CII - J09 Paraplanning Module - anybody done this?

crazycatlady1984

Hi all, just wondering if anybody has any experience of the CII's paraplanning module or of anything similar?

I have recently started a new job working for an IFA and have enrolled on this module and am doing some studying for it today. So far it all seems quite generic, about the role of the paraplanner and the ethical standards involved etc etc. I have just taken a look at the factfind and the questions that go with it and am slightly worried about the technical / product knowledge required.

I am qualified to Level 3 as I did the CeFA qualification a few years ago, however, I have been working in another branch of financial services for the past 3 years and am worried that as well as studying for the paraplanning module I will also have to go back over all the level 3 product info, as this seems to be taken as already understood for the paraplanning module (ie it doesn't provide any learning material on it).

Sorry, the above is quite rambling - to go back to my original question, just wondering if anybody has any experience of it and how much studying they did and how long it took them to put together essay answers for each of the 3 assignments

Paige_Turner

Hi


I am studying for this at the moment and rapidly running out of time...


I passed the first assignment by 2 marks <gulp> so it was obviously a bit trickier than I thought.


I am now doing the second assignment but struggling with the vagueness of the questions... The fact find is crap and if my IFA handed it to me I'd give it back to her.


I have discussed it with my IFA and she says the main thing is not to assume anything... Not really helping me right now!!


Let me know how you get on if you carried on with it.

crazycatlady1984

Hiya, just saw your post!

Thanks very much for replying......from the sounds of it is not a popular module, so its hard to speak to anybody about it!

Do you mind if I ask you a couple of questions about the first assignment?

1) Some feedback I have heard is that the marker has requested more quotations from somebody. At first I thought, like mathematical calculation quotes, but apparently they actually mean "quotes" from books etc that show evidence that you have done further reading?! Did you do this? One of the reasons that I don't find this appropriate is that you are supposed to be preparing a doc for your IFA - why on earth would an IFA want to read explanations of things that you've quoted from books?!

2) When you put the table together, I worked on the assumption that you are putting in the info you have and putting in columns for what you don't have, but still need (eg dates of investment, initial investment amount etc). Therefore, when moving onto the second question about revewing and consolidating, my answer is very much "once the client confirms such and such then a, b and c etc"; but I have heard somebody say that they "made up" the missing info, so that they could then advise on it?! Did you do this?

Well done for passing!!! :T What were the marks that you missed? Was the feedback quite helpful? I just find it a very messy assignment to be honest and worry that I'm not on the right track