Open Polytechnic offers financial services training from afar

The Open Polytechnic is now a financial services training provider and with its specialisation in distance education, it will be ideal for many financial advisers who want to fit study in around work.

Thursday, February 4th 2010, 7:30AM

by Jenha White

Open Polytechnic executive director of marketing Doug Standring says the National Certificate in Financial Services (Financial Advice) (Level 5) will be provided through a mixture of print and online delivery with no classes having to be attended.

"It's a very attractive solution in meeting a huge upskilling challenge for the financial adviser industry because we specialise in helping busy people fit study into their lives and with us you can study where and when it suits you."

The Open Polytechnic has been accredited by ETITO to deliver the national certificate and to run the assessments for unit standards in Standard sets A and D.

It will have two unit standards from Standard Set A ready for enrolment later this month and it will be progressively releasing new unit standards as the Securities Commission and ETITO finalise the requirements for them.

The Open Polytechnic is also offering full enrolment as well as an accelerated assessment option. This means if an adviser believes they have competence in a certain standard because of industry experience, they can go for an assessment only option.

"Then people can focus their study on skill gaps because there'll be a wide mixture of proven competencies needed to reach the requirements."

Standring says people can get an indication of skill gaps by using the self evaluation tool which was developed by the Open Polytechnic for ETITO to provide guidance to advisers about what they should be doing between now and the end of May to prepare for assessment.

He says the Open Polytechnic has had 500 hits on its National Certificate in Financial Services webpage so far and 50 formal expressions of interest in enrolling.

Jenha is a TPL staff reporter. jenha@tarawera.co.nz

« Super fund invests in catastrophe bonds

Sovereign takes regulation bull by the horns »

Special Offers