Leading the way in financial educationThe IfFP Institute for Financial Planning is one of the market leaders in the training and continuing education, further training of financial professionals in Switzerland. Our strength lies in continuing education, further training for advisors with client-oriented tasks at all levels.
Our flagship courses are the IAF Certified Financial Advisor qualification and the VBV Insurance Broker certificate. Both are recognized by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) as educational qualifications for insurance sales. The financial advisor diploma is also recognized as proof of knowledge of the FinSA. The diploma in financial planning with Federal Diploma of Higher Education builds on the diploma in financial adviser IAF.
At the federal diploma level, the courses for SME finance experts with a federal diploma and for financial planning experts with a postgraduate studies CHE are pioneering. In addition, there is the CAS Management of Business Succession at the University of Applied Sciences. Our finanzakademie.ch seminar series provides an update on current specialist topics.
The IfFP was founded in 1995. Our study center is ideally located at Bernerstrasse Süd 169 in Zurich, a 3-minute walk from Zurich-Altstetten train station. Our lecturers have a solid specialist education, but above all extensive practical professional experience, which they pass on to their students in the classroom. The practical relevance is the strength and attractiveness of our courses.
Our clients are employees of banks, insurance companies and other financial service providers. IfFP also successfully conducts in-house training and continuing education, further training for well-known financial institutions and other educational institutions.
The IfFP is the co-initiator and specialist responsible for the "Financial Advisor of the Year" competition, which has been held annually since 2006 as a sporting contest for the best advisors in the areas of assets, pensions, insurance, real estate and taxes.
The IfFP manages the office for the German-speaking part of Switzerland on behalf of the examination organization IAF Interessengemeinschaft Ausbildung im Finanzbereich.
Training & Diplomas,
Diploma courses at the IfFP Institute for Financial Planning
Certified financial planning expert postgraduate studies CHE
The certified financial planning expert postgraduate studies CHE can advise private clients in five situations of increased complexity: self-employed persons and partners in companies, executives, patchwork families, people who live or work across borders and people who own real estate beyond the traditional home. He also has process skills in negotiation and conflict resolution as well as leadership and operational quality assurance. Financial advisors and planners with these skills serve the "high end" of Swiss private clients and assume management responsibility for other financial planners.
Swiss certified SME financial expert
A key issue for every SME is its financing capability. Whether for an acquisition, for an important project or for further growth - the challenge is always to secure the necessary financing and to be sufficiently attractive for equity or debt capital providers. And every year, around ten thousand Swiss SMEs change ownership or management - financing is often a key problem in such succession arrangements too. The special entrepreneurial challenges faced by owners and managers of SMEs are linked to the ability to obtain financing. It is about increasing and securing the enterprise value of SMEs.
For you as a financial services provider, there are opportunities to provide your SME customers with comprehensive advice and support on these vital issues - an attractive market with a future. With the training and examination to become a federally certified SME financial expert, you will acquire the necessary skills and obtain a federal diploma. You will expand your range of services, acquire new clients and retain existing ones.
CAS Management of Corporate Succession
Succession planning is one of the most important and difficult tasks facing every entrepreneur. Today, anyone who counts SMEs among their customers must be able to provide competent solutions for company succession - offensively to acquire new customers or defensively to retain existing ones.
The "CAS Management of Business Succession" course offers you, as a service provider with SME clients, the tools to successfully manage succession. You will acquire the skills to advise and support entrepreneurs comprehensively and competently in matters of succession planning. The focus is on the management of company succession as a project and process, supplemented by specialist knowledge of the relevant issues. With practical cases for concrete implementation.
Successful graduates receive the CAS (Certificate of Advanced Studies) from the HWZ Zurich School of Business, a federally recognized University of Applied Sciences. The CAS comprises 15 ECTS.
CFP® Certified Financial Planner™
The CFP® Certified Financial Planner™ is the globally recognized license for high-quality financial planning. The FPSB Financial Planning Standards Board, based in Denver, USA, brings together over 140,000 financial planners in 24 countries. A CFP® license thus signals to clients and competitors that the CFP® holder meets high standards with an international reputation.
Certified occupational benefits consultant IAF
With the continuing education, further training and examination to become a certified IAF occupational pensions advisor, you will acquire comprehensive know-how for advising clients in the second pillar. Depending on the focus of your clientele, you can choose between two specializations: Advice for companies or advice for insured persons. Three of the five modules are common to both specializations, the fourth and fifth modules are for the respective specialization (see course structure).
Certified Real Estate Consultant IAF
Whether it's living in their own four walls, or just the dream of it, or investment property - for many people, real estate ownership has a high material and emotional value. And for many people, real estate is the most important asset of all, along with their retirement savings. Decisions about real estate have far-reaching consequences beyond the purely financial and must therefore be carefully considered. The need for reliable advice is correspondingly high. The shortage of supply on the real estate market and rising prices and interest rates further increase the need for advice.
Competitive pressure is increasing rapidly in the real estate and financing market. This is due to the shortage of tradable properties, digitalized brokerage platforms and new players in the mortgage sector such as insurance companies, pension funds and mortgage brokers.
Providers and brokers are therefore increasingly developing comprehensive advisory services as a unique selling point and added value to attract and retain customers. However, the promise of advice can only work if the quality is right.
As a certified real estate consultant IAF, you advise and support your private clients in the acquisition, construction, financing, renovation and sale of a property over its entire life cycle and set yourself apart from your competitors with a comprehensive consulting service from a single source.
Financial planner with Federal Diploma of Higher Education
The financial planner with a federal certificate initially has the same professional skills and career prospects as the certified financial advisor IAF. In addition, they can develop long-term financial planning tailored to the needs of private households. They apply their comprehensive specialist knowledge with a systematic approach to analyzing and planning income and expenditure as well as taking a holistic inventory of assets, debts, taxes and life risks. The focus is on a one-stop solution based on an individual financial plan, covering the entire life cycle until the end of life.
The financial planner advises his clients on happy and stressful events in life: marriage and divorce, cohabitation and family offspring, early retirement and early inheritance are breaking points that also have financial consequences and therefore trigger a need for competent advice. In terms of business, he is tapping into the important segment of pension planning, advising and supporting clients who are about to retire.
Certified Financial Advisor IAF
The field of activity of the Certified Financial Advisor IAF is the broad middle class of employed persons in the earning phase. He advises and supports Swiss private households in four key areas:
- Capital formation
- Pension provision today and in old age
- Optimum insurance cover
- Financing the dream of home ownership
including tax optimization and issues relating to marriage, matrimonial property and inheritance law.
Successful advice also includes the implementation of measures and the sale of suitable financial products.
The Certified Financial Advisor IAF course is also the first of two levels of the "Financial Planner with Federal Diploma of Higher Education" qualification. This opens up attractive opportunities for graduates of the Certified Financial Advisor IAF course:
You first acquire the qualification as a certified financial advisor IAF and thus fulfill the Finma training requirements for financial sales. You will then complete the course and take the final examination in financial planning and thus qualify for the federal certificate in financial planning.
Cert. Investment Advisor IAF
The continuing education, further training to become a certified investment advisor IAF provides you with both the specialist knowledge and the knowledge of the rules of conduct for your FinSA-compliant investment advice. And with the examination and certificate, you will receive recognized proof of your training.
Insurance intermediary VBV
The VAG licensing examination reflects the legal minimum of knowledge and skills for insurance and pension advice in Switzerland. The qualification profiles correspond to the minimum educational standard and are recognized by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (Finma) and the VBV industry register as proof of knowledge for registration as an insurance intermediary.
MLA compliance
The MLA compliance certificate course provides employees at all levels - whether in LECO, operations or on the customer front - with the essential theoretical principles, behavioral knowledge and practical application examples to meet today's regulatory requirements. As a result, participants acquire the skills to ensure that their day-to-day business complies with regulations and laws.
More expertise in company succession issues
In the continuing education, further training on company succession, you will acquire the necessary know-how, divided into nine seminars on nine topics: from succession management as a project and process to the various specialist topics to negotiation and conflict resolution and the final integration day. All these seminars on succession planning can be booked individually - the choice is yours.
More expertise in the areas of finance, pensions and taxes
The finanzakademie.ch seminars deal with current issues in financial and tax consulting. The specialist focus is on Financial planning, investments, real estate/real estate financing, pensions, law and taxes. Seminars on regulatory developments and trends in the consulting industry complement the program.
