Roundup May 2023 | Brand Financial Training

This article is correct as at 31 May 2023.

We know your time is valuable, so here’s a quick summary of the CII-related articles we’ve posted this month.

This Monthly Roundup allows you to see, at a glance, what articles have been posted and you can simply click on any that are of interest to you.

The CII AF7 March 2023 Exam in Review

Here, we’re looking at the question paper from the CII’s March 2023 sitting of AF7 – the Pension Transfer exam.

National Insurance and Stamp Duty Land Tax Changes

2022/23 was quite a year for both Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) and National Insurance contributions (NICs). For the latter, not only did we have the usual tax year changes from 6 April 2022, but we also had two further changes in July and November. In this article, we clarify which SDLT and NIC rates you should be using in your upcoming CII exam(s) – particularly relevant to R01, R03, AF1, R02, AF4, CF6, and R07.

Our Post-Exam Review of the February 2023 CII AF5 Exam

The CII has now released the exam guide for the February sitting of AF5 so we can see how we did in our pre-exam analysis.

Current CII Exams Pass Rates – as at May 2023

The CII has now released their pass rates for 2022. Here, we discuss the pass rates and what we can learn from them.

Brand Bitesize: Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM)

In this Brand Bitesize video, we take a look at the Capital Asset Pricing Model. This could be useful for anyone studying for the CII’s R02, J10, J12, or AF4 exams.

Handling Complaints as a Financial Services Firm

Each financial services firm must have and publish a written complaints procedure to deal with complaints from eligible complainants. In this article, which is relevant to the CII’s R01, CF1, CF8, ER1, and J07 exams, we take a look at how complaints should be made, the process to be followed by the firm being complained about, and what happens if the firm cannot resolve the complaint to the complainant’s satisfaction.

Darren Gao becomes one of the youngest individuals to pass the CII Diploma at just 19

After finishing sixth form in 2021, Darren Gao set out on his path to become a financial adviser and started the CII Diploma in Regulated Financial Planning. A little over a year later, he became one of the youngest people to complete the Diploma at just 19 years old. We asked Darren about his exam journey and future goals, and he offered some great advice for other candidates working towards the CII Diploma.

Friday Five: 5 Questions in 5 Minutes Every Friday

This is a bit of Friday Fun where each week, we ask questions relating to one of these topics: Investments, Taxation, Pensions, Protection, or Regulation. The challenge is for you to answer them in 5 minutes. We post them on the blog every Friday.

To try your hand at answering the questions, visit our blog at one (or all) of the links below: