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Financial Planning candidates rank top five in Professional Competency Examination

01 November 2022 | Story Leonie Bolleurs | Photo Supplied

Henda Kleingeld, Programme Director of the Postgraduate Diploma in Business Administration (PGDIP) in Financial Planning, is incredibly proud of the candidates who ranked top five in the CFP® Professional Competency Examination.

To become a Certified Financial Planner (CFP®), a candidate with a Postgraduate Diploma in Financial Planning or a BCom (Honours) in Financial Planning must, among others, pass the Professional Competency Examination (PCE) of the Financial Planning Institute of Southern Africa (FPI).

It was recently announced that the top five CFP® Professional Competency Examination candidates (for the June 2022 examinations) are alumni of the School of Financial Planning Law (SFPL) at the University of the Free State (UFS).

On the right trajectory

According to Henda Kleingeld, Programme Director of the Postgraduate Diploma in Financial Planning Law in the Faculty of Law’s SFPL, they are incredibly proud of the candidates.

“Being rated as the top five PCE candidates indicates that we are on the right trajectory with the outcomes and assessments for our diplomas. If the top five PCE candidates are alumni of the SFPL – we are doing something right. We have made many changes in our approach to financial education, and it seems like it is paying off.”

“We now need to ensure that we provide our students with the proper academic background and support to continue to excel. This will seal our status as the oldest and one of the leading educational providers of financial planning education in the country,” Kleingeld adds.

Confidence in the qualification

The PCE sets candidates on the path towards becoming certified financial planners. The online exam consists of two case studies that test the candidates’ financial planning skills, knowledge, and competent performance in the defined competency areas for financial professionals.

In its Professional Competency Examination Policy, the FPI states that there are six Financial Planning components: Financial Management, Asset Management, Risk Management, Tax Planning, Retirement Planning, and Estate Planning. It strives to prepare professional competency examinations that will provide candidates with the opportunity to demonstrate core or professional competence at a standard appropriate for entry into the financial planning profession.

According to the FPI, the CFP® qualification – an internationally recognised standard for financial planning professionals – gives consumers confidence that the financial planner they are dealing with is suitably qualified to provide advice and information and gives the assurance that they remain up to date with developments in the industry.

First academic institution to offer diploma

Kleingeld says the SFPL was the first academic institution in South Africa to offer the Postgraduate Diploma in Financial Planning, and financial education has been its main focus and passion over the past 20 years.

“Keeping up with industry trends is very important to us. Our team of academics and industry experts assists us with maintaining a balance between the academic requirements and how they are translated into the workplace,” she explains.

Kleingeld is of the opinion that the graduates who have passed their qualifications are doing exceptionally well in the industry, with many prominent industry leaders being alumni of the UFS SFPL. “The school has a reputation in the industry as forward-thinking and innovative. We keep our fingers on the pulse of industry developments, which get incorporated into our curriculum.”

News Archive

Ford foundation funds higher education redesign

2005-06-23

The Ford Foundation has pledged a grant of almost R280 000 for redesigning higher education delivery at three campuses in the Free State.

According to Prof Magda Fourie, Vice-Rector: Academic Planning at the University of the Free State (UFS), the three campuses that will be affected by the strategic reconfiguration of higher education delivery are the Qwaqwa campus at Phuthaditjhaba and the Vista campus of the UFS in Bloemfontein and the Welkom campus of the Central University of Technology (CUT).

Prof Fourie says the three campuses were all affected by the restructuring of higher education, in line with the National Plan for Higher Education.

The Qwaqwa campus of the UFS that was part of the former University of the North was incorporated into the UFS in January 2003. Likewise the Bloemfontein campus of the former Vista University was incorporated into the UFS in January 2004.

The Welkom campus of the CUT was also part of the former Vista University and was incorporated into the CUT in January 2004.

“These incorporations pose a challenge in that we have to think creatively about the best ways of using these three campuses to service the higher education, training, skills development and human resource needs of the Free State,” Prof Fourie said.

“The grant from the Ford Foundation will primarily be used to draw up strategic funding proposals for the three campuses. The Qwaqwa campus of the UFS is a priority to us given the poverty and unemployment in a largely rural area of the Free State,” said Prof Fourie.

“A detailed consultation process will be undertaken in the Qwaqwa campus sub-region which will hopefully result in a comprehensive and a coherent suite of higher education activities being established on this campus,” said Prof Fourie.

“It is envisaged that the Qwaqwa campus will become a centre of excellence in the area of rural development. This vision is based on a focused integration of the core functions of a university – teaching, research, and community service – around the issue of rural development,” said Prof Fourie.

Prof Fourie said that various educational offerings including among others short courses, bridging and foundation programmes, and degrees could be offered, with a particular focus on providing courses of relevance to students from the local rural community and students from elsewhere with an interest in focusing on rural development studies.

She said the redesign of the three affected campuses is being managed as a project of the Free State Higher Education Consortium (FSHEC) consisting of all the higher education institutions operating in the Free State.

“The aim of the project is to establish how the Qwaqwa and Vista campuses of the UFS and the Welkom campus of the CUT can be used effectively to meet regional education and training needs, to serve the strategic priorities of the two higher education institutions and contribute to the sustainable development and poverty alleviation of the region,” she said.

The planning for the Vista campus of the UFS is still in an early stage. “We are looking at the possibility of developing this campus into a hub of education and training opportunities for Bloemfontein and Free State region. Further plans will be communicated later in the year,” said Prof Fourie.

Media release

Issued by:  Lacea Loader
   Media Representative
   Tel: (051) 401-2584
   Cell: 083 645 2454
   E-mail: loaderl.stg@mail.uovs.ac.za

23 June 2005

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