Page 27 - Profile's Unit Trusts and Collective Investments 2021 issue 2

How to use this book

Credit Based Qualifications
Credit bearing qualifications registered on the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) are one
wayinwhich FSPs canobtainthe necessary qualifications to meet the requirements of fit and proper.
NQF credit bearing qualifications are made up of a number of Unit Standards, each of which
has a credit allocation. A learning programme which meets the requirements of a cluster of these
Unit Standards and which is registered with a SETA as a Skills Programme will provide credits
towards the necessary fit and proper qualifications.
An NQF Unit Standard is an outcome or syllabus rather than a study guide. A Unit Standard
specifies the competencies that learners should have achieved once they have completed the Unit
Standard (ie, what they should know and be able to do).
In order to assist learners preparing for a NQF registered credit based qualification, the chapter
content of Profile’s Unit Trusts & Collective Investments is structured in order to provide, as far as
possible, suitable reference material. At the same time, the content continues to provide a useful
technical reference which allows advisors to remind themselves of key rules and facts.

NQF and the Unit Trusts Handbook
Profile’s Unit Trusts & Collective Investments is not a study guide nor a text book. It does, however,
contain a great deal of information which is excellent preparation for a number of the unit
standards which make up both the FET level 4 (66613) and NQF level 5 (66611) certificates in
Wealth Management – especially those, obviously, which deal with collective investments.
The FET and NQF unit standards sometimes require students to do research, evaluate current
market conditions, or prepare comparisons between different products. Some of the necessary
reference material will be found in this publication, and in some cases similar comparisons are
made in the chapters which illustrate one approach to this work. However, this handbook is not
exhaustive, and learners must not assume that everything they need is contained herein. On the
contrary, it is imperative that financial advisors learn how to acquire and absorb information from
various sources and integrate this into a coherent and complete understanding of particular
products or markets.
To assist learners in “mapping” the chapter content of this book to the requirements of each
unit standard, the specific outcomes covered in each chapter are referenced in the marginal notes.
For a number of reasons, the structure of the unit standards and the chapters of the book are
not synchronised. (In fact, in terms of flow and readability, such synchronisation is not possible in
a book of this nature.) This means that material relevant to a particular unit standard outcome
might be found in several places in the handbook.
In view of this, the matrix on the following pages provides an outline of the unit standard
outcomes, and the chapter sections relevant to each.

CPD (Continuing Professional Development)
Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is defined in
the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA)’s NQFpedia
(Standard Glossary of terms) as “a range of learning activities
through which professionals ensure that they retain their
capacity to practice safely, effectively and legally within the
scope of practice.”
Profile’s Unit Trusts & Collective Investments is a FPI Approved Publication. CPD points/hours may
be claimed by members of the FPI under the category of Professional Reading and Research as defined
in the FPI’s CPD policy, which may be downloaded from www.fpi.co.za.
In terms of amendments to the FAIS Act (Section 6A and 8A Act 45 of 2013) and reviews of
sub-ordinate legislation, such as the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (the FSCA)’s Board
Notices (BN) and/or conduct standards concerning “fit and proper requirements,” an authorised
financial services provider, key individual, representative of the provider and key individual of the
FSP must develop and maintain their abilities, skills and knowledge relating to continuing
professional development.

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Profile’s Unit Trusts & Collective Investments — Understanding Unit Trusts