Posted by The Team at Brand Financial Training on October 11, 2022 in Newsletter
11 October 2022
October is usually a really busy time of year for CII written exams but as they began early this Autumn, they are now all finished. For those of you who sat your exams over the past few weeks, we hope it went well!
Many of you will still be busy with multiple-choice exams until the end of the year and as always, we are looking for ways to help you pass your exams first time. For those of you studying towards the multiple-choice R01, R02, R03, R04, or R05 exams, do have a read of our complimentary How to Pass guides. The guides walk you through some of the common questions you’ll face in each exam and provide some useful tips on exam technique. You can order your free guide here.
Best Wishes,
The Team at Brand Financial Training
Featured Article
Looking at the Link Between Inflation and Interest Rates
In this article, we look at the link between inflation and interest rates, and how they both impact investments. This is particularly relevant to the CII R02 and AF4 exams but may also be useful to those studying for R01, CF1, R04, AF7, R06, or AF5.
Having spent many a year talking about a low-inflation, low-interest rate environment, we’re currently facing the opposite with inflation continuing to grow and the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) increasing interest rates in a bid to slow things down.
Monetary policy
Monetary policy attempts to stabilise the economy by controlling interest rates and the supply and availability of money.
Short-term changes in interest rates have been under the control of the Bank of England’s MPC since 1997. They determine what is known as ‘the base rate’ – the rate at which banks can borrow from other banks. SONIA – the Sterling Overnight Indexed Average Rate is the rate at which banks lend to each other. It is thought to be a more accurate representation of the wholesale money markets.
The Bank has an inflation target of keeping the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) at 2%. When the CPI is more than 1% outside of this target in either direction, the Bank’s Governor must send an open letter to the Chancellor explaining how this has come about and how the Bank intends to rectify the situation. Changes to interest rates don’t impact inflation immediately; they take time to filter through the economy. A change in interest rates today is likely to reach inflation somewhere between 1.5 and 2 years ahead.
By increasing the short-term interest rate, monetary policy is said to be tightened to bring inflation down. Longer-term interest rates should rise, we have less money to spend, and businesses invest less and borrow less. Those relying on the interest from investments obviously benefit, providing they’re not tied into a fixed-interest product.
Why it’s wise to use past papers when preparing for an exam
Here are just a few of the many reasons why past papers are an extremely important and highly effective part of any revision schedule.
No doubt you’re planning to use past papers when preparing for your financial services exams, possibly because you remember teachers encouraging you to do precisely that when you were sitting exams at school – and they did so for good reason!
Improve your time management
A past paper is an ideal way to understand the amount of time you will have to spend on each question on the actual day of the exam. That’s why it’s always best to complete such papers under self-imposed exam conditions. Work somewhere quiet with no distractions, with internet and phone alerts all turned off, and a timer set. Make it as close to the real thing as you can, perhaps by getting a friend or family member to act as an invigilator. That way, you’ll also gain an insight into the focus you’ll need once you’re sitting the test for real. NOTE: If you happen to be studying for the R01 or R02 exam, our E-Mocks include a fully timed online mock exam for practice.
Learn how marks are allocated
Clearly, questions are weighted differently depending on the complexity of the questions. Once you understand how – and why – points are allocated, you will be better placed to manage your time during your paper.
Live-streamed training is being offered, now more than ever, as an alternative to face-to-face training. But have you ever sat through an hour or more of training to come away with only a few snippets of useful material?
Our video tutorials are a great alternative:
Flexibility to purchase only those tutorials that you need
No time wasted going through material that you already know
Study at your own pace – unlike with live/replay sessions that could last for hours
Watch the videos as many times as you need – it is not “once only” where vital information can be missed
Additional support via ‘test your learning’ questions for each topic
Each video focuses on a specific topic to avoid overwhelm
Generous discounts when purchased as part of a study kit
Why not try before you buy? Access one of our free taster tutorials:
We are very excited that our brand-new E-mocks for exams R03, R04, and R05 will be available in November! These include brand new mock questions, available on our online testing software, which is designed to replicate the exam experience and seriously test your knowledge before you sit your exam.
As well as that, we are also looking forward to launching brand-new video tutorials to match! Our video tutorials are for those who prefer to learn visually. They focus on the trickiest parts of the R03, R04, and R05 syllabus to help you in your revision for your exam. We will let you know once they are officially available next month. Video tutorials for R01 and R02 are already available; see the ‘Focus On’ section above.
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
..." For all things difficult to acquire, the intelligent man works with perseverance. "...
Lao Tzu
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!
