TORONTO-BASED CSI GLOBAL Education Inc. (CSI) has launched a new certificate in advanced mutual funds advice, known as the CMFA, in hopes of raising the bar in proficiency in the mutual fund advisory business.

“There is a general trend,” says Marshall Beyer, vice president with CSI, “of suitability and proficiency standards rising for advisors. In the mutual fund world, the standards have remained the same, while other industries have taken standards to a new level.”

Compared with the Invest-ment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) sector, according to Beyer, mutual fund advisors are not held to as high a standard of proficiency.

IIROC advisors must complete a number of courses, including the Canadian securities course, the Conduct and Practices Handbook course and a wealth-management essentials course.

“When we went out to the industry to hear what we should include in the [CMFA] course,” Beyer says, “we were hearing that the mutual fund advisors feel they may not get the same degree of business support as the IIROC-level advisors. They tend to be a little more on their own when building their businesses, so we wanted to provide them with enhanced practice-management content.”

The CMFA is not a designation; rather, it’s a certificate program. The course has been designed to act as a pathway toward the certified financial planner or personal financial planner designations. The CMFA also can be used as a credit toward IIROC’s basic licensing requirements.

The CMFA certificate consists of three courses: a mutual fund licensing course and two online courses (Fundamentals of Financial Planning, and Building a Mutual Funds Advisory Practice). Both online courses are offered through the CSI; prices range from $500 to $660.

Adds Beyer: “Mutual fund advisors will now be able to integrate more of a financial planning approach into the product knowledge than they get within the basic licensing course.”

The CMFA program will provide advisors with the knowledge needed to perform advanced mutual fund analysis, as well as product knowledge that goes beyond mutual funds.

“This will allow the advisor to remain competitive,” Beyer says, “by being able to refer clients – within regulatory parameters – to other [sources for] products their clients may be inquiring about.”

For example, the CFMA program includes information on exchange-traded funds, which will give advisors the ability to discuss these products and refer clients to advisors who are licensed to sell them.

A number of mutual fund advisors already have completed the first two requirements in the CMFA program, and enrolment for the Building a Mutual Funds Advisory Practice course began on Jan. 30.

When choosing an education program, says Joanne De Laurentiis, president and CEO of the Investment Funds Institute of Canada in Toronto, advisors always should consider industry standards, the reputation of the issuing organization and whether a program is recognized by industry participants and clients.

“We encourage advisors to develop their knowledge continually,” De Laurentiis says. “Both education and experience are required to develop competency and skill.”

Beyer believes interest in the CMFA course is being driven by mutual fund advisors’ desire to differentiate their practices from those of other mutual fund advisors and IIROC advisors.

Says Beyer: “That [differentiation] is what will allow advisors to advance their careers.”

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