Newsletter for September 2017

Here at Brand Financial Training we're all taking a deep breath and picking ourselves up after an extremely busy July and August, where we were all focused on updating all of our CII financial services exam resources for examinable tax year 2017/18 that began on 1 September. With literally hundreds of resources to update, this is always a very busy and tiring time.

We have sent out a few emails in the past weeks with regards your possible entitlement to our 17/18 versions free of charge. Just in case you missed it: if you own Brand Financial Training financial services resources for the examinable year up to 31 August 2017 and would like the 2017/18 versions examinable from 1 September 2017, simply send us email at: and let us know a) the email address that you used to place the original order, b) the exam your order relates to. If you are entitled to the updated versions free of charge, we will email them to you within 2 working days. Note that this relates to Brand Financial Training resources only.

As the update period also unhelpfully coincides with school holidays, it makes July and August even tougher for us all. So now that the kids are also back at school, it's like being in a sea of calm. Thank goodness!

My youngest turned 4 last week (how did that happen?), so he just missed the school year cut-off by a few days (I'll try not to have a rant about that here!). So he's in nursery / pre-school for yet another year. It was very sad watching the majority of his friends leaving him behind as they went off to school. My other two are back at primary and secondary school, so as those of you with multiple children will know, it's back to juggling school clubs, after-school activities and anything else the schools decide to throw at you at a moment's notice.

I need a holiday!

Best Wishes,

Catriona and the Team
Brand Financial Training

We all know what a Power of Attorney is; someone appointed by you to look after your affairs should you become unable to do so, although sometimes you may want to appoint someone to do something on your behalf, because you are out of the country or you just would prefer someone else to do it! This article discusses two types of Power of Attorney - useful for CII AF1, AF5, J02, R01, R05 or R06 exam revision.

Enduring Power of Attorney

Under the old pre-2007 regime, we had an Enduring Power of Attorney (EPA). It was a fairly simple process to set one up, and lots of people at the time were encouraged to 'get in quick' before they were no longer available in October of that year. (Although they were simpler, they didn't have any of the protection that was later put in place with Lasting Power of Attorney ).

If the person subsequently lost capacity, then the attorney had to register the EPA with the Office of the Public Guardian, and once registered, they could deal with that person's affairs.

It's not possible to make any changes to an existing EPA or make a new one, but you can still of course register one should you become mentally incapacitated.

Lasting Power of Attorney

Following the Mental Capacity Act 2005, which came into effect on the 1st October 2007, the Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) was introduced.

A different process exists with the LPA, in that you now have to register it with the Court even if the person still has mental capacity. There must also be a certificate from prescribed people who can confirm that the person understands the LPA, and there has been no undue pressure put on them. In other words, it acts as a safety net for those people who can be vulnerable.

With an LPA, there are two types of power. The first one is like the old EPA, a property and financial affairs LPA , which is self-explanatory; the attorney looks after the person's finances.

If you've failed an exam more than once, and you feel frustrated and want to give up, here are two ways you can become a better learner.

I'm often asked how I can help people pass their financial services exams, and usually by people who have failed the same exam more than once, and who are feeling as though no matter how hard they work, none of it makes any difference.

We are all good learners. There's plenty of evidence for that. So it's not because we can't learn that we run into trouble when it comes to taking exams.

But if you have a full-time job, a family, and dare I say it, a life (!) then chances are, you are already up to your eyes with responsibility and commitment. Finding the time to study is already a tall order, before you throw into the mix that the way you go about it is probably not the most efficient method for how your brain prefers to process, store and retrieve information.

So, to answer the question, how to be a better learner, your results will go through the roof if you do two things.

1. Find out how your brain prefers to learn. And
2. Make sure you are taking care of the 3 Keys to Learning.

The first part is easy. If you don't know how, ask me!

The second part, 3 Keys to Learning, is as follows:

Key #1

Spend enough time with the information for your brain to make a pattern of it and send it to your long-term memory.

I've lost count of the people who think that merely reading a textbook means that you will learn its contents. Worse, some trainers still recommend doing exactly that.

What you've actually got to do is actively manipulate the information and make it your own. And that takes time.

With all the knowledge, understanding and technical skills required, passing AF5 can seem like a struggle. Our brand new AF5 study notes focus in on the fact-find and recommendation processes, so that you can be sure of what is needed and when.

Our Study Notes are:

• 65+ pages of study notes
• Your condensed and more focussed take on the fact-find and recommendation processes
• Kept up-to-date to reflect changes to the exam syllabus and tax year
• Downloadable instantly in PDF format for you to print as required
• Backed by our 30-day money-back guarantee

Do you want to purchase the AF5 study notes with a discount?

Until midnight on Friday 22 September, we're offering our new study notes for 25% off. (usually £30 now £22.50 incl VAT). Simply enter coupon code AF5STUDYNOTES at the checkout and press the apply button. The discount will be taken off your total. Note that this discount cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer and must be applied at the time of ordering.

To purchase our brand new study notes, click here.

..."The calculation work book for AF4 was really helpful. A question on Return on Equity came up and I'd literally only come across this in the Brand workbook. Glad to say I passed the exam with flying colours!..."

Russell Hammond, Senior Partner, London

Passing AF4 can seem like a monumental task, especially when the study text arrives on your doorstep with a heavy thud. We offer a range of resources that will help you to feel fully prepared on exam day:

• Mock Exam Papers - 3 full sets of 3 multi-part questions and answers including cross references to the relevant CII study text. 
• Calculation Workbook - Focussing on the calculations within the exam syllabus, the calculation workbook provides calculation questions with full step-by-step answers, detailed explanations and cross-references to the relevant CII study text.
• Study Notes - Consider our study notes your condensed and more focussed take on the CII’s exam syllabus and learning outcomes.
• E-Learning - Our modular e-learning package from R02 is relevant for your AF4 studies. It provides you with 24/7 online access to videos and workbooks including handouts and self-test questions.
• MP3 Audio Masterclasses - Learn by listening with our MP3 masterclasses. They allow you to absorb and understand the material in digestible chunks. 

All of the above resources can be bought as part of a study kit, so you can save 10% off the cost of buying them individually.

Still not sure? Why not try before you buy? Free tasters are available for all of the resources listed above. Just click here to access all our AF4 resource tasters.

The CII's AF7 exam is a new pension transfers exam forming part of the Advanced Diploma in Financial Planning and the Certificate in Pension Transfers. It is a 2-hour exam with 3-4 compulsory written short-answer questions and 2 case study based questions. It has a nominal pass mark of 60%. 100 hours of study is recommended by the CII for this paper.

This exam can be sat for the first time in October 2017, and we at Brand Financial Training are pleased to offer resources to support you as you revise for this new exam. 3 full sets of mock papers are due to be released mid-September and our Calculation Workbook, Study Notes and Audio Masterclasses will follow shortly thereafter. We'll email when they're out, so watch your inbox!

Are you aware 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 make this easier for you, we have collated the most recent CII study text updates.

5 June – 1 August 2017 : IF2

6 May – 4 June 2017 : R04 - Study text for 2017/18 examinable tax year has since been issued by the CII.

8 April – 5 May 2017 : IF5

The CII's new examinable tax year 2017/18 for all financial services exams started on 1 September 2017. We have now updated all our resources for financial services exams so any purchases made from now on will be relevant to exams sat on or after 1 September 2017.

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;
• information on recent updates to the CII study texts.

Here are the blog posts you might have missed since our last newsletter:

Friday Five – 8 August - Click here.

How to Calculate Redemption and Running Yields on a Bond - Click here.

Friday Five – 1 September - Click here.

Our Post-Exam Review of the July 2017 CII R06 Exam - Click here.

Friday Five – 25 August - Click here.

How to Differentiate Between EIS, VCT, and SEIS - Click here.

Friday Five – 18 August - Click here.

Everyone should have a will - Click here.

Friday Five – 11 August - Click here.

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!

..." Ambition is the path to success. Persistence is the vehicle you arrive in. "...

"5 Questions in 5 Minutes Every Friday"

This is a bit of Friday Fun where we provide you with 5 questions (and answers) relevant to a mix of CII exams. The challenge is for you to answer the questions 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!