Posted by The Team at Brand Financial Training on March 14, 2023 in Newsletter
14 March 2023
This article is correct as at 14 March 2023.
Congratulations to all those of you who passed the most recent R06 sitting! It was great to hear from you all when you got your results last week, even though some of you had such issues on exam day. It seems like just a few days ago we were prepping the analysis for the January exam and already the spring exam is around the corner!
If you are starting your prep for R06 and want to get ahead of the game, get our free R06 How to Pass guide. It’s full of hints and tips to help you with the initial stages of your revision.
Best Wishes,
The Team at Brand Financial Training
Featured Article
Learning the Facts About Fixed Interest Securities
In this article, we look at how fixed-interest securities work and the roles that they play for both individual investors and the economy. This is useful reading if you’re studying for the CII’s R02, J10 or AF4 exams.
What are fixed-interest securities?
A fixed-interest security is a type of bond that generates a fixed income over a given period.
In simple terms, the bond is an I.O.U. from the borrowing institution, e.g. a government, local authority, or company, to the lender (the investor), that guarantees a fixed return over an agreed term and repayment of the original loan.
For both individual and institutional investors, fixed-interest securities can be packaged as different products, like government or corporate bond funds as part of a unit trust or OEIC offering. They may also be wrapped in ISAs or pensions for tax efficiency. Individual government and corporate bonds are traded on the stock market, so once issued their values can rise and fall.
Different Types of Fixed-Interest Securities
Two of the most common forms of fixed-interest securities in the UK are government ‘gilts’ and corporate bonds.
In this Brand Bitesize video, we take a look at how transfers into discretionary trusts work in practice when either the trustees or the settlor pays the tax due. This could be useful for anyone studying for the CII’s R03, J02, or AF1 exams. It could potentially appear on the R06 and AF5 exams as well.
Transfers into discretionary trusts are called Chargeable Lifetime Transfers (CLTs). An immediate charge to IHT is triggered if the value of the CLT is over the settlor’s available nil rate band. You can find out more, including a worked example, in the Brand Bitesize video below.
Available for AF1, AF4, AF5, J02, J05, J10, R01, R02, R03, R04, R05, R06
..."Your study [revision] notes were invaluable… I would advise everybody who is due to sit these to use the study notes and the mock exams as these will give you a terrific insight into how the exams work. Good luck."...
Brian Lynn, Partner, Brian Lynn Financial Services
Passing your CII exam can seem like a struggle, especially when there is so much content to learn. Our revision notes are for when you are further into your studies and are ready for a more condensed version of the study text so you can spend time revising what needs to be revised and get focused on what is needed.
Use them with the other resources in our study kits and you’ll be well prepared for your exam.
Why not try before you buy? Download one of our free tasters:
..."The Brand training material certainly helps you to focus on the key information required and get straight to the salient facts. Having to read all of RO4 and JO5 was daunting but by using the notes as a guide it helped me to condense a lot of this information quickly."...
Mandy Saunders, Verifier
Brand's YouTube Channel
Soon, you will have another way to access our helpful CII-related tips and techniques. You won’t have long to wait before you’ll be able to find us on YouTube, with our popular Brand Bitesize videos and more! We’ll let you know when to head on over and subscribe.
In case you missed it!
We recently featured in Professional Paraplanner where we answered your burning questions when it comes to exam technique and how to pass your CII exams.
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
..." Nothing stops the man who desires to achieve. Every obstacle is simply a course to develop his achievement muscle. It’s a strengthening of his powers of accomplishment. "...
Eric Butterworth
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!
