Posted by The Team at Brand Financial Training on December 14, 2021 in Newsletter
14 December 2021
A huge thank you to all our customers who have made it possible for us to donate and support The Trussell Trust and Refuge charities this year.
The Trussell Trust support a nationwide network of over 1,200 food banks providing emergency food and support to people locked in poverty, and campaign for change to end the need for food banks in the UK.
Refuge is committed to a world where domestic violence and violence against women and girls is not tolerated and where women and children can live in safety. On any given day Refuge supports more than 6,000 clients, helping them rebuild their lives and overcome many different forms of violence and abuse.
We hope you agree these are two very worthy causes and we thank you for making these donations possible. As we strive to support more charities in the coming year, we would appreciate your suggestions with regards to which charities we should look at. Do email us at and let us know your thoughts.
Best Wishes,
The Team at Brand Financial Training
Featured Article
Paul Hughes, the PPF, and the practical implications going forward
If you’re wondering who Paul Hughes is then you’re probably not alone. Most pension scheme members have probably never heard of him and the same would apply to many pension transfer specialists. However, a number in both categories might indirectly have a lot to thank him for. This article is relevant to those studying for the CII AF7 exam.
The Legality of the Compensation Cap
Mr Hughes, you see, was the leading litigant in the case of Hughes versus the Board of the Pension Protection Fund (PPF). This legal saga has been dragging on for quite some time, but fundamentally concerned the legality or otherwise of the compensation cap. Most of you will be aware of the cap, which applied to PPF members who were not yet at their scheme’s normal retirement age at the point their scheme entered the PPF. It was the contention of Mr Hughes, a former pilot who retired aged 57 in 2003 and stood to lose almost 75% of his pension, that the cap was unlawful under EU age discrimination laws.
The Latest Judgement
The claim had previously been upheld in 2020 by the High Court, following which the Secretary of State for Work & Pensions was granted leave to appeal. In the latest judgement, the Court determined that this compensation cap was not objective justification for treating younger members differently to those who had reached their normal retirement age and to whom the cap does not apply. Members of pension schemes operated by a number of employers including Monarch Airlines and BMI, should therefore receive their full entitlement going forward. Whilst the precise mechanics of how the system will work are still being determined, they could also be eligible to reclaim up to six years’ worth of arrears from the PPF.
This means that staff of any future defined benefit scheme, which is taken into the PPF, will have the security of knowing that their hard-earned retirement security is not going to be taken from them unexpectedly. Whilst the compensation cap only impacted a small number of members (c 0.5% at last estimate), the potential for detriment to this number should the cap be applied was significant.
Balancing the constantly conflicting demands of work, study and your personal life is always going to be challenging. Occasionally, your employer, tutor and family members may simultaneously feel their hold on your time is the most important one. But while it can seem daunting, it’s by no means impossible.
Here are our top tips for keeping the various balls in the air:
1. Talk to your employer
Communicate honestly and regularly with your manager, assuring them that you won’t miss any vital deadlines while studying for your financial services exams. If you need to (and can bear to), it may be worth considering sacrificing lunchtimes, holidays or other breaks to demonstrate a serious commitment to your day job. Equally, let them know when the key exams and deadlines fall, and do so well in advance.
Show willingness in this way, and you’re more likely to be granted concessions when you need them, such as study leave.
2. Use your free time productively
Use the time when you’re not at work to balance the day job and coursework as effectively as possible. That may mean listening to recorded notes or reading on the way to work, or grabbing 20 minutes of your lunch hour to study.
How about making it a rule never to leave the house without something to read?
FREE R06 Exam Preparation Webinar TODAY at 12:30 pm
There is still time for you to sign up for our R06 Exam Preparation webinar. This is a free 1-hour webinar, live today (14 December) at 12.30pm, hosted by our analysis lead author. To register, visit our R06 page(s) and make a purchase or request a free taster for any of our R06 resources.
Why attend?
Understand the structure of the R06 exam
Learn how to tackle revision both before and after the release of the case studies
Learn how to interpret the R06 exam questions
Better understand what the CII examiners are looking for in your answers
Gain quick wins for maximising your marks.
Ask questions of our analysis lead author
If you are unable to make the live session, register anyway and you’ll get access to the recorded webinar (available to view from 15 Dec to 26 Jan).
To complement the exam preparation webinar for R06, you can also gain access to our FREE R06 How to Pass Guide. We’ve been helping candidates to pass the R06 exam since 2010. The guide is full of useful hints and tips to help you pass. Request a free taster or making a purchase of any of our R06 resources to receive the download link.
Calculation Workbooks
..."The calculation workbooks for R02 and R03 are very good indeed. They were a major factor in helping me achieve good scores in these exams (89% and 80% respectively)..."
Julian Sellen, Leatherhead
Available for AF1, AF4, R02, R03, R04, R06, J05, J10, J12, CF6
Many exam-takers lose vital marks when it comes to performing calculations as they haven’t nailed down the exact process and order in which to perform the calculations, and haven’t spent enough time practising them.
The number of marks gained or lost on calculation questions can make the difference between a pass and a fail. Just a little more time taken on calculations during the revision period can give you the confidence you need to perform any calculation that could come up, so that you know you will gain top marks on all those calculation questions.
Our calculation workbooks guide you through the calculations, step-by-step, and providing detailed answers, with cross references to the relevant CII study text. All questions and answers kept up-to-date to reflect changes to the exam syllabus and tax year, and you can download them instantly in PDF format.
Why not try before you buy? Download one of our free tasters:
..."I passed R02 - No doubt thanks to your fantastic workbook which helped no end! With the extra work that I did going through your workbook, this helped a great deal with feeling confident which in this exam particularly was useful given that the technique and timing is as important as the knowledge and skill in ensuring that you get through the questions in a timely manner. One could so easily become distracted or frustrated trying to work out/remember one particular formula to the deficit of the other questions but your workbook enabled me to feel glad that there were so many calculations in the exam whereby before I actually feared them."...
David Gunn, Adviser, Nottingham
FREE AF5 Exam Preparation Webinar
We’ll also be running a FREE one-hour AF5 Exam Preparation Webinar on the 6th January 2022 at 12:30 pm. You can register your interest by visiting our AF5 page(s) and requesting a free taster or making a purchase of any of our AF5 resources.
To complement the exam preparation webinar for AF5, you can also gain access to our FREE AF5 How to Pass Guide. We’ve put all our experience of working on these exams (over 10 years that is!) into producing a succinct guide full of useful hints and tips to help you pass. Request a free taster or making a purchase of any of our AF5 resources to receive the download link.
Christmas Opening Hours
A quick note on our ‘opening hours’ over Christmas and New Year.
Our website is open 24/7 365 days a year, so if you are keen to get going with your revision during the Christmas break, you can purchase and download our resources with one hand, while holding a glass of mulled wine in the other.
All our resources can be purchased and downloaded/accessed immediately, regardless of when you order.
Whilst you can purchase and download whenever you like, the Brand Financial Training Team will be off from 5pm on Thursday 23rd December and will return on Tuesday 4th January. During that time, we will not be able to reply to any emails or phone calls. However, rest assured that any messages left will be responded to when we return.
Updates to CII Study Texts
Here’s a reminder that the CII update their study texts throughout the examinable year to either incorporate new legislations, correct errors or clarify information. Many candidates aren’t aware of this, which can result in candidates studying out-of-date information.
To find out if you have the most up-to-date information, visit the CII website, navigate to your chosen exam and click on ‘learning solutions update’ in the ‘Unit updates’ section in the sidebar.
Note that we keep our resources up-to-date with any updates from the CII.
Did You Miss These Posts on Our Blog?
Articles and Help for All Your Exams
You’ll find that there’s something for everyone when you check out our blog:
specific topics and how-to articles;
reviews of recent CII exam papers;
our Friday Five – a weekly quiz to give you a fun break from reading the study text;
study techniques that help you to retain your revision and keep your brain working for you, when you need it
Here are the blog posts you might have missed since our last newsletter:
There’s such a variety of information on offer to help you as you tackle your CII exams, that you won’t want to miss a single post. We’ve made it easy for you; just click the button below and enter your email details. Be ‘in the know’ with CII-exam-related tips and info – straight to your inbox!
Quote of the Month
..." Permanence, perseverance and persistence in spite of all obstacles, discouragements and impossibilities: It is this, that in all things distinguishes the strong soul from the weak. "...
Thomas Carlyle
Friday 5 Focus on...
"5 Questions in 5 Minutes Every Friday"
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.
Where do I find the Friday Five?
We post each week’s Friday Five to our blog first thing every Friday. You can either visit our blog every Friday at https://brandft.co.uk/blog/ or you can simply go there now, and click on the subscribe button in the top right-hand corner of the blog and sign up to receive notifications of our Friday Five posts.
Note that we don’t email the Friday Five out to everybody every Friday, so we recommend you sign up to our blog at https://brandft.co.uk/blog/ so that you receive an email notification when it is posted. It will only take you a minute to sign up.
A bit of Friday Fun, but with the added benefit of testing your exam knowledge!
