Advisers need to complete a minimum of 35 hours of continuing professional development (CPD) each year for retail investment activities, of which 21 hours should be structured. If you carry out other retail activities, such as mortgage advice or managing funds, you will need to carry out CPD for that activity as well.
Structured CPD is an activity designed to achieve a defined learning outcome. Examples of structured CPD activities include participating in courses, seminars, lectures, conferences, workshops, web-based seminars or e-learning. All CPD should be measurable and capable of being independently verified by an accredited body.
Areas that could be covered in CPD include:
- technical knowledge and how to apply it
- skills and expertise
- changes to products, legislation and regulation
- addressing any learning gaps
You need to ensure you have good quality CPD records. The three areas your documentation should cover are:
- your needs - knowledge gaps and your target outcome of the learning
- how you will meet your needs - a description of the activity you are going to do or have done, including number of hours
- confirm how you met your needs (once carried out) - how the activity has met the target learning outcome, and if tested, the test results.
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