, OR
• the principles of lending, home loan products, the loan application process, and external factors that impact on the residential property market.

Employment pathways

Graduates may be qualified to work within specialisations such as

• Financial Advice strand: Financial Advisers (particularly those seeking to become Authorised Financial Advisers, for whom this strand is a regulatory requirement)
• Investment strand: paraplanning, investment/adviser support, custody officer, financial services regulator, investment product managers, business development managers
• Life and Health Insurance strand: senior underwriter, accounts manager (customer/client), product specialist, claims specialist, senior risk advisor, risk advisor, branch manager, domestic broker, senior broker, broker
• General Insurance strand: senior underwriter, accounts manager (customer/client), product specialist, claims specialist, senior risk advisor, risk advisor, branch manager, domestic broker, senior broker, broker
• Residential Property Lending strand: credit managers, private bankers, mortgage brokers and financial advisers
• Personal Lending strand: bank lending consultants, credit managers
• Banking strand: branch managers (retail), relationship managers (small business and wholesale inclusive), senior relationship managers (small business and wholesale inclusive), investment specialists, branch managers, associate private bankers, private bankers , risk and compliance managers
• Trustee Services strand: branch managers, relationship managers, senior relationship managers, investment specialists, regional managers, operations manager, authorised financial advisers, senior trust officer, senior trust manager, risk and compliance managers.

Academic pathways

This qualification may follow on from the New Zealand Certificate in Financial Services (Level 4) with strands in Banking, Family/Personal Budgeting, and Insurance, but that qualification is not a prerequisite for entry into this one. On completion of this qualification graduates may progress onto higher level qualifications in financial services.

Graduates may also choose to progress onto higher level Open Polytechnic qualifications, including:

• Bachelor of Applied Management
• Bachelor of Business