The professional examination for financial planners with a federal certificate is suitable for employees from the financial services sector. The certificate qualifies them as specialists in comprehensive advice and support for private households in all insurance and financing matters.

We have clarified this question about the financial planner course for you. According to a survey conducted by the education platform Ausbildung-Weiterbildung.ch, the reasons given by participants varied:

• 44 % read an online review
• 36 % already knew the school/s
• 20 % received a recommendation from a school for further training to become a financial planner

Further impacts are provided to us via text responses: "curiosity", "proximity to school" and "through job offer".

Interest in a "Financial Planner (BP)" training course is triggered for various reasons. According to the training survey conducted by Ausbildung-Weiterbildung.ch, this happens equally often for the following three reasons:

• 80 % as the financial planner qualification with a federal certificate is mentioned in many job advertisements and is required for corresponding jobs.
• 17 % to compare further training with their own wishes and needs.
• 3 % showed interest in this further training in financial planning because it was recommended to them.

The admission requirements for the Financial Planner continuing education, further training with Federal Professional Examination are:

• Certificate of a vocational apprenticeship of at least three years' duration or an equivalent qualification and at least two years' professional experience in the financial services sector.

or

• Successful completion of two years of basic training and five years of professional experience, at least two of which must be in the financial services sector.

or

• At least five years of professional experience in the financial services sector.

and

• Proof of the following module qualifications or confirmation of equivalence as a financial planner up to 30 days before the start of the examination: asset formation, pension provision (personal and social insurance), insurance (property and asset insurance), real estate / financing. The module qualifications must not be older than 32 months.

The professional practice must be completed during the financial planner continuing education, further training until the start of the financial planner examination. The SFBI decides on the equivalence of foreign certificates and diplomas.

A survey of prospective students revealed the following result for the currently desired form of teaching for the Financial Planner IAF training course:

• One third would like face-to-face teaching at the schools
• A good quarter would like hybrid teaching (face-to-face and online teaching combined)
• A quarter prefer online-only lessons
• the rest have no clear preference

Compared to the previous year, face-to-face teaching has lost five percent of its popularity for IAF financial planner training. Meanwhile, the desire for hybrid teaching has risen by three percent. The proportion of votes for online teaching and no preference each increased by one percent.

The following modules are examined for the financial planner certificate:

• Level 1:
  • Capital formation
  • Pension provision (personal and social insurance)
  • Insurance (property and asset insurance)
  • Real estate/financing
  • Law
  • Taxes
• Level 2:
  • Advanced pension provision and assets
  • Integrated financial planning for private households

IAF financial planners must have comprehensive specialist knowledge in the financial sector, in particular of standard market investment, credit, pension and insurance instruments.

As a financial planner IAF with a federal certificate, you can provide private individuals with comprehensive financial advice and support throughout the entire life cycle up to retirement as part of private financial planning. This means creating a financial plan for:

• Build-up planning (financial planning build-up) - personal financial plan or strategic financial planning
• Financial plan for house purchase
• Pension planning

Financial planners with a federal certificate carry out the following activities:

• create an individual financial plan for those seeking advice based on a current life event (marriage, divorce, early retirement and real estate financing)
• Analyze the client's financial situation (income, expenses, assets, debts, taxes and life risks)
• Find out the customer's personal objectives, needs and problems
• show different products such as funds, life insurance, property and asset insurance or mortgages
• point out risks when buying a home and recommend additional protective measures
• present complex issues in an understandable way using graphics as a basis for finding solutions
• Achieve sales deals
• Clarify opportunities to create new assets and invest if interested
• More targeted organization of capital-forming and existing assets as well as pension provision - use for income generation and life risk cover
• check the flexibility of financial investments, their return, risk and liquidity
• Clarify the customer's disposal wishes
• Optimizing the tax and legal situation and determining the economic, ecological and social sustainability of financial investments
• Close cooperation with tax, insurance and legal experts

Graduates of a financial planner training program with a federal certificate have the necessary expertise, particularly in the areas of asset accumulation, pension planning and retirement planning, to provide private households with comprehensive advice and support. Solid knowledge in the areas of taxes, law, insurance and real estate round off the competence profile.

Graduates of the specialist certificate in financial planning are eligible to attend the SME financial expert course with a federal diploma.

The topic of due diligence plays a central role in continuing education, further training for financial planners. Participants deal intensively with the legal, ethical and professional requirements associated with the responsible management of client data and asset matters.

The focus is on the following topics, among others:

• Trust is the foundation: financial planners gain deep insights into personal financial circumstances
• Handling customer dossiers requires the utmost confidentiality
• It is important to take responsibility for careful and discreet action
• Legal requirements and professional duties of care must be consistently observed
• Developments on the financial markets and in the economy should be monitored on an ongoing basis and included in the advisory process

These topics form the basis for a professional and responsible activity in the field of financial planning.

As each school has its own slightly different focus beyond the guidelines of the examination organization, it is advisable to clarify this directly with the respective education provider. A question can easily be forwarded to the desired school via the contact form.

According to a survey of those interested in IAF financial planner training on this educational platform, the following distribution of learning types emerged:

• One third are visual learners, who learn most easily by seeing (graphics, videos or pictures)
• One third are motor learning types, who learn fastest by doing (learning by doing)
• A quarter are communicative learners who learn best through conversation or discussion
• The rest are auditory learners who learn fastest through active listening (audio listening, listening in class and reading aloud)