Financial planning has evolved over the years from salesman to advisor to trusted planner. Financial planning has become a highly regulated profession with the focus being predominantly on technical, technological and product advances. However, the world is rapidly changing and what worked up until now will not necessarily work in the future.
The School of Financial Planning Law (SFPL) in the Faculty of Law at the University of the Free State prides itself on its qualities of excellence and integrity in providing holistic financial planning education since 2001.
The Advanced Diploma in Estate and Trust Administration offers students the unique opportunity to acquire the necessary academic qualification and skills to become fiduciary practitioners. This is the only qualification that is currently endorsed by the Fiduciary Institute of Southern Africa (FISA) as the academic requirement in the process to be awarded the Fiduciary Practitioner of South Africa® (FPSA®) designation.
Currently only 6% of South Africans are able to retire, and of that number, a large majority will still have to downscale their lifestyle at retirement.
Rising above the rest, UFS is proud to be not only the first South African accredited education partner of STEP but also to be one of the only three universities globally with this accreditation. The Diploma puts graduates on the road to become full members of this global professional association as Trust and Estate Practitioners (TEP).
The South African public is always being encouraged to plan for the future in the form of investments. Different kinds of investments exist, and it is up to the individual to make the right decisions on the types of investments relevant to their purpose.
The Postgraduate Diploma in Investment Planning provides individuals with the necessary academic qualification and skills to become experts in the field of investment planning, who will be able to provide leadership and expert advice within a multitude of financial and legal contexts.
The UFS Postgraduate Diploma in Estate Planning provides students with an academic qualification and the necessary skills to become experts in the field of estate planning. The programme intends to deliver practitioners who can act ethically and professionally, think analytically, communicate with relevant role-players in the industry, interact effectively with members of the public and evaluate and apply relevant information in legislation, literature and secondary data sources to specific practical scenarios.
With a focus on educating financial planners theoretically and practically to meet the unique needs of individual clients, the School has launched two new short learning programmes.
The School of Financial Planning Law recognises the importance of retirement planning, not just in South African but globally. Currently only 6% of South Africans are able to retire, and of that number, a large majority will still have to downscale their lifestyle at retirement. This is a shocking statistic and the need for retirement planning is evident.
With the dire need for better retirement planning in South Africa, it must be ensured that employers are given the right advice as far as retirement fund options are concerned as well as advice on the proper governance (and management) of retirement funds.
Old Mutual had also identified the need and endeavoured to ensure that they set the benchmark to ensure that Old Mutual Corporate employee benefits consultants are at the forefront of the industry. Thus was born the Employee Benefits Bootcamp Initiative, in which a select cohort of Old Mutual Corporate employees were granted the opportunity to take part.
In collaboration with the Ontological Coaching Institute, the School is presenting an innovative and ground-breaking financial coaching programme in collaboration with Karen White, an experienced master certified coach, and Hendrik Crafford, an experienced professional coach and financial industry expert.
This programme, which will next be offered in Johannesburg in May 2020, is presented over the course of three days and provides a substantive practical and experiential introduction to using Ontological Coaching principles to equip participants to be more effective financial planners.
