Mon, Sep 02, 2019 – 10:57 AM

ALL students who enrol in Ngee Ann Polytechnic’s Diploma in Banking and Finance will soon graduate with an additional professional certification, giving them a head start in the finance industry.

Starting from April 2020, the graduates will receive the Associate Financial Planner (AFPCM) certification.

This offers an accelerated route for the graduates to later attain the Certified Financial Planner (CFP) designation, a globally recognised mark of professionalism for financial planning.

The AFPCM certification will be offered to the students under a partnership between the polytechnic and the Financial Planning Association of Singapore (FPAS).

This will help develop the talent pipeline for the finance sector, and meet the growing demand for qualified financial planners, Ngee Ann Polytechnic and FPAS said in a joint media statement on Monday.

Teo Hui Leng, director of the polytechnic’s School of Business and Accountancy, said: “We welcome this opportunity to work with FPAS to meet the manpower needs of the financial services sector and thus increase the public’s access to competent and ethical financial advisers. With this certification, our graduates will also enjoy more employment opportunities.”

Through the AFPCM programme, the banking and finance students will learn general financial planning strategies and gain an understanding of the various financial products available.

They will also be exempted from taking the AFPCM examination, which is one of the prerequisites for becoming a CFP. Other prerequisites include three years of relevant work experience as well as meeting ethics requirements.

The CFP qualification will enable the students to pursue careers in the finance sector, including financial planning, wealth management, risk management, compliance, and products specialist.

Samantha Wong, chief executive officer of FPAS, said: “We hope to equip the younger generation with the knowledge and the competency in financial planning for both their professional development and personal knowledge.”

FPAS is a non-profit professional association dedicated to developing and promoting the financial planning industry in providing unbiased financial advice to the Singapore public. It is part of a global assembly of financial planning bodies under the Financial Planning Standards Board (FPSB). Both the FPSB and the CFP Board set the standards for the CFP certification programme.